Final standings
Stockfish +17, Leela +8, KomodoDragon -4, Berserk -21.
Stockfish and Leela will play in the superfinal. This was never in doubt, the playoff games did not change the standings of the premier division, the gaps between the engines only increased. I'm not sure the playoff is needed anyway, considering the way the top3 dominate the bottom5 in the premier division. To me this is an unnecessary reaction to the fact that KomodoDragon made it to the superfinal of season 22 only because it had better results against the bottom5 than Leela. This was not the case this season.
The playoff games produced a second 4 game pair sample of a match between Stockfish and Leela. In the first sample, the premier division, Leela beat Stockfish in a game pair and the total result was a draw. In the second sample - the playoff games - Stockish beat Leela 3 times. The question is whether the full 50 game pair match will be more like the first or the second samples. Statistics tells us that the total 8 game pairs should be a better approximation, but all this is nonsense since the openings and time control will be different. I hope the superfinal is less one-sided than the previous few have been.
Interesting games
game 4, KomodoDragon - Berserk: The engines castled in opposite directions, KomodoDragon created a protected passer on d6. On move 22 evals jumped, KomodoDragon gave a knight for a pawn and moved a rook to the 7th rank. The position became wild with pins, threats and sacrifices not accepted. KomodoDragon managed to reduce to a queen ending, then used a passer to force a queen exchange. KomodoDragon used a second passer to make sure the black king was too far to help its pawns, game over.
game 7, Leela - KomodoDragon: The engines castled in opposite directions, there were many early exchanges and the game reached a RRB vs RRN position. Evals started to increase in move 27, Leela focused on a black doubled pawn on the queen side. After exchanging a pair of rooks all pieces were either attacking or defending the pawn on b5. Leela captured the pawn and created a pawn majority on the queen side. Then Leela captured a pawn on the king side and created a passer there. KomodoDragon had too many threats to defend, Leela captured the remaining black pawns, queened and mated.
game 8, Stockfish - Berserk: The engines castled in opposite directions, then exchanged a pair of knights and a pair of bishops in the center. Evals increased very slowly while the engines mostly shuffled, then a series of exchanges reduced to a BN vs R position. Berserk was a pawn up with a doubled pawn in the center, Stockfish had a pawn majority on the queen side. It took Stockfish 35 moves to create a passer on the queen side and capture a pawn. Berserk pushed a passer in the center but was not strong enough, within 25 more moves Stockfish queened and mated.
game 9, Stockfish - Leela: The engines castled in opposite directions, Stockfish focused on trying to open the king side. Leela's eval jumped on move 16, a few pawn exchanges weakened the pawn structure on the king side. The engines played out a long PV agreement that led to a Q vs RBN imbalance. The black king was exposed and Stockfish was a pawn up. Leela decided to give some material back, it reduced to a Q vs BNN position. The white queen was strong, Stockfish captured a pawn and created a passer on the queen side. Leela tried to keep all its pieces protected, but after Stockfish pushed a passer to the 7th rank Leela couldn't avoid losing material and the game.
game 10, Berserk - KomodoDragon: The engines castled in opposite directions, KomodoDragon attacked the queen side and created a passer there. Queens were exchanged, Berserk went a pawn up and the game reached a RRN vs RRN position. Berserk had a pawn majority on the king side, it created connected passers there and KomodoDragon's eval jumped. After exchanging a pair of rooks Berserk's eval also increased, Berserk captured the black passer and pushed one to the 7th rank. KomodoDragon lost material and the game ended in a tablebase win. There were two white wins in this game pair.
game 11, Leela - Berserk: The engines castled in opposite directions, Berserk pushed pawns on the queen side and Leela's eval jumped. At first the engines played out a PV agreement and Berserk felt very safe. Leela had a passer on the queen side, Bersrek was two pawns up with passers in the center. Then the engines played out a longer PV agreement that started with Leela giving a rook for a bishop and exposing the black king. Now Berserk's eval increased, Leela gained material and the game reached a RB vs R position. Berserk was two pawns up with 3 pawns on the f file, Leela used its bishop and king to block the black pawns. Leela captured a pawn and created a second passer on the queen side, Berserk couldn't avoid a queening, game over.
Standings after DRR1: Stockfish +9, Leela +5, KomodoDragon -2, Berserk -12.
game 16, KomodoDragon - Berserk: KomodoDragon gave a pawn early, it moved its queen forward on the king side yet Berserk decided to castle short. All the white pieces prepared for an attack on the king side, KomodoDragon thought Berserk's move 22 was inaccurate and its eval jumped. KomodoDragon pushed a pawn to g6, when it was ready it exchanged pawns on f7. KomodoDragon exposed the black king with a knight and rook sacrifice, then got the material back and reduced to a RB vs RN position with white 3 pawns up. After exchanging rooks the white king moved forward, KomodoDragon queened twice and mated.
game 18, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: There were no exchanges after the start, the center was blocked and the engines castled in opposite directions. Evals started to increase, Stockfish gave a pawn on the queen side and pushed pawns on the king side. KomodoDragon threatened the white king and Stockfish exchanged queens to remove the threat. Stockfish was a pawn up with a passer on the queen side, the engines reduced to a double rook ending. Stockfish captured another pawn and pushed the passer to the 7th rank. KomodoDragon lost a rook for the passer, game over.
game 19, Leela - KomodoDragon: The engines castled in opposite directions, pawn exchanges opened the position. Evals started to increase after move 25, Leela placed a knight on b6 and stabilized the queen side. Both engines had a passer in the center, Leela opened the king side and moved a pawn to h7 in front of the black king. In a series of exchanges Leela captured a knight and reduced to a RBN vs RB position. Most of the pawns were exchanged, Leela created an unstoppable passer on the queen side and mate followed.
game 20, Stockfish - Berserk: Stockfish's eval jumped early, it castled long and tried to open the king side where the black king was. Stockfish placed a knight on b6 and trapped a black rook, then slowly increased the pressure on the king side. Eventually Berserk gave the rook to remove the knight, by then the g file was open with doubled white rooks. After exchanging queens the game reached a RR vs RB position, Stockfish used its king to capture a few pawns, then reduced to a winning king and pawns ending.
game 21, Stockfish - Leela: Stockfish pushed a pawn to h6 and Leela captured it, opening a hole on the g file. Both engines didn't castle their kings, Stockfish gave a second pawn in the center yet evals slowly increased. Stockfish placed a bishop on f6, nearly trapping the black king. Leela walked its king to the queen side, the white queen moved forward and captured two pawns on the king side. The game reached a QRB vs QRN position, Stockfish was a pawn up with a passer on the king side and Leela had a passer on the queen side. Leela gave a rook for a bishop to capture the white passer .Stockfish chased the black king, Leela delayed with checks but was eventually mated.
game 23, Leela - Berserk: Leela castled long while Berserk kept its king in the center. Leela's eval jumped on move 18 after it gave a pawn in the center, the engines played out a PV agreement where Leela created a passer on d6 and Berserk walked its king to the king side. Berserk had little room for its pieces to move, Leela prepared its attack with patience. In a series of exchanges Leela reduced to a RRN vs RRB position, it regained the pawn and connected a second passer in the center. Berserk lost material, Leela gave a rook to queen a passer and then mated.
Standings after DRR2: Stockfish +12, Leela +6, KomodoDragon -3, Berserk -15.
game 27, Leela - Stockfish: Leela's eval jumped on move 27 and it blocked the center. The only hole in the pawn wall was on the f file, Leela targeted the f7 pawn but Stockfish had just enough defenders. After some shuffling Stockfish gave a rook for a knight, Leela's eval was over 6 at this point. Stockfish managed to walk its king to the queen side and the game reached a QRR vs QRN position. After a long shuffle Leela gave the material back and its eval dropped, the game was adjudicated once evals were low enough for the draw rule.
game 28, KomodoDragon - Berserk: There were no pawn exchanges after the start, the engines played behind their pawn lines. There was a small hole in the pawn lines on the g file, Berserk defended the g7 pawn. By move 31 most of the minor pieces were exchanged, the engines shuffled for a long while. The first pawn exchange of the game was on move 81, the engines opened the queen side and evals slowly increased. The game reached a QRB vs QRN position, Berserk tried to avoid exchanges but eventually KomodoDragon exchanged rooks. Berserk gave the knight and moved its queen forward to give checks. When these ran out the engines traded a few pawns, KomodoDragon exchanged queens and reduced to a tablebase win.
game 30, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: The engines opened a file in the center and exchanged a pair of rooks. The black queen moved forward, evals started to increase as the engines reduced to a BBN vs BBN position. The only visible weakness was the black pawn structure on the king side with 3 isolated pawns, two of them doubled. KomodoDragon connected the pawns on the king side with a bishop, Stockfish stabilized the queen side and exchanged pieces, including the defending bishop on the king side. This left an opposite color bishops ending with 6 pawns for each side, the exchanges also repaired the black doubled pawn. However, all black pawns were vulnerable to the white bishop, and the white king denied the black bishop access to the white pawns. Stockfish captured 4 pawns and queened to win.
game 31, Leela - KomodoDragon: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines blocked the center and queen side. Leela's eval jumped as it moved pieces to the king side and prepared for attack. After exchanging a few minor pieces Leela captured a first pawn and started to open the king side. KomodoDragon regained the pawn, then the white queen moved forward behind the pawns on the queen side. The black queen followed and Leela captured a pawn on the king side, creating a passer. After a period of shuffling Leela gave a bishop and pushed a pawn to g7. Leela captured two more pawns and exchanged queens, KomodoDragon captured the white passer and reduced to a rook ending. The white rook moved behind the pawns and created connected passers, Leela queened and won.
game 32, Stockfish - Berserk: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines blocked the center and queen side. Stockfish offered a knight and Berserk refused to take and kept the king side closed. Evals increased slowly, Stockfish exchanged the knight, then opened the king side with a pawn exchange that also created a central passer. Stockfish captured a rook for a bishop, after exchanging queens it also captured a pawn. Stockfish captured another pawn and reduced to a BN vs BN position. Berserk used its pieces to block the white king, after exchanging knights Stockfish gave a pawn and cleared the path for the white king to attack the black pawns. Stockfish went 3 pawns up, enough to win the opposite color bishops ending.
game 33, Stockfish - Leela: There were no exchanges after the start and the engines blocked the center. For a long while the engines mostly shuffled behind their pawn lines with stable evals. On move 47 Stockfish exchanged pawns and created a passer on the queen side. Evals started to increase, another pawn exchange opened the king side. Leela captured the white passer while Stockfish moved a rook forward on the queen side. Leela blocked the back ranks with pieces, Stockfish captured a pawn and then after a while reduced to a B vs N ending. Stockfish created passers and Leela could not prevent a queening, game over.
game 35, Leela - Berserk: Berserk castled short despite a hole on the g file. Leela exchanged a pair of rooks, then opened a file in the center and created a pawn majority on the queen side. On move 28 Leela's eval jumped as it reduced to a QRB vs QRN position. Another series of exchanges left only B vs N, Berserk started to see its problem. Leela stabilized the center and king side using its king, then created a passer on the queen side. After Leela queened mate was a matter of time.
Standings after DRR3: Stockfish +15, Leela +7, KomodoDragon -4, Berserk -18.
game 37, KomodoDragon - Leela: see featured game below.
game 40, KomodoDragon - Berserk: The engines castled in opposite directions, each engines pushed pawns towards its opponent's king. Most of the minor pieces were exchanged early, Berserk captured a pawn in the center and created a passer. Evals jumped on move 29, KomodoDragon moved its queen forward and then reduced to a QRR vs QRR position. Berserk pushed the passer to the 2nd rank, KomodoDragon blocked it, regained the pawn and created a passer on the queen side. After exchanging queens KomodoDragon captured the black passer, then moved both its rooks to the 7th rank. KomodoDragon used the threat to the black king to reduce to a winning rook ending two pawns up.
game 42, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: The center was blocked by diagonal pawn lines, Stockfish had a space advantage on the queen side. Pawn exchanges opened the queen side, evals increased as Stockfish moved a rook to the 7th rank. KomodoDragon captured the rook for a bishop, the white queen replaced the rook on the 7th rank. After a while Stockfish captured a pawn and created a passer on the queen side, KomodoDragon gave a knight for the passer. Stockfish captured a pawn and exchanged queens, then pushed a passer to the 7th rank and reduced to a BBN vs RN position. KomodoDragon captured the passer but the white bishop pair was too strong. KomodoDragon lost more material, it couldn't prevent a queening, game over.
game 43, Leela - KomodoDragon: Leela pushed pawns on the king side and KomodoDragon locked pawns. Leela kept its king in the center and moved its queen side rook. Leela captured a pawn in the center and evals started to increase. A long series of exchanges reduced ro a RN vs RN position with white a pawn up, all pawns on the king side. The black king walked forward and.to the queen side, the black pawns were defenseless. Leela captured a pawn and created 3 connected passers, KomodoDragon couldn't stop a queening and mate. There were two white wins in this game pair.
game 44, Stockfish - Berserk: Stockfish kept its king in the center, it captured a pawn on the queen side and created a passer there. The engines locked the king side and moved all rooks to the queen side. Stockfish connected a second passer on the queen side and evals increased slowly. After some shuffling Stockfish pushed a passer to the 7th rank. In a series of exchanges Berserk captured the passer and the game reached a RN vs RB position. Stockfish pushed its second passer to the 7th rank, the black king could not move to help because of a knight fork. Berserk captured the passer but lost the bishop, the N vs pawns ending was a win for white.
game 47, Leela - Berserk: Leela's eval jumped right after Berserk's first move and continued to increase as Berserk moved its queen forward. Berserk captured a knight while Leela moved a pawn to b7. Berserk had to block with a rook, effectively playing a rook down. Leela added pawns on a6 and c6, most of the black pieces were concerned with holding the queen side and Leela had time to capture a pawn in the center and create another passer. The white king moved forward on the queen side to assist, Leela managed to exchange a pair of bishops and reduced to a RB vs RBN position. Berserk couldn't block the central passer and it started to lose material. The game ended in a tablebase win.
Featured game: KomodoDragon - Leela
game 37
There were no exchanges after the start except one minor piece exchange, the engines castled in opposite directions. Leela locked the king side, then in a PV agreement gave a knight for a pawn and opened the queen side. The white king was exposed, but KomodoDragon's evals increased gradually. Leela was surprised on move 30, it anticipated a queen exchange and instead KomodoDragon moved its queen forward and threatened the black king.
The white queen moved forward, KomodoDragon used checks to capture black pawns, including the passers on the queen side. After exchanging queens KomodoDragon queened a passer to win.
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