Final standings
Stockfish and Leela will play in the season 26 superfinal, a repeat of the last 3 superfinals. They were in the lead from the start and only increased the gap to the other engines as the rounds progressed. Stockfish won 20/24 game pairs against the other 6 engines, Leela won 17/24, both without losing a game pair. Surprisingly Stockfish drew twice against Stoofvlees, including its only game loss in the division. Leela had the only double win game pair of the division against RubiChess. Leela stayed very close to Stockfish for the first 3 DRRs, they were tied after 2 DRRs. In the last DRR Stockfish had a perfect result of 7/7 game pair wins including the only win against Leela, while Leela also drew against Berserk, giving Stockfish a small gap at the top.
Berserk and KomodoDragon were in the second group battling for third place. Berserk kept a small lead and also beat KomodoDragon twice in the first 2 DRRs. In the third RR KomodoDragon won their game pair and it closed to within 0.5 points. In the final DRR KomodoDragon was very close to Berserk, it managed to tie their score before the final round but lost to Stockfish to finish in 4th place. Berserk finished in 3rd after starting this season from the entrance league (it didn't play in season 25). KomodoDragon is officially out of the "top3" and no other engine seems to challenge the two leaders. It appears the KomodoDragon development team are more focused on the new Torch engine, which has yet to appear in TCEC.
At the bottom half of the table Ethereal, Seer and RubiChess were close from the start while Stoofvlees was clearly last. After 3 DRRs Seer and Ethereal were tied while RubiChess was 1 point behind. In the last DRR Seer lost to both Ethereal and RubiChess and Ethereal finished in 5th place, RubiChess couldn't close the gap and it finished in 7th, to be relegated to league 1.
Interesting games
game 172, KomodoDragon - Ethereal: The engines blocked the king side and KomodoDragon castled long. Ethereal gave a pawn and opened the c file, it later regained the pawn and placed a passer on a2. The white king hid behind the black passer, KomodoDragon pushed a pawn in the center to the 7th rank. Ethereal couldn't get rid of the protected passer, eventually it gave a rook for a knight to capture it. KomodoDragon created a passer on the king side and both engines saw the win, Ethereal lost material and was mated.
game 173, Stockfish - Ethereal: There were almost no exchanges after the start, long pawn lines blocked the queen side and the center. The engines exchanged a few minor pieces, all pawns were on the board until Stockfish captured one on move 32. Stockfish's eval started to increase, on move 44 the game reached a QRB vs QRB position. Ethereal regained the pawn but got its queen trapped in front of the pawns. Ethereal exchanged bishops and Stockfish captured another pawn, by the time the black queen was released Stockfish saw the win. The queens were exchanged and Stockfish captured another pawn, Ethereal lost its rook for a passer and was mated.
game 175, Berserk - Seer: The white king walked to the king side, there were only a few exchanges after the start, only one pawn exchange. Seer also moved its king without castling, the engines shuffled for a long time. On move 48 Berserk captured a pawn, the black king walked to the queen side and evals started to increase. The engines opened the queen side and Berserk attacked with its major pieces, capturing another pawn. The game reached a RRB vs RRB position, Berserk gradually captured all the black pawns. Seer lost material and was mated.
game 176, Leela - RubiChess: Leela castled long and RubiChess kept its king in the center. The engines exchanged a few minor pieces and RubiChess captured a pawn on the king side. Leela captured a pawn on the queen side and created a passer, then captured another pawn and exchanged queens. The black king walked to the queen side and eventually captured the passer, Leela captured a pawn on the king side and created another passer there. RubiChess lost a knight and captured the passer and another pawn, the game reached a RBN vs RB position. The white king moved forward and eventually helped in capturing the remaining black pawns. Leela had one pawn left and a piece advantage, the game ended in a tablebase win.
game 182, Berserk - Ethereal: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines played behind their pawn lines. By move 38 there were two minor piece exchanges, evals started to increase very slowly. The first pawn exchange was on move 52, then the engines exchanged a pair of rooks and both created a passer in the center. Berserk moved the queen to the back rank, Ethereal exchanged queens and the game reached a RN vs RN position. Ethereal captured the passer in the center, Berserk created connected passers on the king side and exchanged rooks. Berserk captured 3 pawns, queened a passer and mated.
game 183, Leela - KomodoDragon: There was one minor piece exchange after the start, on move 27 the engines exchanged queens. Evals increased, all pawns were on the board and Leela placed a pawn on b6. On move 43 the first pawns were exchanged and the engines opened the f file. KomodoDragon gave two pawns with no compensation, the game reached a RBN vs RBN position. Leela created passers on the queen side, it gained material and queened, the game ended in mate.
game 184, RubiChess - Seer: The engines blocked the queen side, then exchanged a pair of bishops. On move 23 the engines opened a file in the center, RubiChess opened the king side and attacked with major pieces. In a series of exchanges the engines reduced to a RN vs RN position with white a pawn up, RubiChess captured a second pawn and created connected passers on the queen side. Seer delayed with checks but eventually RubiChess queened a passer and mated.
game 186, KomodoDragon - RubiChess: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines formed long pawn lines. The pawns stabilized, on move 32 the engines exchanged a pair of knights and then started to shuffle. Pawn moves extended the 50 move counter, on move 145 the engines exchanged the first pawns and continued to shuffle. On move 186 there was another pawn exchange, then KomodoDragon gave a pawn. RubiChess gave a rook for a bishop, perhaps a mistake under time pressure. RubiChess had two passers but KomodoDragon blocked them while it sent its rooks to the back rank and captured a bishop. RubiChess got some of the material back but KomodoDragon captured the black passers and kept the advantage. The game ended in a tablebase win.
game 189, Stockfish - Berserk: Stockfish castled long while Berserk kept its king in the center. Berserk tried to attack on the queen side, Stockfish gave a pawn and opened the center. Stockfish gave a knight and threatened mate on the back rank, Berserk gave back the material and delayed with checks. Eventually Berserk gave a rook for a bishop to stop the back rank threat, the game reached a RR vs RB position. Stockfish pushed a passer and saw the win, it reduced to a rook ending and queened the passer. The game ended in a tablebase win.
game 194, Ethereal - Seer: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines played behind their pawn lines. On move 28 the engines exchanged a pair of bishops, the first pawn exchange was on move 31 opening the f file. Evals started to increase, a series of exchanges opened the queen side and both engines had a passer there. Ethereal captured the black passer and exchanged queens, it kept its passer defended. After a while the engines exchanged a pair of rooks and reduced to a RBN vs RBN position. The black crossed the board to help, Ethereal managed to get its rook to the king side to capture the black pawns there. Seer lost its last pawn, Ethereal was 3 pawns up and it pushed them forward. Seer lost material, Ethereal queened and mated.
Standings after RR7: Stockfish +17, Leela +16, Berserk +3, KomodoDragon +2, Ethereal -6, Seer -7, RubiChess -8, Stoofvlees -17. No change in the lead after both Stockfish and Leela won their games as white against lower ranking engines. Similarly there is no change in the race for 3rd place between Berserk and KomodoDragon. Ethereal beat Seer and is now ahead in 5th place, RubiChess also beat Seer but it is still in 7th place facing relegation with Stoofvlees.
game 197, Stockfish - Leela: See featured game below.
game 198, Berserk - RubiChess: The engines started a series of early exchanges, in the aftermath RubiChess was down a knight for two pawns and the white king was exposed in the center. Berserk was confident it had an advantage, it continued to exchange pieces until only RRN vs RR remained. RubiChess placed both rooks on the 2nd rank, Berserk was down to its last pawn and it exchanged a pair of rooks. Slowly Berserk pushed its pawn forward until it became a passer. RubiChess lost its rook and the game ended in a tablebase win.
game 199, Stoofvlees - Seer: The engines exchanged a few minor pieces and blocked the king side. On move 27 the a file opened, gradually Stoofvlees exchanged all rooks and reduced to a QBN vs QBB position. Almost all pawns were on the board and the bishops were blocked. Stoofvlees captured a pawn and opened the d file, then gave a bishop for two pawns and created a passer on the king side. After a series of exchanges the game reached a pawns vs bishop ending, Seer couldn't prevent a queening and was mated. There were two white wins in this game pair.
game 203, Seer - Berserk: The engines blocked the center and castled in opposite directions. After exchanging queens Berserk doubled rooks on the c file, then traded a rook for a bishop and the game reached a RRN vs RBN position with black two pawns up. The engines cleared the pawns on the king side and Berserk created a passer in the center. The engines shuffled for a while, Berserk went wrong somewhere and Seer managed to force a piece exchange that left a R vs B ending. The white pieces were stronger, Seer slowly captured pawns and the game ended in a tablebase win. There were two white wins in this game pair.
game 205, Stockfish - RubiChess: The engines castled in opposite directions, opened the f file and blocked the center. Stockfish thought RubiChess played inaccurately evals started to increase. Stockfish declined a bishop for rook exchange and kept the center blocked. The engines exchanged more pieces, then RubiChess gave a pawn and gave Stockfish an advanced passer. Stockfish saw the win, it won a rook for the passer and the game reached a RBB vs BN position. RubiChess lost more material and was mated.
game 206, Leela - Seer: The engines blocked the center and played mostly behind their pawn lines. After exchanging a few minor pieces the engines exchanged queens, then stabilized the pawns. Seer had a pawn line across the board, confident in its defense its eval was below 1. Leela was confident it was winning with a high eval. For a long time the engines shuffled, on move 55 Seer probably blundered, Leela gave a pawn and started to attack the queen side. It captured a pawn and created a passer, Seer captured the passer but Leela created another and the game reached a RRB vs RRB position. Seer lost a bishop for the passer, both engines created more passers but Seer wasn't fast enough. Leela gave a rook, queened and mated.
Standings with 3 rounds to go: Stockfish +19, Leela +16, Berserk +3, KomodoDragon +2, Ethereal -6, Seer -8, RubiChess -10, Stoofvlees -16. After beating Leela for the first and only time in the division Stockfish is almost certain to finish first, it is 1.5 points ahead of Leela with 3 games left. Berserk still has a small advantage over KomodoDragon. They drew their final game against each other, Berserk lost to Seer and KomodoDragon only drew against Stoofvlees. Ethereal has a 1 point advantage over Seer, which has a 1 point advantage against RubiChess, it is likely that the order will stay like this and the RubiChess will relegate.
game 213, Stockfish - Seer: The center was blocked and there were no exchanges after the start. Stockfish had more space, on move 31 the engines exchanged minor pieces and Stockfish captured a rook for a bishop. The first pawn exchange was on move 39, evals started to increase only after queens were exchanged on move 48. Seer sent a knight forward to capture a pawn, it created a passer but the knight was trapped. In a series of exchanges Stockfish traded a rook for two minors and the game reached a RBN vs RN position. Stockfish captured the black passer and exchanged rooks, Seer trie to protect its pawns but its king got trapped in the corner and mate followed.
game 215, Leela - Ethereal: The engines exchanged minor pieces and Leela captured an early pawn on the queen side. Leela's eval increased in a closed position, it slowly pushed its a pawn until it became a passer. On the king side Ethereal pushed pawns and exposed the white king, it captured two pawns and created connected passers. Leela was confident it can deal with this threat, and Ethereal's eval also started to increase. All pieces moved to the king side, Leela kept its king safe and then exchanged queens and reduced to a RRN vs RRB position. Leela added a second passer on the queen side, Ethereal lost a rook for one passer. It pushed its passers but Leela was ready for them, Leela captured both passers and also captured the second black rook for its second passer. The game ended in a tablebase win.
There is no change in the gaps between engines except that Seer is only 0.5 points ahead of RubiChess. Berserk only drew as white against Stoofvlees, keeping KomodoDragon's chances of catching up to third place.
game 219, Ethereal - RubiChess: Ethereal castled long and RubiChess kept its king in the center. RubiChess tried to attack the queen side and it captured a pawn in the center to create a passer. Ethereal regained the pawn and opened the center, with doubled rook on the d file threatening mate on the back rank. In a series of exchanges the engines reduced to a QBB vs QBN position, RubiChess was a pawn up and the white king was completely exposed but evals were in white's favor. Ethereal chased the black king and regained the pawn to create a passer on the king side. RubiChess gave its bishop for pawns to get rid of the passer. The white pieces attacked the black king, Ethereal forced a queen exchange and the game ended in a tablebase win.
game 220, KomodoDragon - Seer: The engines castled in opposite directions, KomodoDragon pushed pawns on the king side and managed to open the f file. After a series of exchanges the game reached a RRB vs RRN position with white a pawn up. KomodoDragon had a passer in the center, after exchanging a pair of rooks Seer regained the pawn, then it captured the white passer but lost its knight. Seer lost more material, it allowed a queening and was mated.
KomodoDragon is tied with Berserk in 3rd place, though Berserk has a head to head tiebreak advantage. Ethereal is safe in 5th place, Seer is still 0.5 points ahead of RubiChess before the last round.
game 221, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: Stockfish created an early passer on the queen side through an exchange. KomodoDragon captured the passer and Stockfish created a pawn majority on the king side. KomodoDragon gave a rook for a knight to capture one pawn but Stockfish still created an advanced passer facing the black king. Stockfish cleared the black pawns on the queen side and created another passer there, the game reached a QRB vs QBN position. After exchanging queens Stockfish saw the mate, KomodoDragon lost more material and after queening Stockfish mated.
Berserk secured 3rd place after KomodoDragon lost its last game, then is held a draw against Leela and didn't need the tiebreak. RubiChess only drew against Stoofvlees and finished 7th.
Featured game: Stockfish - Leela
game 197
Stockfish pushed pawns on the king side and kept its king uncastled in the center. Stockfish captured a pawn in the center, then another on the king side, it was prepared for Leela forking king and rook with a knight. Stockfish lost the rook and didn't try to recapture, instead it attacked the black king though it was down a rook for a while. The black king was exposed and Leela surrounded it with pieces.
Leela gave material back and in a series of exchanges the engines reduced to a queen ending. Leela's eval was much lower than Stockfish's and it drifted down for a long time. After trading pawns Stockfish was a pawn up with a passer. Stockfish saw a win from a mile away while Leela's eval was below 1.
The white king moved forward and after a while so did the passer. On move 75 Stockfish forced a queen exchange, then it queened the passer and the game ended in a tablebase win.
No comments:
Post a Comment