Can Komodo give knight odds in chess960 to a master?

[lkaufman]

Final score ws a four to zero shutout by Komodo! Meyer really should have won the first two games, but the last two were never easy for him, and the final game was a spectacular attacking win. I guess we need a stronger opponent for knight odds at chess960.

[Modern Times]

My vote was correct then ! But interesting that he did gain significant advantages in the first two games, and then they got away from him.

[whereagles]

Any chance we can get the PGN here? I can only find the last game PGN.

[JJJ]

Can't wait for the next challenger ! Plz let us know.

[Nordlandia]

Can't wait for the next challenger ! Plz let us know.

I proposed double exchange against IM, Larry confirmed it might work against IM-level, but at the same time it involves removing four pieces from the initial starting position, so it might look rather odd at first, compared to what we're used to.

Alternatively castling rights can be enabled or denied, depending on opponent.

Evaluation is -2.5 without castling and -3.15 with castling.

Code: Select all

rn1qk1nr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/1NBQKBN1 w kq - 0 1

[JJJ]

[d]rn1qk1nr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/1NBQKBN1 w kq - 0 1

[Jesse Gersenson]

http://u.komodochess.com/games/Meyer-960.pgn

[Vinvin]

http://u.komodochess.com/games/Meyer-960.pgn

Short analyze for the 4 games on Lichess :
https://lichess.org/qWChBTqf
https://lichess.org/vWaHru4y
https://lichess.org/EGqENm6c
https://lichess.org/upS6g1DI

[Nordlandia]

This fabricated position is interesting.

[d]5k2/pp3ppp/1bp5/8/6b1/2P5/PP3PPP/RN2K3 w - - 0 1

Can grandmasters win this endgame against Komodo?

+2 advantage for engines does not necessarily mean GMs can convert it easily.

«Many of the Classicists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century claimed that two bishops versus rook and knight were equivalent. I don 't believe that this is the case, i.e., I think the extra material will usually win out, but this view continues to influence chess thinking to some extent even today» Steve Mayer, 1997.

Original position from Berthelot vs Flear is very even for odds consideration, thereby adding pawn on f2 grants human more winning chance or playroom.

[pgn][Event "Pau FRA"]
[Site "7"]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yannick Berthelot"]
[Black "Glenn Flear"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C30"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5Nk1/ppp2ppp/1b6/8/6b1/2P5/PP4PP/RN2K3 b - - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1988.??.??"]

19... Kxf8 20. Nd2 c6 21. Nb3 Be6 22. Kd2 Bd5 23. g3 g6 24. Re1 f5 25. Nc1 h5
26. a4 h4 27. Nd3 hxg3 28. hxg3 a5 29. b4 axb4 30. cxb4 Bc7 31. Nf4 Bd6 32.
Nxd5 cxd5 33. Re6 Bxb4+ 34. Ke2 Bc5 35. Rxg6 Kf7 36. Rh6 b6 37. Rc6 Ke7 38. a5
Kd7 39. Rf6 bxa5 40. Rxf5 Ke6 41. Rf1 a4 42. Kd3 a3 43. Kc2 Ke5 44. g4 Ke4 45.
g5 d4 46. g6 d3+ 47. Kb3 Bd4 48. Kxa3 d2 49. Kb3 Kd3 50. Rh1 Be5 51. Rd1
1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

https://lichess.org/GmXZuUzf

[lkaufman]

Can't wait for the next challenger ! Plz let us know.

IM Danny Rensch (2494 USCF, 2388 FIDE) of chess.com is willing to play the same knight-odds chess960 match, but we haven't discussed dates or details yet. He might be a bit too strong, but it's hard to say. If we imagine that Meyer had won the endgame a piece ahead (hard to believe he lost it) he would have lost by about 200 elo, but Rensch outrates him by 277 elo and is half his age. But I'm willing to do it, I don't think it would hurt us even if we lost the match, as long as it wasn't a wipeout.