On-line engine blitz tourney January

[jdart]

AndScacs finds an opening innovation that whips up an attack on the king side. The line starts with 8.Re1? This unusual move is from the Cerebellum book. The normal move is 8.b4. Blacks response 8...Be6! is not found in the databases that I have. Maybe someone can find it somewhere. After this, Schooner is outplayed.

Hiarcs book has Be6 as a ? and recommends Ba7.

--Jon

[D Sceviour]

AndScacs finds an opening innovation that whips up an attack on the king side. The line starts with 8.Re1? This unusual move is from the Cerebellum book. The normal move is 8.b4. Blacks response 8...Be6! is not found in the databases that I have. Maybe someone can find it somewhere. After this, Schooner is outplayed.

Hiarcs book has Be6 as a ? and recommends Ba7.

--Jon

[d]r1bq1rk1/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b - - 2 8

From a theoretical opening point of view, white's response 9.BxB seems bad. It allows black to a obtain a pawn steamroller formation in the center, and a black gets a rabid attack on the f-file. White has a already conceded the f-file defender with 8.Re1. Yet, any other 9th move for white is worse and concedes black a different kind of initiative. I am not an opening master, nor could anyone pretend to out-think the processors, but this seems like an opening novelty. Hiracs 8...Ba7 misses something.

I was impressed with the JDSelect2017.pgn used by Graham Banks in one of his tournaments. Do you have an opening book repository publicly available?

[jdart]

From a theoretical opening point of view, white's response 9.BxB seems bad. It allows black to a obtain a pawn steamroller formation in the center, and a black gets a rabid attack on the f-file. White has a already conceded the f-file defender with 8.Re1.

Stockfish evaluates White as better out of the opening. I think White started to go wrong a little later on, maybe with 14. Bxf4.

I was impressed with the JDSelect2017.pgn used by Graham Banks in one of his tournaments. Do you have an opening book repository publicly available?

My book is publicly available but it's a nonstandard format, so not really usuable with programs besides Arasan.

There is an annotated PGN file that has all the manually tuned book weights and a lot of opening theory checked into my github repository, though: https://github.com/jdart1/arasan-chess

I have made some steps towards having an online searchable book but that isn't ready.

--Jon

[Modern Times]

The last game vs Arasan was unfortunately short-lived:

[pgn] [Event "ICS rated blitz match"] [Site "winboard.nl"] [Date "2019.01.19"] [Round "-"] [White "ArasanX"] [Black "AndScacsRB"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2039"] [BlackElo "2108"] [TimeControl "300+1"] [Annotator "17... -0.01"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Nd5 Nbd7 10. Qd3 O-O 11. O-O Bxd5 12. exd5 b5 13. a4 Qc7 14. Rfd1 b4 15. a5 Rfc8 16. Rac1 Qb7 17. Kh1 Bf8 {-0.01/25 11} 18. h3 g6 {-0.01/25 9} 19. Rb1 Qc7 {-0.01/30 8} 20. Rbc1 Qb7 {-0.01/33 5} 21. Rb1 Qc7 {-0.01/32 8} 22. Rbc1 Qb7 {-0.01/35 8} {Game drawn by repetition} 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[Modern Times]

AndScacs finds an opening innovation that whips up an attack on the king side. The line starts with 8.Re1? This unusual move is from the Cerebellum book. The normal move is 8.b4. Blacks response 8...Be6! is not found in the databases that I have. Maybe someone can find it somewhere. After this, Schooner is outplayed.

Hiarcs book has Be6 as a ? and recommends Ba7.

--Jon

Komodo 12.3 starts with Ba7 but switches to Be6 very quickly, but then can't make up its mind between that and h6.

[JVMerlino]

Myrddin disconnected after 6 rounds, and had to be forfeited.

Very sorry about that. My wife assured me that she had set her new laptop, which is much faster than mine, so that it wouldn't go to sleep when not connected to power. Oh well....

[D Sceviour]

Komodo 12.3 starts with Ba7 but switches to Be6 very quickly, but then can't make up its mind between that and h6.

[d]r1bq1rk1/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b - - 2 8

In spite of centuries of opening theory and billions (trillions?) of games, it is amazing how much hot water a game can wade into in only 8 moves. The problem is the Cerebellum book move 8.Re1? I need to find a better polyglot book than Cerebellum.

[cdani]

Daniel should be pleased with that, I am ! That was one very tough tournament.

Nice!

[D Sceviour]

I ran a round robin on this position and came up with the following results. Time control was 2 1:

Code: Select all

Rank Name                          ELO     +/-   Games   Score   Draws
   1 stockfish_9_x64_popcnt        396     102      70     91%     19%
   2 Ethereal11.00-x64              76      62      70     61%     44%
   3 xiphos-0.4-w64-sse             71      69      69     60%     33%
   4 Schooner2.0.36                 -5      67      70     49%     33%
   5 Houdini_15a_x64               -86      64      70     38%     41%
   6 texel64                       -93      66      69     37%     39%
   7 andscacs                     -102      65      70     36%     40%
   8 senpai_20-x64                -159      68      70     29%     37%

282 of 8400 games finished.

5. Theory Table

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  +100 =101 -79 (150.5/280: 54%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     1        2        3        4        5        6        7        8     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  e4       Nf3      Bc4      OO       c3       d3       a4       b4       56:
    e5       Nc6      Bc5      d6       Nf6      a6       OO       Ba7[1]   58%

 2  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      Re1       2:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      Ne7[2]   25%

 3  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...       7:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      a5[3]    64%

 4  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...       8:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      Ng4[4]   50%

 5  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      60:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      Ba7[5]   51%

 6  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      70:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      h6[6]    57%

 7  ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      77:
    ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      ...      Be6[7]   50%

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[d]r1bq1rk1/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b - - 2 8

It can be concluded:
8.b4 is the strongest move as expected.
8.Re1 Be6 can expect no better than equality although this is better than expected for white.

[Henk]

SchaakMachine was playing not Skipper. Probably ics uses the name of the Skipper account. Otherwise it might have displayed SkipperWinB in previous tournaments.

[pgn] [Event "Computer Chess Game"] [Site "HP"] [Date "2019.01.22"] [Round "-"] [White "SchaakMachine"] [Black "SkipperWinb"] [Result "0-1"] [TimeControl "120"] [Annotator "1. +0.08 1... -0.08"] 1. Nf3 {+0.08/7} d5 {-0.08/6 2.3} 2. Nc3 {+0.04/7 2.1} d4 {+0.16/7 2.1} 3. Ne4 {-0.01/7 2.1} f5 {+0.39/7 2.1} 4. Nc5 {-0.18/7 2.0} e5 {+0.45/8 2.0} 5. Nb3 {-0.48/8 2.0} Nc6 {+0.47/7 2.0} 6. e3 {-0.45/8 1.9} Qd5 {+0.39/6 1.9} 7. exd4 {-0.24/7 1.9} exd4 {+0.29/6 1.9} 8. Bd3 {+0.10/7 1.9} Bd7 {+0.18/5 1.8} 9. Qe2+ {+0.00/7 1.8} Nge7 {+0.34/7 1.8} 10. Bc4 {-0.24/7 1.8} Qd6 {+0.24/8 1.8} 11. O-O {-0.14/7 1.8} O-O-O {+0.24/7 1.8} 12. Ng5 {+0.60/7 1.7} d3 {-0.44/7 1.8} 13. Qxd3 {+0.84/7 1.7} Ne5 {-0.56/7 1.7} 14. Qxd6 {+1.00/9 1.7} cxd6 {-1.04/8 1.7} 15. Nf7 {+1.00/7 1.6} Nxf7 {-1.05/8 1.6} 16. Bxf7 {+0.93/8 1.6} Nc6 {-0.98/7 1.7} 17. d4 {+1.00/8 1.6} Be8 {-1.03/7 1.6} 18. Bd5 {+1.09/7 1.6} Nb4 {-0.92/8 1.6} 19. c4 {+0.87/8 1.6} Nxd5 {+0.21/9 1.6} 20. cxd5 {-0.10/9 1.5} Bf7 {+0.15/8 1.5} 21. Bg5 {-0.10/8 1.5} Re8 {+0.48/8 1.5} 22. Rae1 {-0.27/8 1.5} Rxe1 {+0.28/8 1.5} 23. Rxe1 {-0.08/7 1.4} h6 {+0.37/7 1.4} 24. Be3 {-0.25/7 1.4} Bxd5 {+0.23/8 1.4} 25. f3 {-0.19/7 1.4} g5 {+0.35/8 1.4} 26. Kh1 {-0.28/7 1.4} Bg7 {+0.45/8 1.4} 27. Rc1+ {-0.35/7 1.4} Kb8 {+0.56/9 1.3} 28. Rc3 {-0.45/7 1.3} f4 {+0.58/8 1.3} 29. Bf2 {-0.53/8 1.3} Rc8 {+0.68/6 1.3} 30. Kg1 {-0.62/8 1.3} Rc6 {+0.76/6 1.3} 31. Nc1 {-0.51/8 1.3} Rb6 {+0.71/7 1.3} 32. b3 {-0.47/7 1.3} Ra6 {+0.72/7 1.3} 33. Rc2 {-0.30/9 1.2} Rc6 {+0.62/7 1.2} 34. Rxc6 {-0.31/9 1.2} bxc6 {+0.51/8 1.2} 35. Ne2 {-0.45/8 1.2} Be6 {+0.55/8 1.2} 36. Kf1 {-0.45/8 1.2} Kc7 {+0.55/7 1.2} 37. Ke1 {-0.45/8 1.2} Kd7 {+0.55/7 1.2} 38. Kd1 {-0.45/8 1.2} a6 {+0.55/7 1.1} 39. Ke1 {-0.45/8 1.1} Bg8 {+0.55/7 1.1} 40. Kd1 {-0.45/8 1.1} h5 {+0.55/7 1.1} 41. Ke1 {-0.45/8 1.1} Bh6 {+0.55/7 1.1} 42. Kd1 {-0.45/9 1.1} g4 {+0.55/8 1.1} 43. fxg4 {-0.45/9 1.1} hxg4 {+0.59/8 1.0} 44. Ke1 {-0.45/9 1.1} Bd5 {+0.70/8 1.0} 45. g3 {-0.45/9 1.0} f3 {+0.70/9 1.0} 46. Nc3 {-0.45/9 1.0} Be6 {+0.70/9 1.0} 47. Kd1 {-0.45/9 1.0} a5 {+0.70/9 1.0} 48. Ke1 {-0.45/9 1.0} Bf5 {+0.70/8 1.0} 49. Kd1 {-0.45/9 1.0} Bd3 {+0.70/8 1.0} 50. Ke1 {-0.45/9 1.0} Bc2 {+0.70/8 1.0} 51. Bg1 {-0.45/9 0.9} Bg7 {+0.70/8 0.9} 52. Kd2 {-0.45/9 0.9} Bf5 {+0.70/9 0.9} 53. Bf2 {-0.45/9 0.9} Be6 {+0.70/8 0.9} 54. Kc2 {-0.45/8 0.9} Bf7 {+0.70/8 0.9} 55. Kd2 {-0.45/8 0.9} Ke6 {+0.70/8 0.9} 56. a3 {-0.45/8 0.9} Ke7 {+0.72/8 0.9} 57. b4 {-0.45/8 0.9} axb4 {+0.90/8 0.8} 58. axb4 {-0.45/9 0.8} Ke6 {+0.91/8 0.8} 59. Kd1 {-0.45/8 0.8} c5 {+1.02/8 0.8} 60. bxc5 {-0.46/9 0.8} dxc5 {+0.81/9 0.8} 61. Nb5 {-0.46/9 0.8} c4 {+0.81/9 0.8} 62. Nc3 {-0.45/9 0.8} Kf5 {+0.81/9 0.8} 63. Ke1 {-0.45/8 0.8} Kg5 {+0.81/9 0.8} 64. Kd1 {-0.45/9 0.8} Kh5 {+0.81/9 0.8} 65. Ke1 {-0.45/9 0.7} Be6 {+0.81/9 0.7} 66. Kd1 {-0.45/8 0.7} Kg5 {+0.81/9 0.7} 67. Ne4+ {-0.45/8 0.7} Kg6 {+0.81/9 0.7} 68. Nc5 {-0.45/9 0.7} Bd5 {+0.81/7 0.7} 69. Ke1 {-0.45/9 0.7} Bc6 {+0.82/7 0.7} 70. Ne6 {-0.45/8 0.7} Bh6 {+0.96/8 0.7} 71. Kd1 {-0.45/8 0.7} Ba4+ {+1.35/8 0.7} 72. Ke1 {-1.00/9 0.7} c3 {+1.47/8 0.7} 73. Nf4+ {-1.01/10 0.7} Kf5 {+1.62/9 0.6} 74. Be3 {-1.01/9 0.6} c2 {+1.60/8 0.7} 75. Kd2 {-1.01/8 0.6} Ke4 {+2.89/8 0.6} 76. Bg1 {-2.77/10 0.6} Bf8 {+2.95/9 0.6} 77. Nd3 {-4.51/10 0.6} c1=Q+ {+4.35/9 0.6} 78. Kxc1 {-5.50/10 0.6} Kxd3 {+5.42/9 0.6} 79. Kb2 {-5.49/8 0.6} Ke2 {+6.28/8 0.6} 80. Kc3 {-6.48/9 0.6} f2 {+6.40/8 0.6} 81. Bxf2 {-7.48/10 0.6} Kxf2 {+6.40/8 0.6} 82. Kd2 {-7.48/9 0.6} Kg1 {+7.48/8 0.6} 83. Ke3 {-7.49/9 0.5} Bd6 {+7.49/8 0.6} 84. Ke4 {-7.49/9 0.6} Kxh2 {+7.49/8 0.5} 85. Kd5 {-7.49/9 0.5} Bxg3 {+8.83/8 0.6} 86. Ke4 {-13.98/8 0.5} Be1 {+14.83/8 0.5} 87. Kd3 {-17.73/9 0.5} g3 {+17.37/8 0.5} 88. Ke2 {-17.73/9 0.5} Ba5 {+17.54/9 0.5} 89. Kd3 {-17.74/9 0.5} g2 {+17.53/8 0.5} 90. Kc4 {-18.67/8 0.5} g1=Q {+18.49/7 0.5} 91. Kd3 {-18.79/7 0.5} Qg6+ {+18.60/6 0.5} 92. Ke3 {-18.78/6 0.5} Bc2 {+18.60/6 0.5} 93. d5 {-2621.36/7 0.5} Qg3+ {+2621.37/7 0.5} 94. Ke2 {-2621.36/7 0.5} Bd3+ {+2621.39/7 0.5} 95. Kd1 {-2621.40/9 0.4} Qe1# {+2621.41/7 0.5} {Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1 [/pgn]

Note: I added Killer moves yesterday to SchaakMachine. So maybe it plays worse now than in the tournament.