It is an interesting question what actually creates beauty and amazement for the spectators.
And it actually is an old question. When I think of the time of about the year 2000, when there were still commercial programs, though they had already become too strong for ordinary earthlings, the common label used to advertize them was "human-like".
So Rebel was supposed to be more "human-like" than Fritz, or Genius more "human-like" than Junior - or you name it. There never was too much to that other than advertisement IMHO. The people supposed to judge about the truth of these statements were too weak to judge for themselves anyway.
We can see this much clearer now. Personally I perceive very little beauty in the play of Stockfish 18 as I simply understand too few of its moves. So now it is 0.00 and a moment later it is 0.89 - there is no reason to doubt its assessment but I often have zero idea to the why myself.
It is way easier with the "style engines", as they make concessions that are most easy to understand for patzers, material. If they win this way, we feel that this is pretty. There is a downside to this: if they take it too far and get punished, they look silly in a way, that feels understandable, too.
It doesn't matter too much, what the actual truth about the observed chesspositions constitutes.
So maybe the current parameters that make EAS scores are more arbitrary than they feel to me anyway. It is just about creating +perceivable+ beauty for the playing level of the spectators.
I can show with a recent game - this is not beautiful, it looks just silly. Why? Because it didn't work from move 30 and led to a clear loss. Had white won, I would probably feel that this is "amazing".
But the real strength of the engine only matters here in that it has to get enough points to create the image/illusion of beauty. Ordinary spectators don't really "understand" the moves anyway.
IMHO - YMMV.
Peter
[pgn]
[Event "Lang 120min+10sek"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "2026.02.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Absurd-1.0"]
[Black "Crafty 25.6"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[TimeControl "7200+10"]
{4096MB, DESKTOP-8OCGGEO} 1. e4 {[%eval 17,29] [%emt 0:03:35]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 2. Nf3 {[%eval 29,25] [%emt 0:00:54]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:07] (d5)} 3. Bc4 {[%eval 19,26] [%emt 0:09:41]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 4. d3 {[%eval 15,22] [%emt 0:01:07]} Be7 {[%emt 0:00:07] (Lc5)} 5. O-O {[%eval 20,23] [%emt 0:02:16]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:07] (d6)} 6. Nc3 {[%eval 25,24] [%emt 0:01:25]} d6 {[%emt 0:03:06]} 7. a4 {[%eval 17,26] [%emt 0:10:02]} Bg4 {[%emt 0:03:55]} 8. h3 {[%eval 24,23] [%emt 0:01:40]} Bxf3 {[%emt 0:01:06] (Lh5)} 9. Qxf3 {[%eval 18,23] [%emt 0:05:16]} Nd4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 10. Qd1 {[%eval 20,23] [%emt 0:04:50]} c6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 11. Ba2 {[%eval 18,24] [%emt 0:02:04]} Ne6 {[%emt 0:02:54]} 12. Ne2 {[%eval 27,26] [%emt 0:09:52]} d5 {[%emt 0:02:51]} 13. Ng3 {[%eval 15,27] [%emt 0:11:54]} Qc7 {[%emt 0:00:47] (dxe4)} 14. c3 {[%eval 27,23] [%emt 0:01:46]} Rad8 {[%emt 0:03:15] (a5)} 15. Qf3 {[%eval 39,22] [%emt 0:01:19]} Rfe8 {[%emt 0:07:35]} 16. Re1 {[%eval 39,25] [%emt 0:03:55]} Kh8 {[%emt 0:00:07] (a5)} 17. a5 {[%eval 43,22] [%emt 0:01:20]} Qxa5 {[%emt 0:03:33] (Lf8)} 18. exd5 {[%eval 24,24] [%emt 0:14:45]} cxd5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 19. Rxe5 {[%eval 20,25] [%emt 0:01:11]} Bd6 {[%emt 0:00:59] (b5)} 20. Rf5 {[%eval 44,21] [%emt 0:01:00]} Qa6 {[%emt 0:03:52] (Db6)} 21. Rxf6 {[%eval 45,22] [%emt 0:01:25]} gxf6 {[%emt 0:03:10] (Lxg3)} 22. Bh6 {[%eval 60,23] [%emt 0:01:07]} Bf8 {[%emt 0:03:59]} 23. Nf5 {[%eval 48,27] [%emt 0:05:18]} d4 {[%emt 0:03:42]} 24. Bd2 {[%eval 30,26] [%emt 0:00:11]} Qb5 {[%emt 0:04:41]} 25. Bc4 {[%eval 31,27] [%emt 0:03:38]} Qxb2 {[%emt 0:02:29]} 26. Ra2 {[%eval 20,26] [%emt 0:01:22]} Qb6 {[%emt 0:04:14] (Db1+)} 27. Rc2 {[%eval 12,21] [%emt 0:02:19]} a6 {[%emt 0:02:52]} 28. Qh5 {[%eval 21,21] [%emt 0:02:23]} Qb1+ {[%emt 0:01:32]} 29. Rc1 {[%eval 25,23] [%emt 0:00:49]} Qb2 {[%emt 0:00:45]} 30. Nh6 {[%eval 0,24] [%emt 0:00:41]} Qxd2 {[%emt 0:01:59] (Te7)} 31. Nxf7+ {[%eval 29,22] [%emt 0:00:41]} Kg8 {[%emt 0:01:08] (Kg7)} 32. Rd1 {[%eval 65,22] [%emt 0:00:41]} Qxd1+ {[%emt 0:01:02]} 33. Qxd1 {[%eval 61,24] [%emt 0:00:46]} Kxf7 {[%emt 0:00:35]} 34. cxd4 {[%eval 31,23] [%emt 0:00:34]} Bg7 {[%emt 0:01:48]} 35. g3 {[%eval 48,25] [%emt 0:00:57]} b5 {[%emt 0:01:53]} 36. Ba2 {[%eval 34,29] [%emt 0:00:06]} Kf8 {[%emt 0:01:07] (Kg8)} 37. Qh5 {[%eval 21,27] [%emt 0:02:37]} h6 {[%emt 0:01:36] (Kg8)} 38. d5 {[%eval 19,21] [%emt 0:00:36]} Ng5 {[%emt 0:00:20]} 39. h4 {[%eval 6,23] [%emt 0:00:33]} Nf7 {[%emt 0:00:23]} 40. d6 {[%eval 7,26] [%emt 0:00:31]} Nxd6 {[%emt 0:00:25] (Td7)} 41. Qd5 {[%eval 13,27] [%emt 0:00:54]} Re1+ {[%emt 0:01:02] (Sc4)} 42. Kg2 {[%eval 23,23] [%emt 0:00:21]} Ke7 {[%emt 0:00:32]} 43. Qd4 {[%eval 10,25] [%emt 0:00:28]} Rd7 {[%emt 0:00:24] (Te5)} 44. Bb3 {[%eval 22,23] [%emt 0:01:00]} Rc7 {[%emt 0:01:00] (a5)} 45. Qg4 {[%eval 56,24] [%emt 0:00:29]} Bf8 {[%emt 0:01:11]} 46. Qb4 {[%eval 41,24] [%emt 0:02:16]} Rcc1 {[%emt 0:00:08] (Tec1)} 47. Qd4 {[%eval 59,21] [%emt 0:00:20]} f5 {[%emt 0:00:29] (Tc7)} 48. Qa7+ {[%eval 22,22] [%emt 0:00:20]} Kd8 {[%emt 0:01:22]} 49. h5 {[%eval 0,25] [%emt 0:00:21]} Re2 {[%emt 0:01:55] (Tc7)} 50. Qa8+ {[%eval 0,24] [%emt 0:00:16]} Ke7 {[%emt 0:00:44] (Tc8)} 51. Kf3 {[%eval 0,24] [%emt 0:00:32]} Re5 {[%emt 0:00:48] (Tcc2)} 52. Qa7+ {[%eval 0,23] [%emt 0:00:11]} Kd8 {[%emt 0:00:47]} 53. Qd4 {[%eval 0,30] [%emt 0:00:26]} Ree1 {[%emt 0:00:47] (Tcc5)} 54. Bd5 {[%eval 0,24] [%emt 0:00:13]} Be7 {[%emt 0:01:18] (Tc2)} 55. Kg2 {[%eval 0,26] [%emt 0:00:19]} Re2 {[%emt 0:01:07]} 56. Bb3 {[%eval 0,30] [%emt 0:00:26]} Ke8 {[%emt 0:00:14] (Kd7)} 57. Qh8+ {[%eval 0,24] [%emt 0:00:18]} Bf8 {[%emt 0:00:58]} 58. Qd4 {[%eval -24,23] [%emt 0:00:20]} Rb1 {[%emt 0:01:02] (a5)} 59. Bd5 {[%eval 0,27] [%emt 0:00:16]} Rbb2 {[%emt 0:00:29]} 60. Bc6+ {[%eval 0,26] [%emt 0:01:01]} Ke7 {[%emt 0:00:38] (Kf7)} 61. g4 {[%eval -79,21] [%emt 0:00:48]} Rxf2+ {[%emt 0:00:37]} 62. Kh3 {[%eval -572,21] [%emt 0:00:08]} f4 {[%emt 0:00:53] (Tbe2)} 63. Qa7+ {[%eval -482,18] [%emt 0:00:11]} Ke6 {[%emt 0:00:40]} 0-1
[/pgn]
Release : Chess System Tal EXTREME
Moderator: Ras