Komodo Dragon vs GM Ben Finegold knight odds match.

[lkaufman]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

In previous Rapid matches giving knight odds, Dragon defeated I.M. Andras Toth by 4.5 to 1.5, lost to GM Anthony Wirig by 6 to 3 (although "winning" by 5 to 4 due to draws counting as wins for Dragon per agreement), and lost to GM Eugene Perelshteyn by 4 to 2. So although we have lost both past matches with GMs by normal scoring, we have a total record giving knight odds against this titled field (averaging 2470 FIDE) of 6 wins, 8 losses, and 7 draws, or 45%, for a 2437 elo performance. In view of Finegold's proficiency in fast chess, I expect we'll lose this match too, I just hope it will be reasonably competitive.

[Graham Banks]

Looking forward to it.

[AdminX]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

In previous Rapid matches giving knight odds, Dragon defeated I.M. Andras Toth by 4.5 to 1.5, lost to GM Anthony Wirig by 6 to 3 (although "winning" by 5 to 4 due to draws counting as wins for Dragon per agreement), and lost to GM Eugene Perelshteyn by 4 to 2. So although we have lost both past matches with GMs by normal scoring, we have a total record giving knight odds against this titled field (averaging 2470 FIDE) of 6 wins, 8 losses, and 7 draws, or 45%, for a 2437 elo performance. In view of Finegold's proficiency in fast chess, I expect we'll lose this match too, I just hope it will be reasonably competitive.

Do you know if he will be playing from home or at the Atlanta chess club? If at the chess club I would not mind viewing it live at the club. It is only about a little over an hours drive for me.

[Uri Blass]

I believe that commenting during the game reduce the playing strength of the human player so it is better for him not to comment about the game during the game.

[Chessqueen]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

You should not provide GM Ben Finegold a copy of Komodo Dragon 2.6.1 until the afternoon before of Jan 14 or the morning of Jan 15 giving him only hours to practice and prepare a cook win against Komodo Dragon. When you were close to Finegold age at 54 back in July 2001 your rating was also close to the rating that Finegold is now, since you were rated 2424 https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2000555/chart

Note: There should be 5 minutes after each game, so GM Finegold can make his comments about each of his previous games, and by the same idea he can be more concentrated on each of his his game. Lets see if Ben Finegold can apply everything that he said back in 2020 when GM Smerdon was playing versus Komodo Dragon at Knight Odds.

[lkaufman]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

In previous Rapid matches giving knight odds, Dragon defeated I.M. Andras Toth by 4.5 to 1.5, lost to GM Anthony Wirig by 6 to 3 (although "winning" by 5 to 4 due to draws counting as wins for Dragon per agreement), and lost to GM Eugene Perelshteyn by 4 to 2. So although we have lost both past matches with GMs by normal scoring, we have a total record giving knight odds against this titled field (averaging 2470 FIDE) of 6 wins, 8 losses, and 7 draws, or 45%, for a 2437 elo performance. In view of Finegold's proficiency in fast chess, I expect we'll lose this match too, I just hope it will be reasonably competitive.

Do you know if he will be playing from home or at the Atlanta chess club? If at the chess club I would not mind viewing it live at the club. It is only about a little over an hours drive for me.

I don't know; I had heard that the chess club was closing, but I'm not sure when or if that is the latest information.

[lkaufman]

I believe that commenting during the game reduce the playing strength of the human player so it is better for him not to comment about the game during the game.

That's up to him; I imagine he'll make some comments during the game, but leave detailed analysis to the breaks between the games. I don't think it hurts playing strength much to say things like "better move my knight that he attacked" for example.

[lkaufman]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

You should not provide GM Ben Finegold a copy of Komodo Dragon 2.6.1 until the afternoon before of Jan 14 or the morning of Jan 15 giving him only hours to practice and prepare a cook win against Komodo Dragon. When you were close to Finegold age at 54 back in July 2001 your rating was also close to the rating that Finegold is now, since you were rated 2424 https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2000555/chart

Note: There should be 5 minutes after each game, so GM Finegold can make his comments about each of his previous games, and by the same idea he can be more concentrated on each of his his game. Lets see if Ben Finegold can apply everything that he said back in 2020 when GM Smerdon was playing versus Komodo Dragon at Knight Odds.

He already has Dragon 2.6.1, but using a different net and an opening book should make it unlikely that he can "prepare a cook win". He will remain a piece ahead after the first eight moves or so, but will probably have to think for himself after that. If Finegold were a randomly chosen player with a 2446 FIDE rating, Dragon might be the favorite, but his 2802 chess.com blitz rating probably means that in Rapid his FIDE strength is still well over the 2500 rating needed to earn the GM title normally. Probably about same Rapid strength as GM Wirig was, and he won 6 to 3 by normal scoring.

[Marcus9]

On Jan.15, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Komodo Dragon will take on GM Ben Finegold in a six game Rapid match giving him knight odds. Finegold will play with standard Rapid time control (15' + 10"), while Dragon will be playing blitz (3' + 2"), although the clocks will display as if both are playing Rapid. The match will be played on chess.com and broadcast on Twitch ( with Finegold commenting during and/or after games. Match flyer https://atlchessclub.com/Flyers/Finegol ... hFlyer.jpg. Komodo plays White as is standard when giving knight odds, removing b1 or g1 knight, my choice before each game (though both options will be used). Hardware expected to be my 32 core Threadripper. Dragon version expected to be 2.6.1 or very close to it, but perhaps with a different net. Settings at my discretion. The match should be available for viewing on YouTube afterwards, so European fans can still watch the event without having to stay up all night. Likely duration of the match with breaks is between 3 and 4 hours. There is prize money per game as well as for the match, so all games will be played with something at stake even if match victory is decided before the end. Finegold will have a copy of Dragon 2.6.1 in advance for practice.

Ben Finegold, age 52, is FIDE rated 2446, FIDE blitz rated 2501 (no FIDE rapid rating), and chess.com Blitz 2802. His peak FIDE rating was 2563 in 2006, he was among the very best blitz players in the U.S. for many years, and based on his chess.com blitz rating is still a very strong grandmaster in fast games. He is also well known for his entertaining commentary as a streamer.

In previous Rapid matches giving knight odds, Dragon defeated I.M. Andras Toth by 4.5 to 1.5, lost to GM Anthony Wirig by 6 to 3 (although "winning" by 5 to 4 due to draws counting as wins for Dragon per agreement), and lost to GM Eugene Perelshteyn by 4 to 2. So although we have lost both past matches with GMs by normal scoring, we have a total record giving knight odds against this titled field (averaging 2470 FIDE) of 6 wins, 8 losses, and 7 draws, or 45%, for a 2437 elo performance. In view of Finegold's proficiency in fast chess, I expect we'll lose this match too, I just hope it will be reasonably competitive.

Will Drago play in MCTS or classic mode?

[glav]

I believe that commenting during the game reduce the playing strength of the human player so it is better for him not to comment about the game during the game.

Correct, but we would miss a lot of fun.