Komodo Dragon vs GM Ben Finegold knight odds match.

[Cornfed]

Well, MCTS plays better vs. humans with Rapid time control, but here Komodo was giving 5 to 1 time odds as well (playing blitz vs Rapid), and I wasn't convinced that it would do better playing blitz with MCTS than with standard mode. It does worse against "simulated humans" when playing MCTS. But I guess I'm convinced now. We did give knight g1 odds in four of the six games.

Thinking of "simulated humans" and performance, be it standard chess/variants/odds games, isn't it mostly just that while an engine will play 'pretty close' to it's potential from one game to the next, a human's play vs an engine will vary quite a bit more from game to game (positions not comfortable with...time pressure...analysis issues (breaking off a line too early, etc), dog barking in the distance, the burrito from late last night coming back to say "hello!"... etc, etc, etc... and it varies even more in human vs human play because BOTH sides suffer from the same...uniquely 'human' issues.

[lkaufman]

Well, MCTS plays better vs. humans with Rapid time control, but here Komodo was giving 5 to 1 time odds as well (playing blitz vs Rapid), and I wasn't convinced that it would do better playing blitz with MCTS than with standard mode. It does worse against "simulated humans" when playing MCTS. But I guess I'm convinced now. We did give knight g1 odds in four of the six games.

Thinking of "simulated humans" and performance, be it standard chess/variants/odds games, isn't it mostly just that while an engine will play 'pretty close' to it's potential from one game to the next, a human's play vs an engine will vary quite a bit more from game to game (positions not comfortable with...time pressure...analysis issues (breaking off a line too early, etc), dog barking in the distance, the burrito from late last night coming back to say "hello!"... etc, etc, etc... and it varies even more in human vs human play because BOTH sides suffer from the same...uniquely 'human' issues.

While this is certainly true, I don't think that this is the main difference between human and "simulated human" play. I think it is more due to a fundamental difference in the "thought process" or "search tree". You might say it's due to the human doing a much more selective search. Maybe that is better exploited with MCTS, which allows for the likelihood that the opponent will choose substandard moves.

[lkaufman]

First Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. g3 f5 8. Ng5 Nb6
9. c3 Be7 10. h4 Bxg5 11. hxg5 Qe7 12. b3 Nd7 13. Rh3 b6 14. Be2 Bb7 15. Bh5+
Kd8 16. a4 Kc7 17. Kf2 d4 18. c4 Raf8 19. Ke2 a5 20. Bf3 Nb4 21. Bxb7 Kxb7 22.
Bd2 Kc7 23. Qf1 Nc2 24. Rc1 Ne3 25. Qf3 Ng4 26. Rh4 h6 27. g6 Qe8 28. Rg1 Qxg6
29. Kd1 Qe8 30. Kc1 Qa8 31. Qe2 Rfg8 32. Kd1 g5 33. Rh5 gxf4 34. Bxf4 Ne3+ 35.
Kc1 Rg4 36. Bxe3 dxe3 37. Qxe3 f4 38. gxf4 Rxg1+ 39. Qxg1 Qf3 40. Rh4 Qxd3 41.
Kb2 h5 42. Rh1 h4 43. Qg4 Qd4+ 44. Ka2 Qe4 45. Rh2 Qf5 46. Qd1 Qf8 47. Rh3 Rh7
48. Qd3 Qe7 49. Qg6 Nb8 50. Ka3 Nc6 51. Rh2 Qd7 52. f5 Nxe5 53. Qg1 Qd4 54. Qxd4
cxd4 55. c5 exf5 56. Re2 Nc6 57. b4 axb4+ 58. Kb2 bxc5 59. Rf2 h3 60. Rf1 h2 61.
Rh1 f4 62. Kc2 f3 63. Kd3 f2 64. Ke2 b3 65. Kxf2 b2 66. a5 b1=Q 67. Rxb1 h1=Q
68. Rxh1 Rxh1 69. a6 Ra1 70. a7 Rxa7 71. Kg3 Ra3+ 72. Kg2 Re3 73. Kf2 Kd6 74.
Kf1 Ke5 75. Kg2 c4 76. Kh2 c3 77. Kg2 c2 78. Kf2 Ke4 79. Kg2 d3 80. Kh2 d2 81.
Kg2 d1=Q 82. Kh2 Qd2+ 83. Kg1 c1=Q# 0-1 [pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[Chessqueen]

First Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. g3 f5 8. Ng5 Nb6
9. c3 Be7 10. h4 Bxg5 11. hxg5 Qe7 12. b3 Nd7 13. Rh3 b6 14. Be2 Bb7 15. Bh5+
Kd8 16. a4 Kc7 17. Kf2 d4 18. c4 Raf8 19. Ke2 a5 20. Bf3 Nb4 21. Bxb7 Kxb7 22.
Bd2 Kc7 23. Qf1 Nc2 24. Rc1 Ne3 25. Qf3 Ng4 26. Rh4 h6 27. g6 Qe8 28. Rg1 Qxg6
29. Kd1 Qe8 30. Kc1 Qa8 31. Qe2 Rfg8 32. Kd1 g5 33. Rh5 gxf4 34. Bxf4 Ne3+ 35.
Kc1 Rg4 36. Bxe3 dxe3 37. Qxe3 f4 38. gxf4 Rxg1+ 39. Qxg1 Qf3 40. Rh4 Qxd3 41.
Kb2 h5 42. Rh1 h4 43. Qg4 Qd4+ 44. Ka2 Qe4 45. Rh2 Qf5 46. Qd1 Qf8 47. Rh3 Rh7
48. Qd3 Qe7 49. Qg6 Nb8 50. Ka3 Nc6 51. Rh2 Qd7 52. f5 Nxe5 53. Qg1 Qd4 54. Qxd4
cxd4 55. c5 exf5 56. Re2 Nc6 57. b4 axb4+ 58. Kb2 bxc5 59. Rf2 h3 60. Rf1 h2 61.
Rh1 f4 62. Kc2 f3 63. Kd3 f2 64. Ke2 b3 65. Kxf2 b2 66. a5 b1=Q 67. Rxb1 h1=Q
68. Rxh1 Rxh1 69. a6 Ra1 70. a7 Rxa7 71. Kg3 Ra3+ 72. Kg2 Re3 73. Kf2 Kd6 74.
Kf1 Ke5 75. Kg2 c4 76. Kh2 c3 77. Kg2 c2 78. Kf2 Ke4 79. Kg2 d3 80. Kh2 d2 81.
Kg2 d1=Q 82. Kh2 Qd2+ 83. Kg1 c1=Q# 0-1 [pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

Why do this matches have to be in T/C of 15/10 , it should be done in T/C of 10/5, I believe that at the moment Komodo Dragon 2.6.x can only play even at that 10/5 T/C; I do understand that most humans GMs play at T/C 15/10 but we want to see a match where Komodo Dragon has a chance against GMs rated around GM Finegold and GM Smerdon strengths.

[lkaufman]

Second Game:

[Event "KnightOddsMatch"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 g6 4. c4 c6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. Bb2 O-O 7. O-O Bg4 8. d3
Nbd7 9. Rb1 a5 10. Qc2 e6 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Re8 13. a3 Qe7 14. Bd1 e5 15. Qd2
e4 16. d4 h5 17. Be2 Nf8 18. Bc3 Qd8 19. Rfc1 Ne6 20. b4 axb4 21. Bxb4 Qd7 22.
Bf1 Bf8 23. c5 Kh7 24. Qd1 Bh6 25. Rb3 h4 26. Rcb1 Ra7 27. Be2 Rg8 28. Bd2 g5
29. Kh1 Ne8 30. Bg4 N8g7 31. Be2 f5 32. a4 Ne8 33. Qg1 Nf6 34. Qh2 f4 35. Rb4
Qe7 36. R1b3 Rg7 37. Ra3 Qf7 38. Bd1 Nh5 39. Bg4 fxe3 40. Bxe3 Nhf4 41. Qg1 Qf6
42. a5 Rf7 43. Qf1 Nd3 44. Rxd3 exd3 45. Ra4 Nf4 46. Qd1 Re7 47. Kh2 Bg7 48. Ra3
Re4 49. Ra4 Kh6 50. Qe1 Qe7 51. Qd2 Ra8 52. Bf5 Rf8 53. Bxe4 Qxe4 54. f3 Qf5 55.
a6 bxa6 56. Rxa6 Rf6 57. Ra3 Re6 58. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 59. Qxf4 gxf4 60. Rxd3 Re3 61.
Rd2 Rc3 62. Kg1 Kg6 63. Kf1 Kf5 64. Ke2 Rc4 65. Ra2 Bxd4 66. Ra7 Rxc5 67. Rf7+
Bf6 68. Ra7 Rc2+ 69. Kd1 Rxg2 70. Ke1 Rg3 71. Ke2 Rxh3 72. Rf7 Rh2+ 73. Kf1 Ra2
74. Rc7 Rc2 75. Ke1 d4 76. Kd1 Rc3 77. Rh7 Rxf3 78. Ra7 h3 79. Ke2 Re3+ 80. Kd1
c5 81. Kc2 h2 82. Rh7 Re2+ 83. Kd3 Rg2 84. Kc4 Kg6 85. Rh3 f3 86. Kxc5 f2 87.
Rf3 h1=Q 88. Rxf6+ Kxf6 89. Kxd4 f1=Q 90. Kc5 Qhg1+ 91. Kc6 Rc2+ 92. Kb7 Qb5+
93. Ka8 Qa1# 0-1 [pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[lkaufman]

Third Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Bb3 d5 5. Qe2 dxe4 6. dxe4 Be6 7. Bxe6 fxe6 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. Nd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Qe8 11. Nc4 Nbd7 12. Kb1 a5 13. Bc1 b5 14. Nd2 a4
15. a3 Rd8 16. Nf3 Bc5 17. Ne1 Qe7 18. Nd3 Bd6 19. g4 Nc5 20. Nb4 Qc7 21. g5 Ne8
22. h4 Nb7 23. Qg4 Bxb4 24. axb4 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Qf7 26. h5 g6 27. Rh1 Ng7 28. h6
Nh5 29. Qh3 Nf4 30. Qe3 Qd7 31. Qc3 Qd6 32. Re1 c5 33. Bd2 cxb4 34. Qxb4 Qxb4
35. Bxb4 Rd8 36. Bc3 Nh3 37. Bxe5 Nxf2 38. Re2 Ng4 39. Bc3 Nd6 40. b3 axb3 41.
cxb3 Nf7 42. Bb2 Kf8 43. Ba3+ Ke8 44. Rc2 Kd7 45. Rd2+ Kc8 46. Rc2+ Kb7 47. Rc5
Kb6 48. Rc1 Nge5 49. Bc5+ Kb7 50. Bb4 Rd7 51. Rg1 Nc6 52. Bc3 b4 53. Bb2 e5 54.
Bc1 Nfd8 55. Be3 Ne6 56. Rf1 Ncd4 57. Bd2 Nxb3 58. Bxb4 Nxg5 59. Kc2 Nd4+ 60.
Kb2 Nxe4 61. Ba5 g5 62. Rc1 g4 63. Re1 Nc5 64. Rf1 Kc6 65. Rf8 Rb7+ 66. Kc3 Kd5
67. Rd8+ Ke4 68. Rg8 Na4+ 69. Kc4 Nb2+ 70. Kc5 Nd3+ 71. Kc4 Nb2+ 72. Kc5 Ne6+
73. Kc6 Rf7 74. Rxg4+ Rf4 75. Rg3 Nc4 76. Bc3 Rh4 77. Bb4 Rxh6 78. Rg4+ Nf4+ 79.
Kd7 Rg6 80. Rxg6 hxg6 81. Be7 Kf5 82. Bb4 g5 83. Kc6 g4 84. Kb5 Ne3 85. Bd6 g3
86. Bc7 g2 87. Bb8 g1=Q 88. Bc7 Qb1+ 89. Ka6 Ned5 90. Ka7 Ke6 91. Bb6 Qxb6+ 92.
Ka8 Nc7# 0-1[pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[lkaufman]

Fourth Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. g3 Nc6 7. Nf3 f5 8. Nh4 g6
9. Nf3 Be7 10. h4 h5 11. Bg2 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. a4 Qc7 14. c3 Nd8 15. d4 Nf7 16.
Rf2 Nh6 17. b4 cxb4 18. cxb4 Rc8 19. Rb2 Ng4 20. Bd2 Kf7 21. Bf1 Nb8 22. a5 bxa5
23. b5 Nd7 24. Bxa5 Nb6 25. Qb3 Qd7 26. Bc3 Ra8 27. Rba2 Rhc8 28. Bb4 Kg7 29.
Rxa7 Rxa7 30. Rxa7 Nh6 31. Ne1 Ra8 32. Rxa8 Bxa8 33. Bxe7 Qxe7 34. Qa2 Qc7 35.
Nd3 Nf7 36. Qa5 Nd8 37. Qa2 Kf7 38. Nc5 Bb7 39. Qa5 Ke7 40. Qa3 Kf7 41. Qa5 Ke7
42. Qb4 Kf7 43. Qa5 1/2-1/2[pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[lkaufman]

Fifth Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "1-0"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. f4 d5 2. b4 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb2 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 Bg4 7. O-O c6 8. a4
Nbd7 9. a5 Bxf3 10. gxf3 Ne8 11. d4 Nd6 12. c3 b5 13. Bc1 f5 14. Ra2 Nc4 15. Bd3
Nf6 16. Qe1 Kf7 17. Kf2 Qd7 18. Ke2 Rg8 19. Kd1 h6 20. Rg2 Nh5 21. Qh4 Bf6 22.
Qh3 Qe6 23. Re1 Nd6 24. Reg1 Rg7 25. Kc2 Rag8 26. Re2 Qc8 27. Kb3 e6 28. e4 dxe4
29. fxe4 fxe4 30. Bb1 Be7 31. Bxe4 Nxe4 32. Rxe4 Nf6 33. Re2 Qd7 34. Rge1 Qd5+
35. Kb2 Qf5 36. Qf3 Nd5 37. Re5 Qf6 38. Qe4 Re8 39. Rxe6 Qf5 40. Rxc6 Qxe4 41.
Rxe4 Bf8? 42. Re5 Rxe5 43. fxe5 g5 44. Kb3 h5 45. c4 bxc4+ 46. Kxc4 Nxb4 47. Rc8
Be7 48. d5 Nxd5? 49. Kxd5 Rg6 50. Rc7 a6 51. Ba3 Re6 52. Bd6 g4 53. Bxe7 Rxe7 54.
Rxe7+ Kxe7 55. Ke4 Ke6 56. Kf4 Kd5 57. Kf5 h4 58. Kxg4 Kxe5 59. Kxh4 1-0 [pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[lkaufman]

Sixth Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "6"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Nf6 5. Be2 d6 6. c4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Bd2 Re8 10. Rae1 b6 11. Bd1 Bb7 12. Bc2 Ne5 13. Qe2 c5 14. Bg5 h6 15. Be3
Nc6 16. f3 Kh7 17. Bb1 a6 18. a4 Nd4 19. Qd1 Nd7 20. Bf2 Ne5 21. b3 Nec6 22. f4
Na5 23. Re3 b5 24. cxb5 axb5 25. Nxb5 Ba6 26. Bd3 Ndxb3 27. Rg3 c4 28. Bc2 Bxb5
29. axb5 Rb8 30. b6 Rxb6 31. f5 Re5 32. Qg4 g5 33. f6 Bxf6 34. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 35.
Kh1 Kg7 36. Qh5 Qd8 37. Rh3 Qh8 38. Rxf6 Kxf6 39. Rf3+ Ke7 40. Qxf7+ Kd8 41. Qa7
Re8 42. g4 Qa1+ 43. Kg2 Qd4 44. Qb8+ Kd7 45. Rf7+ Re7 46. Rf8 Qd2+ 47. Rf2 Qd4
48. Rf8 Qd2+ 49. Rf2 Qd4 50. Rf8 1/2-1/2[pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

[Uri Blass]

Fourth Game

[Event "KnightOdds"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "PlayKomodo"]
[Black "GMBenjaminFinegold"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[pgn]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. g3 Nc6 7. Nf3 f5 8. Nh4 g6
9. Nf3 Be7 10. h4 h5 11. Bg2 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. a4 Qc7 14. c3 Nd8 15. d4 Nf7 16.
Rf2 Nh6 17. b4 cxb4 18. cxb4 Rc8 19. Rb2 Ng4 20. Bd2 Kf7 21. Bf1 Nb8 22. a5 bxa5
23. b5 Nd7 24. Bxa5 Nb6 25. Qb3 Qd7 26. Bc3 Ra8 27. Rba2 Rhc8 28. Bb4 Kg7 29.
Rxa7 Rxa7 30. Rxa7 Nh6 31. Ne1 Ra8 32. Rxa8 Bxa8 33. Bxe7 Qxe7 34. Qa2 Qc7 35.
Nd3 Nf7 36. Qa5 Nd8 37. Qa2 Kf7 38. Nc5 Bb7 39. Qa5 Ke7 40. Qa3 Kf7 41. Qa5 Ke7
42. Qb4 Kf7 43. Qa5 1/2-1/2[pgn][/pgn][/pgn]

I wonder why did komodo allow repetition so easily

42.Na4 Na8 43.Qa7 is also a draw based on stockfish but can make the game longer.