WCCC 2023?

[Eduard]

I didn't say a6 is bad. My engines have been playing Nc6 here for years. And I hardly ever lose! Here is a foto. Some of my books also play a6.



I think Nc6 is better because Black develops faster with it and immediately puts counter-pressure on the center and equalizes faster. Especially when playing on weak hardware, like in this software Wch, it is better for Black to play such moves.

Unfortunately, on move 24, the black side made a big mistake. The constant pressure on Black's position provoked the mistake.

[Ozymandias]

Compared with latest TCEC, Fritz and Stoofvlees exchanged places. Any reason besides low sample rate? New versions?

[Albert Silver]

Compared with latest TCEC, Fritz and Stoofvlees exchanged places. Any reason besides low sample rate? New versions?

Remember that TCEC uses an opening suite, while the respective teams in WCCC use their own opening books.

[Eduard]

This world championship says nothing about the playing strength of the engines. I'm sorry to say but Powerfritz 18 is one of the weakest engines I've tested. It's the world champion 2022. Am I unfair in saying that? See above, Stefan Pohl's ranking. A world champion in the no man's land of the table.

The fact is that the books play a big role. If I were to take Fat Fritz 2 today and play it on PlayChess (with my own tournament book), I don't think I would lose a game.

As for Stoofvlees, this engine plays much more heavily on GPUs. The Software World Championship failed to show how well this engine can play.

[pgn][Event "Round 6: Stoofvlees - Arasan"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/gCgPqzgv/onqOQHbR"]
[Date "2023.07.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Stoofvlees"]
[Black "Arasan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.12"]
[UTCTime "15:33:18"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A01"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/bigarrow"]

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be2 Nf6 7. d3 O-O 8. a3 Nd7
9. Nc3 Nc5 10. h4 h5 11. b4 Ne6 12. g3 Ne7 13. Bf1 f5 14. Bh3 Bd7 15. Qe2 c6
16. Qc2 b6 17. a4 Rc8 18. Rb1 f4 19. gxf4 exf4 20. Bxe6+ Bxe6 21. e4 Bg4 22.
Ng5 Bh6 23. Ba1 Bxg5 24. hxg5 Rf7 25. Qb2 Kh7 26. Rh4 Qd7 27. b5 Qe6 28. Ne2
Bxe2 29. Qxe2 f3 30. Qe3 d5 31. Bf6 dxc4 32. Qxf3 Kg8 33. Qh3 Rxf6 34. gxf6
Qxf6 35. e5 Qxe5+ 36. Re4 Qf5 37. Qxf5 Nxf5 38. bxc6 cxd3 39. Rc1 Rc7 40. Re8+
Kf7 41. Rd8 Ke6 42. Kd2 Ke7 43. Rxd3 Ke6 44. Rd8 Ke7 45. Rg8 Kf7 46. Rb8 Ke6
47. Rb7 Kd5 1-0[/pgn]

[Modern Times]

This world championship says nothing about the playing strength of the engines. I'm sorry to say but Powerfritz 18 is one of the weakest engines I've tested. It's the world champion 2022. Am I unfair in saying that?

As the saying goes, you have to be in to win. And furthermore, you can't force people to compete. So it is what it is.

[Engin]

It seems WCCC reached 1999 its peak with ~30 participants and now with 4 its low...

https://www.chessprogramming.org/WCCC_1999

currently there are 42 engines playing at TCEC...different format, more attractive.

https://tcec-chess.com/

--
Srdja

WCCC 1999 was the best ones since yet !!!

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

Stoofvlees performed better with GPUs allowed and is the 2023 World Computer Chess Champion, no playoffs or Armageddon needed.

Congratulations to Erdo for great book work. Getting decisive games at this level is amazing and paid off. Also thanks to the person that lended us competitive hardware, you know who you are.

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

Decisive games

[Event "Round 6: Stoofvlees - Arasan"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/gCgPqzgv/onqOQHbR"]
[White "Stoofvlees"]
[Black "Arasan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.12"]
[UTCTime "15:33:18"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A01"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/bigarrow"]

1. b3 { [%clk 0:45:26] } 1... e5 { [%clk 0:45:18] } 2. Bb2 { [%clk 0:45:37] } 2... Nc6 { [%clk 0:45:28] } 3. e3 { [%clk 0:45:51] } 3... d6 { [%clk 0:45:38] } 4. Nf3 { [%clk 0:46:03] } 4... g6 { [%clk 0:45:50] } 5. c4 { [%clk 0:46:15] } 5... Bg7 { [%clk 0:44:27] } 6. Be2 { [%clk 0:46:28] } 6... Nf6 { [%clk 0:42:26] } 7. d3 { [%clk 0:46:39] } 7... O-O { [%clk 0:40:36] } 8. a3 { [%clk 0:46:52] } 8... Nd7 { [%clk 0:38:35] } 9. Nc3 { [%clk 0:47:02] } 9... Nc5 { [%clk 0:37:13] } 10. h4 { [%clk 0:47:12] } 10... h5 { [%clk 0:36:08] } 11. b4 { [%clk 0:35:19] } 11... Ne6 { [%clk 0:35:04] } 12. g3 { [%clk 0:34:12] } 12... Ne7 { [%clk 0:34:08] } 13. Bf1 { [%clk 0:32:59] } 13... f5 { [%clk 0:33:09] } 14. Bh3 { [%clk 0:32:18] } 14... Bd7 { [%clk 0:31:42] } 15. Qe2 { [%clk 0:30:11] } 15... c6 { [%clk 0:30:11] } 16. Qc2 { [%clk 0:28:43] } 16... b6 { [%clk 0:29:17] } 17. a4 { [%clk 0:26:48] } 17... Rc8 { [%clk 0:28:05] } 18. Rb1 { [%clk 0:26:32] } 18... f4 { [%clk 0:27:15] } 19. gxf4 { [%clk 0:25:42] } 19... exf4 { [%clk 0:27:23] } 20. Bxe6+ { [%clk 0:25:16] } 20... Bxe6 { [%clk 0:27:06] } 21. e4 { [%clk 0:24:23] } 21... Bg4 { [%clk 0:27:01] } 22. Ng5 { [%clk 0:24:09] } 22... Bh6 { [%clk 0:25:08] } 23. Ba1 { [%clk 0:21:49] } 23... Bxg5 { [%clk 0:23:49] } 24. hxg5 { [%clk 0:22:00] } 24... Rf7 { [%clk 0:23:04] } 25. Qb2 { [%clk 0:21:11] } 25... Kh7 { [%clk 0:23:14] } 26. Rh4 { [%clk 0:19:25] } 26... Qd7 { [%clk 0:23:23] } 27. b5 { [%clk 0:19:35] } 27... Qe6 { [%clk 0:22:46] } 28. Ne2 { [%clk 0:19:38] } 28... Bxe2 { [%clk 0:22:12] } 29. Qxe2 { [%clk 0:19:27] } 29... f3 { [%clk 0:21:57] } 30. Qe3 { [%clk 0:19:29] } 30... d5 { [%clk 0:21:28] } 31. Bf6 { [%clk 0:19:35] } 31... dxc4 { [%clk 0:20:47] } 32. Qxf3 { [%clk 0:19:46] } 32... Kg8 { [%clk 0:20:16] } 33. Qh3 { [%clk 0:19:48] } 33... Rxf6 { [%clk 0:19:52] } 34. gxf6 { [%clk 0:19:38] } 34... Qxf6 { [%clk 0:19:40] } 35. e5 { [%clk 0:19:24] } 35... Qxe5+ { [%clk 0:19:17] } 36. Re4 { [%clk 0:19:02] } 36... Qf5 { [%clk 0:19:23] } 37. Qxf5 { [%clk 0:19:12] } 37... Nxf5 { [%clk 0:18:58] } 38. bxc6 { [%clk 0:18:42] } 38... cxd3 { [%clk 0:19:09] } 39. Rc1 { [%clk 0:18:33] } 39... Rc7 { [%clk 0:19:02] } 40. Re8+ { [%clk 0:18:00] } 40... Kf7 { [%clk 0:18:41] } 41. Rd8 { [%clk 0:18:12] } 41... Ke6 { [%clk 0:18:19] } 42. Kd2 { [%clk 0:18:23] } 42... Ke7 { [%clk 0:17:55] } 43. Rxd3 { [%clk 0:18:21] } 43... Ke6 { [%clk 0:17:34] } 44. Rd8 { [%clk 0:17:57] } 44... Ke7 { [%clk 0:16:17] } 45. Rg8 { [%clk 0:17:30] } 45... Kf7 { [%clk 0:16:05] } 46. Rb8 { [%clk 0:17:05] } 46... Ke6 { [%clk 0:15:15] } 47. Rb7 { [%clk 0:17:13] } 47... Kd5 1-0



[Event "Round 12: Stoofvlees - Arasan"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/f2q7ljTq/MiEIqTJw"]
[White "Stoofvlees"]
[Black "Arasan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.14"]
[UTCTime "10:13:11"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A01"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/bigarrow"]

1. b3 { [%clk 0:45:24] } 1... e5 { [%clk 0:45:16] } 2. Bb2 { [%clk 0:45:38] } 2... Nc6 { [%clk 0:45:28] } 3. e3 { [%clk 0:45:50] } 3... Nf6 { [%clk 0:45:40] } 4. Nf3 { [%clk 0:46:02] } 4... e4 { [%clk 0:45:52] } 5. Nd4 { [%clk 0:46:15] } 5... d5 { [%clk 0:46:04] } 6. Nxc6 { [%clk 0:46:26] } 6... bxc6 { [%clk 0:46:16] } 7. d3 { [%clk 0:46:38] } 7... Bd6 { [%clk 0:46:27] } 8. Nd2 { [%clk 0:46:50] } 8... Ng4 { [%clk 0:45:02] } 9. Qe2 { [%clk 0:47:03] } 9... exd3 { [%clk 0:42:54] } 10. cxd3 { [%clk 0:47:15] } 10... O-O { [%clk 0:41:22] } 11. g3 { [%clk 0:47:28] } 11... Ne5 { [%clk 0:39:49] } 12. Bg2 { [%clk 0:47:40] } 12... Bg4 { [%clk 0:38:29] } 13. f3 { [%clk 0:47:51] } 13... Bc8 { [%clk 0:37:00] } 14. f4 { [%clk 0:45:34] } 14... Bg4 { [%clk 0:37:11] } 15. Qf1 { [%clk 0:43:11] } 15... f6 { [%clk 0:36:17] } 16. h3 { [%clk 0:42:32] } 16... Bh5 { [%clk 0:35:20] } 17. g4 { [%clk 0:42:14] } 17... Bg6 { [%clk 0:34:39] } 18. fxe5 { [%clk 0:42:02] } 18... fxe5 { [%clk 0:34:09] } 19. Qg1 { [%clk 0:41:10] } 19... Bb4 { [%clk 0:33:59] } 20. Ke2 { [%clk 0:40:38] } 20... e4 { [%clk 0:33:30] } 21. d4 { [%clk 0:40:47] } 21... Qb8 { [%clk 0:32:17] } 22. Kd1 { [%clk 0:39:58] } 22... a5 { [%clk 0:32:07] } 23. Qe1 { [%clk 0:40:07] } 23... c5 { [%clk 0:30:24] } 24. a3 { [%clk 0:39:32] } 24... Bxd2 { [%clk 0:30:01] } 25. Qxd2 { [%clk 0:38:58] } 25... Qxb3+ { [%clk 0:29:20] } 26. Ke1 { [%clk 0:38:37] } 26... c4 { [%clk 0:28:54] } 27. Bc3 { [%clk 0:38:14] } 27... h5 { [%clk 0:28:12] } 28. Rf1 { [%clk 0:38:04] } 28... Bf7 { [%clk 0:27:41] } 29. a4 { [%clk 0:36:49] } 29... Ra6 { [%clk 0:27:53] } 30. Qb2 { [%clk 0:35:36] } 30... Qxb2 { [%clk 0:28:03] } 31. Bxb2 { [%clk 0:35:08] } 31... hxg4 { [%clk 0:27:51] } 32. hxg4 { [%clk 0:34:43] } 32... Rg6 { [%clk 0:26:47] } 33. Rf2 { [%clk 0:33:30] } 33... Ra8 { [%clk 0:26:14] } 34. Bf1 { [%clk 0:32:09] } 34... Rxg4 { [%clk 0:26:24] } 35. Rg2 { [%clk 0:30:21] } 35... Bh5 { [%clk 0:25:30] } 36. Rxg4 { [%clk 0:29:20] } 36... Bxg4 { [%clk 0:25:37] } 37. Bc3 { [%clk 0:27:39] } 37... Kf7 { [%clk 0:24:08] } 38. Be2 { [%clk 0:27:47] } 38... Bxe2 { [%clk 0:24:15] } 39. Kxe2 { [%clk 0:27:39] } 39... c6 { [%clk 0:22:29] } 40. Kf2 { [%clk 0:27:47] } 40... Kf6 { [%clk 0:21:43] } 41. Rb1 { [%clk 0:26:58] } 41... Ke6 { [%clk 0:21:28] } 42. Rb6 { [%clk 0:25:44] } 42... Kd6 { [%clk 0:21:40] } 43. Rb7 { [%clk 0:24:39] } 43... g5 { [%clk 0:21:51] } 44. Kg3 { [%clk 0:23:35] } 44... Ke6 { [%clk 0:22:01] } 45. Rc7 { [%clk 0:22:28] } 45... Kd6 { [%clk 0:21:07] } 46. Rh7 { [%clk 0:22:39] } 46... Rb8 { [%clk 0:21:00] } 47. Kg4 { [%clk 0:22:02] } 47... Ke6 { [%clk 0:19:51] } 48. Bxa5 { [%clk 0:22:11] } 48... Ra8 { [%clk 0:20:01] } 49. Bc7 { [%clk 0:22:07] } 49... Rxa4 { [%clk 0:19:37] } 50. Be5 { [%clk 0:22:15] } 50... Ra6 { [%clk 0:18:49] } 51. Rh8 { [%clk 0:21:59] } 51... c3 { [%clk 0:18:17] } 52. Rh2 { [%clk 0:21:15] } 52... Kd7 { [%clk 0:18:20] } 53. Kxg5 { [%clk 0:20:39] } 53... Ke6 { [%clk 0:18:31] } 54. Bf4 { [%clk 0:19:33] } 54... Rb6 { [%clk 0:18:06] } 55. Rc2 { [%clk 0:19:02] } 55... Rb3 { [%clk 0:18:19] } 56. Bg3 { [%clk 0:17:27] } 56... Ra3 { [%clk 0:18:04] } 57. Kf4 { [%clk 0:17:30] } 57... Rb3 { [%clk 0:17:38] } 58. Rc1 { [%clk 0:17:09] } 58... Ra3 { [%clk 0:17:51] } 59. Be1 { [%clk 0:16:29] } 59... Ra8 { [%clk 0:18:01] } 60. Rxc3 { [%clk 0:15:42] } 60... Rf8+ { [%clk 0:18:10] } 61. Kg4 { [%clk 0:15:13] } 61... Rg8+ { [%clk 0:18:14] } 62. Kh3 { [%clk 0:15:06] } 62... Kd6 { [%clk 0:17:35] } 63. Rc1 { [%clk 0:14:07] } 63... Rh8+ { [%clk 0:16:44] } 64. Bh4 { [%clk 0:13:40] } 64... Rg8 { [%clk 0:16:58] } 65. Bg3+ 1-0

[Albert Silver]

Stoofvlees performed better with GPUs allowed and is the 2023 World Computer Chess Champion, no playoffs or Armageddon needed.

Congratulations to Erdo for great book work. Getting decisive games at this level is amazing and paid off. Also thanks to the person that lended us competitive hardware, you know who you are.

Warmest congratulations!!! Well-deserved! I heavily enjoyed the 4th round game, albeit a draw, and even made a video of it.

[Stephen Ham]

Hi Albert,

I really enjoyed your Fritz-Stoofvlees game video. Excellent work!

All the very best,
-Steve-