next chess.com handicap match

[lkaufman]

Our next Komodo vs. human handicap match has been scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 on chess.com, 1 and 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight time each day. The opponent is IM Yaacov Norowitz, FIDE 2425, FIDE rapid 2462, USCF 2516, born 1982. Commentary will be by Danny Rensch, so Yaacov will focus solely on the games. Time limit our standard 45 min + 15 sec, though Komodo will not get operator time so I'll have to set Komodo's level somewhat faster than this. Four game match. Yaacov is especially renowned as a blitz player, he usually has online blitz ratings typical of GMs, and his USCF blitz rating is 2632.
Here are the handicaps: Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before.
Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before.
Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).
Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). We beat FM John Meyer with this one, but Yaacov is about 300 Elo higher rated.
I have a feeling that I may have been too generous with the handicaps this time, considering all the above factors, but chess.com has never witnessed a match victory by any human over Komodo (just two drawn matches) and has only witnessed a single game victory by a human (GM Simon Williams, at pawn (f7) and three moves handicap), so I wanted to give them a real shot at a match win. How will Komodo score?

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Our next Komodo vs. human handicap match has been scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 on chess.com, 1 and 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight time each day. The opponent is IM Yaacov Norowitz, FIDE 2425, FIDE rapid 2462, USCF 2516, born 1982. Commentary will be by Danny Rensch, so Yaacov will focus solely on the games. Time limit our standard 45 min + 15 sec, though Komodo will not get operator time so I'll have to set Komodo's level somewhat faster than this. Four game match. Yaacov is especially renowned as a blitz player, he usually has online blitz ratings typical of GMs, and his USCF blitz rating is 2632.
Here are the handicaps: Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before.
Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before.
Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).
Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). We beat FM John Meyer with this one, but Yaacov is about 300 Elo higher rated.
I have a feeling that I may have been too generous with the handicaps this time, considering all the above factors, but chess.com has never witnessed a match victory by any human over Komodo (just two drawn matches) and has only witnessed a single game victory by a human (GM Simon Williams, at pawn (f7) and three moves handicap), so I wanted to give them a real shot at a match win. How will Komodo score?

now that Danny will be only commenting, I hope for a much better human score.

[JJJ]

Our next Komodo vs. human handicap match has been scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 on chess.com, 1 and 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight time each day. The opponent is IM Yaacov Norowitz, FIDE 2425, FIDE rapid 2462, USCF 2516, born 1982. Commentary will be by Danny Rensch, so Yaacov will focus solely on the games. Time limit our standard 45 min + 15 sec, though Komodo will not get operator time so I'll have to set Komodo's level somewhat faster than this. Four game match. Yaacov is especially renowned as a blitz player, he usually has online blitz ratings typical of GMs, and his USCF blitz rating is 2632.
Here are the handicaps: Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before.
Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before.
Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).
Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). We beat FM John Meyer with this one, but Yaacov is about 300 Elo higher rated.
I have a feeling that I may have been too generous with the handicaps this time, considering all the above factors, but chess.com has never witnessed a match victory by any human over Komodo (just two drawn matches) and has only witnessed a single game victory by a human (GM Simon Williams, at pawn (f7) and three moves handicap), so I wanted to give them a real shot at a match win. How will Komodo score?

IM is slighty favorite in all handicap but the one with king on e4. I would say 2 win, 1 loose and 1 draw for Yaacov Norowitz. We ll see.

[jd1]

I think the IM will convert at least one of the knight for pawn games, if not both, but will lose (or maybe draw one) both other games.

So I voted for 2/4.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before. this one is no different from any other 2 panws handicap, except f2/c2 pawns, so maybe human will lose or draw

Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before. this one is extremely easy, almost full knight odds handicap, so I expect human will win

Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).

this one will be won by Komodo, very difficult position for the human

Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). much more difficult than game 2, so maybe draw or human will win

overall, I expect human will score 2 or at least 1.5 points out of 4.

[lkaufman]

Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before. this one is no different from any other 2 panws handicap, except f2/c2 pawns, so maybe human will lose or draw

Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before. this one is extremely easy, almost full knight odds handicap, so I expect human will win

Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).

this one will be won by Komodo, very difficult position for the human

Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). much more difficult than game 2, so maybe draw or human will win

overall, I expect human will score 2 or at least 1.5 points out of 4.

I find it interesting that you consider game 4 much more difficult for human than game 2, although computer evals are similar. I suppose you consider the "c" pawn more valuable than the "b" pawn because it is closer to the center, which of course is true, but it is also more in the way of pieces. Anyway, I'd like to hear your reasons for saying this.
As for the two pawns, my opinion is that whenever this "f" or "g" pawn is removed it is much worse than otherwise.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before. this one is no different from any other 2 panws handicap, except f2/c2 pawns, so maybe human will lose or draw

Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before. this one is extremely easy, almost full knight odds handicap, so I expect human will win

Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).

this one will be won by Komodo, very difficult position for the human

Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). much more difficult than game 2, so maybe draw or human will win

overall, I expect human will score 2 or at least 1.5 points out of 4.

I find it interesting that you consider game 4 much more difficult for human than game 2, although computer evals are similar. I suppose you consider the "c" pawn more valuable than the "b" pawn because it is closer to the center, which of course is true, but it is also more in the way of pieces. Anyway, I'd like to hear your reasons for saying this.
As for the two pawns, my opinion is that whenever this "f" or "g" pawn is removed it is much worse than otherwise.

I am not able to philosophise right now, I just played some games, and the position with c pawn removed is much more difficult for me.
might be just my personal conception, but I doubt that.

maybe simply SF can not build some powerful pawn center when the opponent also has c pawn, but does that quite successfully with only b pawn removed.

what do you mean f or g pawns removed?
in the present case, we have f and b pawns eliminated.
while the b pawn is non-central, Komodo/SF is able to pretty much quickly organise counterplay and start attacking, as the light-square bishop easily develops on b7.

anyway, I played just very few games, so I might have got some wrong conclusions.

what I know for certain is that the human has very realistic chances to win the N for b7 pawn handicap.

[lkaufman]

Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before. this one is no different from any other 2 panws handicap, except f2/c2 pawns, so maybe human will lose or draw

Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before. this one is extremely easy, almost full knight odds handicap, so I expect human will win

Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).

this one will be won by Komodo, very difficult position for the human

Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). much more difficult than game 2, so maybe draw or human will win

overall, I expect human will score 2 or at least 1.5 points out of 4.

I find it interesting that you consider game 4 much more difficult for human than game 2, although computer evals are similar. I suppose you consider the "c" pawn more valuable than the "b" pawn because it is closer to the center, which of course is true, but it is also more in the way of pieces. Anyway, I'd like to hear your reasons for saying this.
As for the two pawns, my opinion is that whenever this "f" or "g" pawn is removed it is much worse than otherwise.

I am not able to philosophise right now, I just played some games, and the position with c pawn removed is much more difficult for me.
might be just my personal conception, but I doubt that.

maybe simply SF can not build some powerful pawn center when the opponent also has c pawn, but does that quite successfully with only b pawn removed.

what do you mean f or g pawns removed?
in the present case, we have f and b pawns eliminated.
while the b pawn is non-central, Komodo/SF is able to pretty much quickly organise counterplay and start attacking, as the light-square bishop easily develops on b7.

anyway, I played just very few games, so I might have got some wrong conclusions.

what I know for certain is that the human has very realistic chances to win the N for b7 pawn handicap.

Regarding the two pawn handicap, I mean that when either of the two is "f" or "g" it is much bigger handicap than otherwise, because instead of the absent pawn aiding development, it hinders development due to the weak king. So f7+ b7, which Norowitz will get, is much larger handicap than the c7 + b7 that Rensch got. I expect Norowitz to win the match, though it should be close. I think he will do very well at this sort of event, as he is not a player who relies much on opening theory, but is an excellent tactician. We have never given odds this large to a GM (except for the one game we lost to Simon Williams at f7 and three moves), and although Norowitz is only an IM I think he will perform like a GM under these conditions. But I think chess.com will be happy if he indeed does win the match.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Game 1. f7 and b7 pawns. Never tried before. this one is no different from any other 2 panws handicap, except f2/c2 pawns, so maybe human will lose or draw

Game 2. Knight (b1) for pawn (b7). Never tried before. this one is extremely easy, almost full knight odds handicap, so I expect human will win

Game 3. Black King starts on e4, pawn on f6, White to move (We beat FM Andy Samuelson with this handicap, but Yaacov is a much stronger player).

this one will be won by Komodo, very difficult position for the human

Game 4. Knight (b1) for pawn (c7). much more difficult than game 2, so maybe draw or human will win

overall, I expect human will score 2 or at least 1.5 points out of 4.

I find it interesting that you consider game 4 much more difficult for human than game 2, although computer evals are similar. I suppose you consider the "c" pawn more valuable than the "b" pawn because it is closer to the center, which of course is true, but it is also more in the way of pieces. Anyway, I'd like to hear your reasons for saying this.
As for the two pawns, my opinion is that whenever this "f" or "g" pawn is removed it is much worse than otherwise.

I am not able to philosophise right now, I just played some games, and the position with c pawn removed is much more difficult for me.
might be just my personal conception, but I doubt that.

maybe simply SF can not build some powerful pawn center when the opponent also has c pawn, but does that quite successfully with only b pawn removed.

what do you mean f or g pawns removed?
in the present case, we have f and b pawns eliminated.
while the b pawn is non-central, Komodo/SF is able to pretty much quickly organise counterplay and start attacking, as the light-square bishop easily develops on b7.

anyway, I played just very few games, so I might have got some wrong conclusions.

what I know for certain is that the human has very realistic chances to win the N for b7 pawn handicap.

Regarding the two pawn handicap, I mean that when either of the two is "f" or "g" it is much bigger handicap than otherwise, because instead of the absent pawn aiding development, it hinders development due to the weak king. So f7+ b7, which Norowitz will get, is much larger handicap than the c7 + b7 that Rensch got. I expect Norowitz to win the match, though it should be close. I think he will do very well at this sort of event, as he is not a player who relies much on opening theory, but is an excellent tactician. We have never given odds this large to a GM (except for the one game we lost to Simon Williams at f7 and three moves), and although Norowitz is only an IM I think he will perform like a GM under these conditions. But I think chess.com will be happy if he indeed does win the match.

almost see no difference between c7/b7 and b7/f7 in terms of game play, but might be only personal impression.

you are right though that this is the most you have given to a strong player overall(primarily because of the N for B7 pawn), excluding only the c2/f2 handicap.

[Michael Sherwin]

Hi Larry, Would handicap testing of midrange engines against top engines be a valid testing regime for releasing a new version of a midrange engine?