Navara vs Leela Knight Odds Match

[lkaufman]

A knight odds match has been announced between GM David Navara (FIDE Rapid rating 2701, world number 24 Rapid) and LeelaKnightOdds on LiChess this Saturday. 1400 UTC is 10 a.m. in eastern US, 3 pm CET. Alternating between b1 and g1 knight odds, initial time control 5'3"; after every pair of games time control may be raised or lowered depending on the results to make for a competitive match. David was over 2750 in both Classical and Rapid (and over 2800 FIDE blitz) within the past decade, with a peak classical ranking as world number 13. He is the strongest player ever to take on a computer at knight odds in a public match. Note that the three hour duration is only an estimate; we don't know what the actual time limits will be for the last eight games so it could be anywhere from two to four hours roughly depending on results.

Based on results vs. other strong players, mostly in blitz or bullet, I would not expect David to be able to reduce the time limit, but who knows? Rather than predicting the score, the question is to predict what will be the final time limit for the last two games, given that it will probably be increased if he fails to win either game of a pair? 2+1, 3+2, 5+3, 10+2, 10+5, 15+5, 15+10? Can an engine really give knight odds successfully to a top-25 Rapid GM in a serious Rapid match, or is that possible only in blitz? We shall see.

2+1, 3+2, 5+3, 10+2, 10+5, 15+5, 15+10?


I think it is more logical to increase both the base and the increment in all cases so more logical may be something like

2+1, 3+2, 5+3, 8+4, 10+5, 13+7, 15+10

That was indeed more logical, but David proposed to use time limits with which he has some actual practical experience, which of course makes sense so that's what was chosen. 8+4 may be more logical than 10 + 2, but 10 + 2 is the main time limit of chess.com Rapid events for titled players now, so I assume that's why David preferred it.

[lkaufman]

GM Matthew Sadler plans to stream the match and comment. Meanwhile there have been 24 games at 5'3" by players rated over 2500 blitz since the match net was put online, with 19 wins, 2 losses, and 3 draws for a 2956 performance rating compared to Navara's blitz rating of 2876. So he is an underdog at 5'3" but should do okay if and when it goes up to 10'2". But there are other variables; the match hardware is better, but Navara has more incentive to score well than a player playing just for fun, so you can't rely too much on the math. Incidentally a similar calculation for the Rook odds bot gives a 2645 performance, roughly a typical blitz rating of a "par" grandmaster, so even a rook odds match with a 2500 FIDE level GM might be fair at 5'3"!

[Chessqueen]

GM Matthew Sadler plans to stream the match and comment. Meanwhile there have been 24 games at 5'3" by players rated over 2500 blitz since the match net was put online, with 19 wins, 2 losses, and 3 draws for a 2956 performance rating compared to Navara's blitz rating of 2876. So he is an underdog at 5'3" but should do okay if and when it goes up to 10'2". But there are other variables; the match hardware is better, but Navara has more incentive to score well than a player playing just for fun, so you can't rely too much on the math. Incidentally a similar calculation for the Rook odds bot gives a 2645 performance, roughly a typical blitz rating of a "par" grandmaster, so even a rook odds match with a 2500 FIDE level GM might be fair at 5'3"!

Is GM Finegold better than GM Navarra playing against Knight Odds, what is your opinion?

[lkaufman]

GM Matthew Sadler plans to stream the match and comment. Meanwhile there have been 24 games at 5'3" by players rated over 2500 blitz since the match net was put online, with 19 wins, 2 losses, and 3 draws for a 2956 performance rating compared to Navara's blitz rating of 2876. So he is an underdog at 5'3" but should do okay if and when it goes up to 10'2". But there are other variables; the match hardware is better, but Navara has more incentive to score well than a player playing just for fun, so you can't rely too much on the math. Incidentally a similar calculation for the Rook odds bot gives a 2645 performance, roughly a typical blitz rating of a "par" grandmaster, so even a rook odds match with a 2500 FIDE level GM might be fair at 5'3"!

Is GM Finegold better than GM Navarra playing against Knight Odds, what is your opinion?

Ben Finegold, Eugene Perelshteyn and Anthony Wirig all scored 67% vs Komodo Dragon with knight odds in 15'10" rapid. Although Ben is lower rated than the other two in classical, probably they are all about the same strength in Rapid since Ben is known to be good in blitz. So it appears that results in these odds matches correlate well with normal (Rapid) chess strength. Navara is roughly a class stronger than those three players in Rapid, so presumably a much tougher opponent for the engine.

[AdminX]

A few hours to go, this will be the 1st chess event I've viewed in a while. I am looking forward to it.

[Chessqueen]

We haven't had any official games with Komodo or Dragon giving Rook odds to a Master Human Player ?

[Chessqueen]

A few hours to go, this will be the 1st chess event I've viewed in a while. I am looking forward to it.

Where can I watch this match L I V E, where is the Direct LINK ?
Who was this GM playing Knight Odds Vs Leela ?

[AdminX]

Follow LeelaKnightOdds @ Lichess.org

[Chessqueen]

Follow LeelaKnightOdds @ Lichess.org

THANKS ==> https://lichess.org/oxNEKp40

[AdminX]

GM Matthew Sadler comments: