Lenderman vs. Komodo

[lkaufman]

Our next handicap match, coming up in less than a week, is a six game match between Komodo and World Open Champion GM Alex Lenderman. Time limit (45' + 15") and handicaps (four games at f7 odds, two games at rook a1 for knight b8 (moving rook to b8) will be the same as in the recent match with GM Sergei Movsesian. Lenderman just made it to the rapid playoffs last weekend in the Millionaire chess tournament, which should boost his FIDE rating to around 2640 or so, just a bit below Movsesian. But Alex is only 26 years old, rising steadily, and will have a much less tiring schedule, with just two games a day with four hour break in between games. He also has the benefit of being able to use the Movsesian games to prepare, and he was already playing top engines in quick games at f7 handicap for practice even before this match was set. He has been given Komodo 9.2 with which to practice. Games are scheduled for noon and 6 pm Eastern time on Oct. 20,21, and 22. Hardware is expected to be my 24 core xeon machine. As usual we will have a small handicap opening book to provide variety. Coverage is expected on chess.com. Lenderman will be playing at my home in Maryland in the same room with the computer. He will receive $400 per win and $150 per draw.
In view of all the above factors, I expect Lenderman to score better than Movsesian, who managed just three draws and three losses. On the other hand, I defeated Lenderman myself in the World Open just two years ago, so maybe Komodo can also do so despite the handicaps. But Lenderman has clearly improved in the past two years. This will also serve as a warm-up for Komodo for the Nakamura match two weeks later. Perhaps we'll learn things that will help us in that match.

[TShackel]

Congrats on getting another strong GM to play against Komodo. This will be a nice warmup for the Nakamura game.

Sincerely,

Tim.

[lkaufman]

So far the results predict a pretty even match. If Komodo fails to win this match, it probably won't do well against Nakamura.

[Vinvin]

So far the results predict a pretty even match. If Komodo fails to win this match, it probably won't do well against Nakamura.

I voted 3-3.
Do we already have details for the match vs Nakamura ?

[Laskos]

4/6 for Komodo. Will it be a newer than 9.2 version? What will be the contempt?

[Jesse Gersenson]

2/6.

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

4.5 or more....

Unfortunately the humans are good for nothing against the silicon beasts since many many moons ago....
Dr.D

[lkaufman]

4/6 for Komodo. Will it be a newer than 9.2 version? What will be the contempt?

Yes, it will be newer than 9.2, even newer than tcec version. For contempt I was thinking 40 for f7 and 50 for Exchange odds, though this is not final.

[lkaufman]

So far the results predict a pretty even match. If Komodo fails to win this match, it probably won't do well against Nakamura.

I voted 3-3.
Do we already have details for the match vs Nakamura ?

Yes. Two games at rook for knight (same as Lenderman), two games at "f" pawn odds (but switching colors for Nakamura, so one as White without f2 and one as Black without f7), one gamesat four move odds (no crossing midline), and one with Komodo starting 1...f6? and 2...Kf7?, wasting two moves and forfeiting castling. Usual time limit (45' + 15").

[lkaufman]

So the results of the poll are an exact tie between those expecting a Komodo victory and those expecting a Lenderman victory, with a few predicting a tie score. We couldn't ask for a closer match in terms of expectations.
Lenderman is here, and based on his comments he has done a reasonable job in analyzing the f7 handicap, and will play it as it should be played, meaning to exploit the substantial positional advantage (space, development, king safety), not just the pawn. He will be playing to win, but will bail out with a draw if his advantage becomes small. Correct strategy, I think. He declined to make a forecast, but indicated that he will not be unhappy with a tie score.
Coverage is planned on chess.com at least for the noon games, not sure yet about the evening rounds.