Stockfish wins the jubilee edition of the TCEC Cup
By Sergio
Posted on May 27, 2022
Indomitable engine Stockfish, having already won the TCEC Season 22, won the TCEC Cup 10 by defeating Komodo Dragon in the finals. After Stockfish’s dominant performance in Premier Division and record-setting victory against Komodo Dragon in the Superfinal, few people would bet against Stockfish winning the Cup. The short matches of the Cup meant that small sample size effects are magnified, and it is possible another engine will score an upset. Still, Stockfish lived up to its billing. (https://www.chessdom.com/stockfish-wins-the-jubilee-edition-of-the-tcec-cup/)
So there I was, surfin’ the interwovenwebofallthings, landing at the website of chessdom.com, home of the computer program Chess, TCEC (https://tcec-chess.com/). A new game had just begun and it was a Dutch. I watched in amazement as the opening moves were played: 1 d4 f5 2 e4. According to 365Chess.com 2 e4 made it a A82 Dutch, Staunton gambit. As you will see from the two games which follow, the same opening can have many names. The time limit was game 30, plus three seconds added. After ruminating I could not recall playing against even one Staunton gambit. It is one of those rare openings for which you have your prepared, pet line that you never get to use until an opponent fires 2 e4 at you the realization hits that you cannot recall said pet line. Don’t ‘cha just hate it when that happens?! Since it was to be a quick game, and it was late, and I was tired, too tired to think, I decided to just watch the game. When it ended another Staunton gambit appeared, and I watched that one, too, before collapsing into bed, heading straight to the land of nod…
[Event “TCEC Cup 10 Final”]
[Site “https://tcec-chess.com”%5D
[Date “2022.05.25”]
[Round “1.1”]
[White “KomodoDragon 3”]
[Black “Stockfish dev16_2022051413”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “3627”]
[ECO “C39”]
[GameDuration “01:04:21”]
[GameEndTime “2022-05-25T16:04:22.474 UTC”]
[GameStartTime “2022-05-25T15:00:00.764 UTC”]
[Opening “KGA”]
[PlyCount “120”]
[Termination “adjudication”]
[TerminationDetails “SyzygyTB”]
[TimeControl “1800+3”]
[Variation “Kieseritsky, Polerio defence“]
[WhiteElo “3586”]
A83 Dutch, Staunton gambit, Nimzovich variation
- d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 b6 5. f3 e3 6. Qc1 Ba6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. Qxe3 c6 9. f4 e6 10. O-O-O Nc7 11. Nf3 Ncd5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Qe4 Be7 14. h4 Qc7 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Kb1 O-O-O 17. Ne5 Rdf8 18. g3 Nf5 19. Rh3 Kb7 20. h5 b5 21. Nd3 Rf7 22. a3 h6 23. Nc5+ Ka8 24. Rhh1 Ne7 25. Rhe1 Nd5 26. Re2 Rf5 27. Qd3 Rhf8 28. Rde1 Qc8 29. Qf3 Qc7 30. Qg4 Rg8 31. Re5 Rf6 32. Qf3 Rf7 33. Rd1 Qb8 34. Rd3 Qb6 35. Re2 Rb8 36. Rb3 Qd8 37. Re1 Qc8 38. Qd3 Qd8 39. Re2 Nb6 40. Qf3 Nd5 41. Re5 Qf8 42. Qd3 Qc8 43. Re2 Qf8 44. Ka2 Qg8 45. Re1 Qd8 46. Ka1 Qf8 47. Qe2 Qd8 48. Ka2 Rf5 49. Qg4 Nf6 50. Qg6 Qe8 51. Rbe3 Qxg6 52. hxg6 Rh5 53. R1e2 Rd8 54. a4 Nd5 55. Ra3 Rf5 56. axb5 cxb5 57. Re1 Rf6 58. Kb3 Ne7 59. d5 Rxg6 60. dxe6 Rxg3+ 61. c3 dxe6 62. Nxe6 Rc8 63. Nd4 b4 64. Ra4 Nd5 65. Nf5 Rd3 66. Ne7 1-0
1.d4 f5 2. e4 (The ChessBaseDataBase contains 711 games with this move and it has not scored well, showing only 48% versus 2363 opposition. The five moves above it in number of games played, 2 g3; Nf3; c4; Nc3; and Bg5, have all scored between 56% and 59% against opposition rated at least 2400+) 2…fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 (In 613 games this move has scored 49%, and it is the choice of SF 14.1. Fritz 17 @depth 26 will play 4 f3, a move made in 64 games while scoring only 38%) 4…b6 (Stockfish and two Fritz programs all play 4…g6, a move having been played in 105 games. 4…Nc6, with 376 games showing has been the most often played move while holding white to only 48%, followed by the 190 games of 4…e6, a move having taken quite a few lumps as it has allowed white to score 68%. The move played in the game, 4…b6, has only been attempted in 11 games. Makes one wonder what inept human forced the program to play such an inferior move, does it not?) 5. f3 e3 6. Qc1 (The CBDB shows only 2 games for 6 Bxe3, the move played by Fritz 16. SF 14.1 will play the game move, making it a TN of sorts, I suppose…)
[Event “TCEC Cup 10 Final”]
[Site “https://tcec-chess.com”%5D
[Date “2022.05.26”]
[Round “1.10”]
[White “Stockfish dev16_2022051413”]
[Black “KomodoDragon 3”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “3586”]
[ECO “A83”]
[GameDuration “01:13:39”]
[GameEndTime “2022-05-26T01:18:26.469 UTC”]
[GameStartTime “2022-05-26T00:04:46.765 UTC”]
[Opening “Dutch”]
[PlyCount “279”]
[TerminationDetails “3-Fold repetition”]
[TimeControl “1800+3”]
[Variation “Staunton gambit, Nimzovich variation“]
[WhiteElo “3627”]
1.d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 b6 5. f3 e3 6. Qc1 Ba6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. Qxe3 c6 9. O-O-O e6 10. f4 Be7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. h4 Nc7 14. Kb1 Qe8 15. g3 Nd5 16. Qd3 Nxc3+ 17. Qxc3 b5 18. a3 Rb8 19. Qe3 Qe7 20. h5 Qd6 21. h6 g6 22. Rhe1 Qd5 23. Ne5 Be7 24. g4 Rbe8 25. Rf1 d6 26. Nf3 a5 27. Rde1 Bf6 28. Ng5 Bxg5 29. fxg5 a4 30. Rf6 Rxf6 31. gxf6 Kf7 32. g5 Ra8 33. Qe4 Re8 34. Qe3 Ra8 35. Qd2 c5 36. Rd1 c4 37. Qb4 Re8 38. Qa5 Qb7 39. Ka2 Rb8 40. Re1 Rc8 41. Qb4 Rd8 42. Rc1 Qd5 43. Qa5 Rd7 44. Rd1 Qb7 45. Qb4 Qd5 46. Qa5 Qb7 47. Kb1 Rc7 48. Qb4 Rd7 49. Re1 Rd8 50. Ka2 Rd7 51. Qa5 Rc7 52. Rf1 d5 53. Re1 Qc6 54. Kb1 Rd7 55. Kc1 Rc7 56. Kb1 Rd7 57. Re5 Rc7 58. Kc1 Rc8 59. Re3 Rc7 60. Re1 Qb7 61. Re5 Qc6 62. Kb1 Rd7 63. Ka2 Rc7 64. Re1 Rd7 65. Ka1 Rc7 66. Re2 Rc8 67. Re1 Rc7 68. Re3 Rd7 69. Rg3 Rc7 70. Kb1 Qd6 71. Re3 Qc6 72. Re5 Rd7 73. Qb4 Rc7 74. Kc1 Rb7 75. Kd2 Qc7 76. Qc5 Qd7 77. Kc3 Qd8 78. Qc6 Rb6 79. Qc5 Rb7 80. Kd2 Qd7 81. Re1 Rc7 82. Qb6 Rb7 83. Qc5 Ra7 84. Kc1 Rc7 85. Qb6 Rb7 86. Qc5 Rb8 87. c3 Rb7 88. Re2 Rc7 89. Qb6 Rb7 90. Qc5 Rc7 91. Qb4 Rb7 92. Re1 Qc7 93. Kb1 Qg3 94. Re5 Qg1+ 95. Ka2 Qd1 96. Re3 Qb3+ 97. Qxb3 axb3+ 98. Kb1 Rb6 99. Re1 Ra6 100. Kc1 Ke8 101. Re3 Kf7 102. Re1 Ke8 103. Kd1 Kd7 104. Ke2 Ra8 105. Kf2 Kd6 106. Kf3 Kd7 107. Kf4 Kd6 108. Kg3 Kd7 109. Kf4 Kd6 110. Ke3 Rf8 111. Ra1 Ra8 112. Rb1 Rf8 113. Kd2 Rf7 114. Ra1 Ra7 115. Re1 Rf7 116. Ra1 Ra7 117. Rf1 Rf7 118. Rf2 Rf8 119. Re2 Kd7 120. Rf2 Ra8 121. Rf1 Ke8 122. Ke3 Kd7 123. Kf4 Kd6 124. Re1 Re8 125. Ra1 e5+ 126. dxe5+ Rxe5 127. a4 Rf5+ 128. Kg4 bxa4 129. Rxa4 Rf2 130. Ra7 Rxb2 131. Kf3 Rb1 132. Kf2 Rb2+ 133. Kf1 Rb1+ 134. Kf2 Rb2+ 135. Kf1 Rb1+ 136. Kg2 Rb2+ 137. Kg3 Rb1 138. Kg2 Rb2+ 139. Kg1 Rb1+ 140. Kg2 1/2-1/2
Armchair Warrior 