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  • Thursday, December 26, 2024

    My Engine vs. His Engine



        
    On 12-23 I posted that I had entered a correspondence match against an OTB and Correspondence IM in order to test the Berserk engine. Fortunately, my opponent was prompt in his replies and used the site’s feature that allows you to play “if/then” moves. 
        This feature allows you to anticipate an opponent’s move so that if he plays the expected move you can automatically reply with your next move. This speeds up the game dramatically especially in the case when engines are involved. He only ceased the “if/then” sequence when we reached a position where I had more than one good option. 
        I wanted to play openings offering tactical possibilities, but also wanted to avoid risky variations. Consequently, I played the King’s Gambit and not the Urusov Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4).
        In both games I let the engine analyze until it reached 30-40 plies and again at the end of my opponent’s sequence of “if/then” moves the analysis was rechecked, but there was usually no change. 
        The King’s Gambit (I was white) fizzled out to an uneventful 27 move draw which when analyzed with Stockfish gave both sides a Weighted Error Value of nearly 0.00 (flawless). This indicates that Bersek and Stockfish were almost always in agreement on the best moves. 
        As black I though about answering 1.d4 with the Budapest Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5), but in my experience black struggles to get back the P and white seems to end up with the better game. Still, I did not want to play a prosaic Queen’s Gambit, so chose the Symmetrical Defense (1.d5 d5 2.c4 c5). Oddly, it turned out to be a bit more involved that the King’s Gambit. 
        With Berserl by move 20 my opponent (white) was starting to register a slight advantage of 1/4 to 1/3 of a Pawn and my feeling was that we were nearing an ending and Berserk was starting to lose control so it was time to switch to Stockfish which gave a different evaluation...of nearly 0.00. 
        This game was also drawn in 27 moves. Conclusion: For the average user Stockfish is still the best choice. 
     
     
     
     
    A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
    Int'l MasterTartajubow½–½Correspondence Match2024Berserk/Stockfish
    D06: Queen's Gambit: Symmetrical Defense 1.d4 d5 The King's Indian offers active play with tactical opportunities, but I am not that well versed in its intricacies. One correspondence GM stated that objectively the KID has some serious problems in correspondence play. His advise was not to blindly trust engines in the opening. And, although the KID might be good OTB, in some lines white seems to do better and so it’s best to avoid the KID in correspondence play. 2.c4 c5 First described way back in 1604, this is sometimes called the Austrian Defense. It’s an uncommon variation that poses a purest test of Queen's Gambit. The question is whether black can equalize by simply copying White's moves. Generally it’s believed white should gain the advantage and the best black can do is draw. 3.cxd5 The most usual move is 3.Nf3, but other moves are playable and often lead to transpositions. f6 More popular is 3...Qxd5, vut there is lottle difference (either statistically or in evaluation) between the two moves. 4.f3 cxd4 5.xd4 xd5 Black cannot very well avoide the exchange of Qs. 5...xd5 6.e4 c7 7.xd8+ xd8 8.c3 with a slight advantage. 6.c3 xd4 7.xd4 a6 Necessary to prevent the annoying Ndb5 attacking c7 7...d7 8.db5 a6 9.e4 Black's position is rather awkward. 8.g3 This is the main line and the B on the long diagonal is well placed. e5 9.b3 c6 10.g2 a5 10...e6 11.0-0 Black has tried several moves here, but best is 0-0-0 12.e3 d5 13.xd5 xd5 14.ac1 xg2 15.xg2 d5 with equality. Gligoric,S-Padevsky,N Moscow 1956 10...b4 11.a4 b4+ 12.d2 e6 13.ac5 13.b6 doesn't accomplish anything. a6 14.xc6+ bxc6 15.a4 xb3 16.axb3 e7 with complete equality. 13...xb3 14.xb3 e7 With the endgame approaching keepng the K in the center is the best decision. 15.0-0 xd2 16.xd2 hd8 17.c4 e4 18.fc1 ab8 Anticipating ...b5 to gain space on the Q-side. 19.f1 d5 A rather kebgthy analysis of 19...b5 convinced me that it did not accomplish anything. 20.e3 In the saved analysis this move was not anticipated by Berserk. At this point Berserk was starting to show that white was getting a very slight advantage and Stockfish agreed. Consequently, I felt it was a good idea to switch engines and use Stockfish which gives white 1/4 of a P advantage. e5 21.c4 f8 Making room for the other R at e8. 22.d1 be8 23.a4 e7 24.b4 f5 25.xf5 xf5 26.cd4 g6 27.c1 Wite's draw offer was accepted. Weighted Error Value: White=0.01 (flawless) /Black=0.01 (flawless) 27.c1 axb4 28.xb4 e7 29.cb1 a5 30.xb7 xb7 31.xb7 xa4 is a draw. ½–½

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