Top Chess Engine Championship Puns

LCZero beat Stockfish with the score of 53.5-46.5 becoming the winner of the TCEC Season 15 Superfinal.

https://preview.redd.it/z5r4fnn8pb131.png?width=688&format=png&auto=webp&s=9597f043230f1113b7ddd25dcd044d03e2c7c0bf

So agadmator's video on Kramnik-Leko (2004) popped up in my recommended — the Marshall Attack where Leko played 25...Qd3, which was a brilliancy missed by engines at the time — and I had an idea to plug the position into chess.com analysis and see whether the engine finds it now.

At depth 26 game analysis, Stockfish 12 picks this up with no problem and recognizes 25...Qd3 as the best move and 23. Qf2 as white's mistake, but in moving analysis (where I don't plug in the whole game but play it move-by-move) it takes it 5-15 seconds to realize what kind of trouble white is in after Qf2. I remembered that the top engine on chess.com — Maximum (3200) — plays its moves instantly and wondered if Leko's line might work against it since it doesn't think for long enough.

So I clicked 'Finish against computer' after 22. axb5 (the last white move in the game where the analysis deems it still equal) and mimicked Leko's line, playing 22...Bd3. Sure enough, the engine played 23. Qf2 after half a second of pondering and even marked 25...Qd3 as a blunder during its live evaluation of the position, but after 26. Kf2 Bxf3 it quickly realized what kind of trouble it's in. I was able to follow Leko's entire line up until 29. Qxc3+ and get a completely winning position.

It was still a bit of a tricky endgame to convert against Stockfish and I didn't spend very long calculating each move, but after a few games of blunders and several revisions according to engine recommendations, I managed to trade down to a winning 2v2 pawn endgame and promote to a queen (the game). In all of these games, Maximum played the mistake 23. Qf2 instantly and never picked up on 25...Qd3 until too late. I played a few more games and, after blundering into two drawn positions (after which I stopped playing), losing my queen to a knight fork, and stalemating once up two queens (from careless pre-moving), won another one — this time I was lucky the computer blundered (lol) into the fork and converted the game fairly easily.

No point to this post really, just found it amazing that a move was so great that even after 17 years top engines are still getting fooled by the position — shows how genius Leko was (still i

Carlsen 1-0 Nepomniachtchi

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2021.12.03"] [Round "06"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2855"] [BlackElo "2782"] [TimeControl "5400+30"]

1.d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. c4 dxc4 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nc6 11. Nxc4 b5 12. Nce5 Nb4 13. Qb2 Bb7 14. a3 Nc6 15. Nd3 Bb6 16. Bg5 Rfd8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rac1 Nd4 19. Nxd4 Bxd4 20. Qa2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qb7+ 22. Kg1 Qe4 23. Qc2 a5 24. Rfd1 Kg7 25. Rd2 Rac8 26. Qxc8 Rxc8 27. Rxc8 Qd5 28. b4 a4 29. e3 Be5 30. h4 h5 31. Kh2 Bb2 32. Rc5 Qd6 33. Rd1 Bxa3 34. Rxb5 Qd7 35. Rc5 e5 36. Rc2 Qd5 37. Rdd2 Qb3 38. Ra2 e4 39. Nc5 Qxb4 40. Nxe4 Qb3 41. Rac2 Bf8 42. Nc5 Qb5 43. Nd3 a3 44. Nf4 Qa5 45. Ra2 Bb4 46. Rd3 Kh6 47. Rd1 Qa4 48. Rda1 Bd6 49. Kg1 Qb3 50. Ne2 Qd3 51. Nd4 Kh7 52. Kh2 Qe4 53. Rxa3 Qxh4+ 54. Kg1 Qe4 55. Ra4 Be5 56. Ne2 Qc2 57. R1a2 Qb3 58. Kg2 Qd5+ 59. f3 Qd1 60. f4 Bc7 61. Kf2 Bb6 62. Ra1 Qb3 63. Re4 Kg7 64. Re8 f5 65. Raa8 Qb4 66. Rac8 Ba5 67. Rc1 Bb6 68. Re5 Qb3 69. Re8 Qd5 70. Rcc8 Qh1 71. Rc1 Qd5 72. Rb1 Ba7 73. Re7 Bc5 74. Re5 Qd3 75. Rb7 Qc2 76. Rb5 Ba7 77. Ra5 Bb6 78. Rab5 Ba7 79. Rxf5 Qd3 80. Rxf7+ Kxf7 81. Rb7+ Kg6 82. Rxa7 Qd5 83. Ra6+ Kh7 84. Ra1 Kg6 85. Nd4 Qb7 86. Ra2 Qh1 87. Ra6+ Kf7 88. Nf3 Qb1 89. Rd6 Kg7 90. Rd5 Qa2+ 91. Rd2 Qb1 92. Re2 Qb6 93. Rc2 Qb1 94. Nd4 Qh1 95. Rc7+ Kf6 96. Rc6+ Kf7 97. Nf3 Qb1 98. Ng5+ Kg7 99. Ne6+ Kf7 100. Nd4 Qh1 101. Rc7+ Kf6 102. Nf3 Qb1 103. Rd7 Qb2+ 104. Rd2 Qb1 105. Ng1 Qb4 106. Rd1 Qb3 107. Rd6+ Kg7 108. Rd4 Qb2+ 109. Ne2 Qb1 110. e4 Qh1 111. Rd7+ Kg8 112. Rd4 Qh2+ 113. Ke3 h4 114. gxh4 Qh3+ 115. Kd2 Qxh4 116. Rd3 Kf8 117. Rf3 Qd8+ 118. Ke3 Qa5 119. Kf2 Qa7+ 120. Re3 Qd7 121. Ng3 Qd2+ 122. Kf3 Qd1+ 123. Re2 Qb3+ 124. Kg2 Qb7 125. Rd2 Qb3 126. Rd5 Ke7 127. Re5+ Kf7 128. Rf5+ Ke8 129. e5 Qa2+ 130. Kh3 Qe6 131. Kh4 Qh6+ 132. Nh5 Qh7 133. e6 Qg6 134. Rf7 Kd8 135. f5 Qg1 136. Ng7 1-0 [/pgn]

• [**FiveThirtyEight: How Th

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Chess24 | Lichess

####Scoreboard

####Format/Time Controls

• The match will be played over 14 standard games. The first player to reach 7½ points will be the World Champion of Chess.

• At the opening ceremony, a drawing of colors determines who will start with the white pieces.

• The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

• If the scores are level after the regular 14 games, four tie-break games will be played. These are rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• If it's still equal, two blitz games will be played (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment), followed by another pair of blitz games if needed. If there is still no winner after five such matches, one sudden-death game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds starting from move 61. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

• The players cannot draw a game by agreement before Black's 40th move. A claim for a draw before Black's 40th move is permitted only through one of the arbiters in the cases of a threefold repetition.

####Schedule

Carlsen 1-0 Nepomniachtchi

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.12.05"] [Round "8"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2856"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.12.05"]

1. e4 e5 {Annotations by GM Sam Shankland} 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. Nd2 $5 {This is a very rare move with basically no games played by anyone notable, but it's actually quite a bit more challenging than it looks. It's funny that White aims to make the game more symmetrical in the Petroff as an attempt to fight for an advantage, but in this particular case, it does seem quite challenging.} 7... Nxd2 8. Bxd2 {Now, Nepo played Bd6 very quickly, but I already think this is a mistake.} 8... Bd6 $2 (8... Qe7+ $1 {I think this surprising move is the best way to fight for equality. White has to move his king to avoid a queen exchange.} 9. Kf1 (9. Be3 {I suppose this is possible too, but after} 9... Qb4+ 10. Qd2 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 Bd6 $11 {Black should be totally fine in spite of the machine's insistence on +0.2.}) 9... O-O-O {Black should be okay here. I suspect Magnus was aiming for this position and found some interesting way to coordinate his pieces that makes Black find some move or two, but it's hard to imagine Black can really have too many major issues here. At least the opposite-side castling allows for some dynamism.}) 9. O-O {Now, suddenly things do not look so easy for Black. He cannot castle due to Qh5, winning a pawn, and otherwise Re1+ is coming.} 9... h5 $1 {This strikes me as the best practical decision. Black keeps the queen off of h5, and can hope for Qh4 to come next. Then, it will be a bit annoying for White to stop the mate threat since g2-g3 will eventually walk into h5-h4.} 10. Qe1+ $6 {This is soft. I was very surprised by this move pair—White allows Qe7, which should equalize easily, and then

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com

Starting this Monday, it's once again time for Chess.com's premier blitz event: the Main Event of the Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase. The tournament begins with the November 8 matchup between GMs Anish Giri and Jan-Krzsyztof Duda, where GM Danya Naroditsky is beginning his journey as the lead commentator for Chess.com.

This year once again showcases 16 top grandmasters fighting for a $100,000 prize fund. The star-studded field includes 11 players in the top 20 of the November 2021 FIDE Blitz Rating List and 10 players once or currently in the top five in the world in standard ratings. Their average Chess.com Blitz rating is 3051 and their Bullet average is an even-higher 3137. They are all top 40 in the world by FIDE Blitz. Nine different countries are represented.

####Championship Bracket

####Schedule

####Format/Time Controls

• The Main Event is a single-elimination knockout tournament bracket.

• As in years past, there will be 90 minutes of 5+1 (five minutes for the game with a one-second increment added per move), 60 minutes of 3+1, and 30 minutes at 1+1. Those last 30 minutes not only often decide the match, but the players in this year's first round have hardly ever played each other in Chess.com Bullet.

• If a match is tied after the 30-minute bullet round, four additional games at the same 1+1 time control will be played. If the score remains tied, there will be a single armageddon tiebreaker game, where White gets five minutes and Black gets four minutes with draw odds (i.e., Black advances if the game is drawn). There is no increment in the arma

####♔ Magnus Carlsen Retains the World Chess Championship ♔

Nepomniachtchi 0-1 Carlsen

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2021.12.10"] [Round "11"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2856"] [TimeControl "5400+30"]

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a5 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Na3 h6 9. Nc2 O-O 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Nxe3 Re8 12. a4 Be6 13. Bxe6 Rxe6 14. Qb3 b6 15. Rad1 Ne7 16. h3 Qd7 17. Nh2 Rd8 18. Nhg4 Nxg4 19. hxg4 d5 20. d4 exd4 21. exd5 Re4 22. Qc2 Rf4 23. g3 dxe3 24. gxf4 Qxg4+ 25. Kf1 Qh3+ 26. Kg1 Nf5 27. d6 Nh4 28. fxe3 Qg3+ 29. Kf1 Nf3 30. Qf2 Qh3+ 31. Qg2 Qxg2+ 32. Kxg2 Nxe1+ 33. Rxe1 Rxd6 34. Kf3 Rd2 35. Rb1 g6 36. b4 axb4 37. Rxb4 Ra2 38. Ke4 h5 39. Kd5 Rc2 40. Rb3 h4 41. Kc6 h3 42. Kxc7 h2 43. Rb1 Rxc3+ 44. Kxb6 Rb3+ 45. Rxb3 h1=Q 46. a5 Qe4 47. Ka7 Qe7+ 48. Ka8 Kg7 49. Rb6 Qc5 0-1[/pgn]

#####FiveThirtyEight: Magnus Carlsen Wins The 2021 World Chess Championship

• 🖐️ -- Magnus Carlsen

• Chess24: Magnus Carlsen wins 5th World Championship title

• VIDEO: The final moments of Game 11

• Congratulations to the greatest of all time Magnus Carlsen for winning his 5th World Chess Championship title, and thank you all those who tuned into watch this historic event. -- Daniel Rensch

• It’s always an honor to cover greatness, and Magnus continues to leave no doubt that he’s the best player in the world. We all are fortunate to see Magnus compete. -- Robert Hess

• [Magnus Carlsen says the mat

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Chess24 | Lichess

####Scoreboard

####Format/Time Controls

• The match will be played over 14 standard games. The first player to reach 7½ points will be the World Champion of Chess.

• At the opening ceremony, a drawing of colors determines who will start with the white pieces.

• The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

• If the scores are level after the regular 14 games, four tie-break games will be played. These are rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• If it's still equal, two blitz games will be played (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment), followed by another pair of blitz games if needed. If there is still no winner after five such matches, one sudden-death game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds starting from move 61. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

• The players cannot draw a game by agreement before Black's 40th move. A claim for a draw before Black's 40th move is permitted only through one of the arbiters in the cases of a threefold repetition.

####Schedule

Nepomniachtchi 0-1 Carlsen

[pgn] [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2021.12.07"] [Round "09"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2856"] [TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O Bc5 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 a5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. e3 dxe3 10. Bxe3 Ng4 11. Bc5 O-O 12. d4 a4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nc5 a3 15. bxa3 Rd8 16. Nb3 Nf6 17. Re1 Qxa3 18. Qe2 h6 19. h4 Bd7 20. Ne5 Be8 21. Qe3 Qb4 22. Reb1 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Ng4 24. Qe1 Qxe1+ 25. Rxe1 h5 26. Bxb7 Ra4 27. c5 c6 28. f3 Nh6 29. Re4 Ra7 30. Rb4 Rb8 31. a4 Raxb7 32. Rb6 Rxb6 33. cxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 Nf5 35. a5 Rb8 36. a6 Nxg3 37. Na4 c5 38. a7 Rd8 39. Nxc5 Ra8 0-1 [/pgn]

• Magnus Carlsen wins Game 9 with the black pieces, capitalizing on Ian Nepomniachtchi's major blunder on move 27. With five games to go, the defending champion leads 6-3. -- FIDE

• "I don’t think there is a single chess player, who is not sorry for Ian right now…" -- Grzegorz Gajewski

• Judit Polgar: "He [Nepomniachtchi] has to somehow forget about this as soon as possible. These are the nightmares of chess players..."

• Kasparov lost three in a row in 1986. Smyslov losing three of the first four in 1954 is another example. It is hard to keep control of yourself in these matches. There have been plenty of breakdowns in the longer matches. It goes with the format. -- Mark Crowther

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Chess24 | Lichess

####Scoreboard

####Format/Time Controls

• The match will be played over 14 standard games. The first player to reach 7½ points will be the World Champion of Chess.

• At the opening ceremony, a drawing of colors determines who will start with the white pieces.

• The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

• If the scores are level after the regular 14 games, four tie-break games will be played. These are rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• If it's still equal, two blitz games will be played (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment), followed by another pair of blitz games if needed. If there is still no winner after five such matches, one sudden-death game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds starting from move 61. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

• The players cannot draw a game by agreement before Black's 40th move. A claim for a draw before Black's 40th move is permitted only through one of the arbiters in the cases of a threefold repetition.

####Schedule

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Chess24 | Lichess

####Scoreboard

####Format/Time Controls

• The match will be played over 14 standard games. The first player to reach 7½ points will be the World Champion of Chess.

• At the opening ceremony, a drawing of colors determines who will start with the white pieces.

• The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

• If the scores are level after the regular 14 games, four tie-break games will be played. These are rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• If it's still equal, two blitz games will be played (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment), followed by another pair of blitz games if needed. If there is still no winner after five such matches, one sudden-death game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds starting from move 61. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

• The players cannot draw a game by agreement before Black's 40th move. A claim for a draw before Black's 40th move is permitted only through one of the arbiters in the cases of a threefold repetition.

####Schedule