Tribute to TCEC - A WSCE Supertournament (non-CCRL)

[Castle00]

The rules

ChessGUI 0.239
Double Round Robin
Time Control G/150 + 30
Ponder OFF
3-4-5 EGTB can be used by engines
Championship Book 2012.pgn
1024MB Hash
3-1-0 Scoring System (3 for a win, 1 for a draw)

The Participants (ELO Ratings based off the Grand Unified Rating List)

Houdini 3.0 4CPU (Belgium, ELO: 3340)
Critter 1.6a 64-bit 4CPU (Slovakia, ELO: 3267)
Deep Rybka 4.1 64-bit 4CPU (United States, ELO 3248)
Stockfish 2.3.1 64-bit 4CPU (Norway, ELO 3240)
Bouquet 1.6 64-bit 4CPU (France, ELO 3223)
Strelka 5.5 64-bit (Russia, ELO 3193)
Equinox 1.65 64-bit 4CPU (Italy, ELO 3193)
Naum 4.2 64-bit 4CPU (Canada, ELO 3153)

Pairings/Results, as well as daily reviews of games will be seen on

http://www.chess2u.com/t6568-wsce-super ... te-to-tcec

Please give a and give HYPE to this tournament!

[Ray]

What hardware, and how many cores?

[Castle00]

4CPU means 4 cores. Strelka is only 1-core. Regular updates can me seen on chess2u

[Castle00]

Round 1 results

Bouquet vs Deep Rybka 1/2-1/2
The Supertournament starts with a Dutch Defense. Bouquet gets a significant space advantage, but Rybka holds firm, eventually getting 2 pawns for the exchange amd with white's exposed king the game ended in a draw in 59 moves.

Equinox vs Stockfish 1/2-1/2
This game opens with a main line of the 7.Nf3 exchange grunfeld; a very sharp line. Stockfish equalizes quickly, and starts pressing a little on the endgame, but Equinox holds. Drawn in 89 moves.

Houdini vs Naum 1-0
The contest begins with the Moscow variation of the Slav Defense. Naum innovated with 13...a5 but made the poor positional move 16...b5 giving it a backward pawn on an open file as well as an imprisoned light-squared bishop. Houdini nursed its positional advantage, win the exchange on the 49th move and convert the advantage in the endgame, and win in 77 moves. A win means 3 points for Houdini.

Critter vs Strelka 1/2-1/2
The 3...Qd6 Scandinavian defense, popularized by GM Tiviakov recently made it into the repertoire of the top GM's in the world. Critter sacrifices a pawn on the 16th move for complete development and black's king in the center, but the compensation doesn't provide the desired results, while Strelka doesn't move the king until the 46th move. Critter was in some trouble, but found counterplay by putting the major pieces on the 8th rank, and the game ended in repetition in 66 moves.

ROUND 2

Bouquet vs Stockfish
Deep Rybka vs Naum
Equinox vs Strelka
Houdini vs Critter

[Castle00]

ROUND 2

Bouquet vs Stockfish 1/2-1/2
The game starts with a 4...Bf5 Caro-Kan. Bouquet's innovation with 17.Nh4 allowed a combination for Stockfish to equalize quickly and easily. Drawn in 36 moves.

Deep Rybka vs Naum 1/2-1/2
The contest opens with the Russian variation of the Grunfeld defense. Both sides get passed pawns deep into enemy territory, but Rybka's is much more dangerous. Naum sacrifices the exchange and simplifies to a drawn Rook vs Bishop endgame with all the pawns on the kingside. Rybka can not make headway. Draw in 104 moves.

Equinox vs Strelka 1/2-1/2
The contest opens with the first Nimzo-Indian of the tournament. Equinox secures an advantage out of the opening, getting a passed pawn on the a-file. Strelka manages to simplify into a 2 bishops vs rook endgame with all of the pawns on the kingside, and the game was drawn in 86 moves.

Houdini vs Critter 1-0
Another Nimzo, but due to a bug, both sides are on their own on the 5th move. Critter chooses a dubious line and Houdini gets the advantage out of the opening. Critter has a bad benoni-like position and when Houdini closes the queenside, Critter is devoid of any counterplay and suffers until move 64 where Critter stopped moving, and I called the fight. T-K-O

Standings after Round 2 (3-1-0 scoring system)

6/6 Houdini 3
2/6 Deep Rybka, Equinox, Strelka, Bouquet, Stockfish
1/6 Naum, Critter

[Castle00]

ATTENTION:

Live coverage of the games can now be seen on http://www.screenleap.com/046201108 This provides a live view of screen, which the game is on every few seconds.

Please tell me if you can see the games.

[Graham Banks]

ATTENTION:

Live coverage of the games can now be seen on http://www.screenleap.com/046201108 This provides a live view of screen, which the game is on every few seconds.

Please tell me if you can see the games.

Works here Daniel. I'm really pleased that you've been able to set up a live broadcast. Screenleap looks to be a useful tool.

[Castle00]

I discovered this option when looking at Clemens Keck's new tournament. He is using screenleap too.

[Castle00]

ROUND 3

Bouquet vs Naum 1-0
Another Grunfeld, this time with the 10...Qc7 main line. Bouquet gets the better of it with more space and a centralized knight. Naum makes a mistake on the 42nd move and Bouquet capitalizes, eventually winding up with 2 pawns and a winning position. 1-0 in 97 moves.

Stockfish vs Strelka 1-0
A Taimanov Sicilian with opposite-side castling. Strelka sacrifices a pawn on the 16th move and the game was balanced until the 32nd move. Suddenly Strelka's evaluation plummets, underestimating Stockfish's 34th move and now Stockfish has a pawn AND the advantage! Strelka is unable to defend and Stockfish takes the win.

Deep Rybka vs Critter 1-0
The main line King's Indian, with a closed pawn structure, the kind of positions engines have trouble understanding. The queenside is quickly opened up as both engines fight on the kingside. Critter never did achieve full equality. Rybka soon won a pawn and then forced a favorable endgame, which was successfully converted into a win in 77 moves.

Equinox vs Houdini 1/2-1/2
This opening involved the Berlin Defense of the Ruy Lopez, where Equinox managed to gain an edge despite Houdini's active rooks, on move 33, Houdini sacrificed a knight for 2 kingside pawns, which proved enough compensation as the queenside gets liquidated. Houdini would have even queened a pawn in the end, but the GUI called a tablebase draw on the 66th move.

STANDINGS (3-1-0 scoring system)

7.0 Houdini
5.0 Deep Rybka, Bouquet, Stockfish
3.0 Equinox
2.0 Strelka
1.0 Critter, Naum

STANDINGS (Traditional System)

2.5 Houdini
2.0 Deep Rybka, Bouquet, Stockfish
1.5 Equinox
1.0 Strelka
0.5 Critter, Naum

ROUND 4

Bouquet vs Strelka
Naum vs Critter
Stockfish vs Houdini
Deep Rybka vs Equinox

LIVE BROADCAST CAN BE SEEN ON http://www.screenleap.com/644538708

Unfortunately, the broadcast may go out at times because the computer I am using is using too many resources.

[Castle00]

LIVE BROADCAST CAN NOW BE SEEN ON http://www.screenleap.com/castle00

ROUND 4

Bouquet vs Strelka 1-0
The opening is a 9.h3 Anti-marshall in the Ruy Lopez. Strelka gets the d5 break in early, and some tactics follow. Strelka gives up the exchange for a dangerous light-squared bishop and a passed e-pawn, for a dynamically balanced position. There follows 90 moves of maneuvering and with the position even on move 110, Strelka for no reason gives up its prized e-pawn without compensation! The position still appears drawn, but when an exchange-down ending is reached, Bouquet pushes its passed b-pawn and Strelka's position is hanging by a thread. One more error and it's over. After EIGHT HOURS and 200 moves, Bouquet emerges from the marathon victorious!

Naum vs Critter 1-0
Another Anti-Marshall line, with white playing a3 and d3. Critter's struggles continue as it is outplayed by Naum, which grabs a pawn, penetrates the kingside and wins the game. Critter has now lost 3 in a row!

Stockfish vs Houdini 0-1
A main line grunfeld is seen, and it seems Houdini was able to equalize out of the opening. Houdini gains an edge as it simplifies into a knight endgame, where on move 36, Stockfish may have made the decisive mistake. Houdini uses the pawn structure weaknesses to force zugzwang and win in 57 moves. The first Black win after 8 defeats.

Deep Rybka vs Equinox 1/2-1/2
The first Petroff of the tournament involves the 3.d4 Main line where black gambits a pawn for activity. Rybka immediately gave it back for central control, and manages to get an advantage in the endgame, but Equinox is able to defend and the game is drawn in 77 moves.

STANDINGS (3-1-0 Scoring System)

10/12 Houdini 3
8/12 Bouquet 1.6
6/12 Deep Rybka 4.1
5/12 Stockfish 2.3.1
4/12 Equinox 1.65, Naum 4.2
2/12 Strelka 5.5
1/12 Critter 1.6a

Standings (Traditional System)

3.5 Houdini 3
3.0 Bouquet 1.6
2.5 Deep Rybka 4.1
2.0 Stockfish 2.3.1, Equinox 1.65
1.5 Naum 4.2
1.0 Strelka 5.5
0.5 Critter 1.6a

ROUND 5

Bouquet vs Critter
Strelka vs Houdini
Naum vs Equinox
Stockfish vs Deep Rybka

[Castle00]

Anyone with a sharp eye was probably wondering why Bouquet was having white every single game.

I made a major goof in ChessGUI by not properly setting the pairing types. Unfortunately this mistake carried over to the other previous tournaments. Had this been a human tournament, someone would've gladly pointed out this error and I would've said "whoops!" But computers don't say anything, so all I can say is...

***WHOOPS***

None of the completed games need to be replayed. I just need to re-organize a few things and the games will resume. For future ChessGUI users wanting to run double-round robins

Check the box on ALTERNATE COLORS. The most proper pairing types would be TYPE 2, although Type 1 and 3 are also fine.

[Castle00]

This tournament wont be done until after Xmas. Also because of several nasty (but irrelevant) mistakes, I will just provide results as normal.