Sjeng in CCT2

Sjeng's first round opponent was Diep by Vincent Diepeveen. Because my operator was still asleep, I operated Sjeng myself, using an AMD-K6-III/500 provided by the Zeus Computer Science Workgroup of the University of Ghents.

[Event "ICC 45 10"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "DiepX"]
[Black "Sjeng"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 c6 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 O-O 8. Rd1 b6 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb7 11. Bd3 Re8 12. Ne5 *
 

I thought Sjeng was getting a bit cramped here, but Diep's author (Vincent) told me the position was ok for black.

12. .. Nf8 13. h3 *

This move totally upset Vincent, who thought it was a hashing bug. It is not a losing move though, the position is still fine for white, although more active play would be better of course.

13. .. Nd5 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. a3 *

Vincent got even more upset now.

15. .. c5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. dxc5 Bxg2 18. Rg1 Bxh3

Sjeng is winning now, although white has enough counterplay to put up heavy resistance. At this point I was very happy, as I did not expect Sjeng to do this good vs. Diep, who has a lot more knowledge and searches deeper. Maybe the hashing bugs were affecting its play?

19. cxb6 20. Nc4 Qc5 21. Qc3 e5 22. Be4 Ra4 23. b4 Rxa3 24. Qxa3 Qxc4 25. Bd5 Qc7 26. Qc1 Qe7 27. Qc4 Rc8 28. Qb5 Qc7 29. Qd3 Be6 30. Bxe6 Nxe6 31. Ke2 Qc4 32. Qxc4 Rxc4 33. Rc1 Rxc1 34. Rxc1

Vincent: Kf8 is the best move here.
Sjeng's advantage is completely gone due to the exchanging of pieces.

34. .. h5 35. Rc8+ Kh7 36. Rb8 h4 37. Rxb6 37. ... Kg6??

Losing instantly!

38. Rxe6+ fxe6 39. b5 h3 40. Kf3
 

The white king can stop the h2 pawn just in time, but black is hopelessy late for the b5 pawn.
Sjeng got punished severly for a lack in its endgame knowledge: it does not know about the square-of-the-pawn rule. I started implementing passed pawn extensions immediately after this game to compensate a bit.

40. ... h2 Black resigns

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sjeng"]
[Black "stormx"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6 7. Bg5 Bb7 8. f3 h6 9. Bh4 d5 10. e3 Nc6
 

11. O-O-O??

This is a major mistake, as the king ends up without protection on a file that is soon to open. Sjeng's castling bonus overpowered it's king-safety penalties. A heavy attack on it's king and loss of material is the result...

11. ... a5 12. Kb1 Nb8 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. cxd5 Qg6+ 15. Ka1 Bxd5 16. Qxc7 Nc6 17. Ne2 Qc2
18. Rc1 Qb3 19. Nc3 Nb4 20. Bb5 Rfc8 21. Qxc8+ Rxc8 22. Ba4 Qc4 23. Bb5 Qc7 24. axb4 axb4 25. Na2 Qd8 26. Nxb4 Ra8+ 27. Kb1 Qg5
 

28. Bc6?

Maybe 28. Nxd5 exd5 -/+ was better here.

28. ... Bxc6 29. Nxc6 Qxg2 30. Ne5 f6 31. Rhg1 Qf2 32. Nc6 Qxe3 33. Rge1 Qd3+ 34. Rc2 Ra1+ 35. Kxa1 Qxc2 36. d5
exd5
 

37. Nd8?

The game is dead lost now, but a better defense is:
 37. Re6 d4 38. Rd6 d3 39. Ne7+ Kh7 40. Nd5 Qxh2 41. Nxf6+ Kg6 42. Rxd3 Kxf6 43. Ka2 Qc7 -+

37. ... d4 38. Re8+ Kh7
 

39. b3 White resigns

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "TerraX"]
[Black "Sjeng"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Nf3 d5 5. a3 Nc6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. b4 Bd6 8. Nc3 a6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Be2 O-O 11. Bb2 Be6 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. b5 axb5 14. Nxb5 Be7 15. O-O Ne4 16. Nfd4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Bd7 19. Rd1 Qb6 20. Qa1 Bh4 21. g3 Bf6 22. Re1 Rc8 23. Rd1 Rc7 24. Bf3 Rc5 25. Be2 Ng5 26. Qb1 Rc7 27. Kg2 Ne4
 

No major mistakes by either program so far, but the position is dead equal and neither program had an idea how to proceed. I got upset when I saw Sjeng started shuffling pieces...you can't win a game that way!

28. Qa1 Nd6 29. Rd3 Nc4 30. Bc3 Rc8 31. Bb4 Ne5 32. Rd2 Nc4 33. Rd1 Re8 34. Qc3 Ba4 35. Rd3 Bb5 36. Qc2 Bd7 37. Rd1 Ra8 38. Bxc4 Rc8 39. Bxd5 Rxc2 40. Nxc2 Qc7 41. Nd4 h5 42. Nf3

White's position is better now, and Sjeng makes the dubious decision of giving up another pawn to open up Terra' s  king's position a bit. Although white is objectively better, the black queen can give a lot of checks, which allows for swindling chances.

42. .. h4? (42. .. Qc8 +=) 43. Nxh4 Ba4 44. Rd2 Bxh4 45. gxh4 Bc6 46. f3 Bxd5 47. Rxd5 Qc2+ 48. Kg3 Qg6+ 49. Kf2 Qc2+ 50. Rd2 Qc8 51. Rd4 Kh7 52. Kg2 Qe6 53. Kf2 Qa2+ 54. Rd2 Qc4 55. Rd4 Qc2+ 56. Rd2 Qc8 57. Kg3 Qe6 58. e4 Qg6+ 59. Kh3 Qh5 60. Kg3 Qg6+ 61. Kf2 Qh6 62. Rd5 Qxh4+ 63. Kg2 b6 64. Bc3 Qh6 65. Bd2 Qg6+ 66. Kf2 Qf6 67. Be3 Qc3 68. a4 Qc2+ 69. Kg3 Qc7+ 70. Bf4 Qc4 71. Be3 Qc7+ 72. Bf4 Qc4

73. a5 b5

The pawns slip past each other. Sjeng's score now went from -1.5 to a positive value. The new passed pawn extensions kick into action. Crafty thinks white is still better here though.

74. a6 Qa4 75. Rd6 Qa1 76. Kg4 Qg1+ 77. Bg3 b4
 

78. h3?

An unneeded loss of tempo and probably the losing move { 78. Rd5 Qb6 79. Rd6 Qg1 and a draw }

78. ... b3 79. Rd7 b2 80. a7 b1=Q 81. a8=Q Qbb6 82. Rd5 Qe6+ 83. Rf5 83. ... g6 84. Qd8 gxf5+ 85. exf5
 

Sjeng now forces an exchange of queens, after which black is simply won.

85. .. Qc4+ 86. f4 Qc6 87. Qh4+ Qh6 88. Qxh6+ White resigns

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "ShrikeX"]
[Black "Sjeng"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Nd5 Qa5+ 8. Bd2 Qd8 9. Bf4 d6
10. Nb5 Rb8

Shrike is playing very aggressive here and may have the advantage.

11. c3 a6!

Tempting...

12. Nbc7+

Falls for it! Black can no longer castle, but the white knight is stuck for quite some time. Most programs will probably have a hard time seeing this.

12. .. Kf8 13. Be3 e6 14. Bb6 Qd7
   
15. Nf4

The knight is dangling in the void. Better was 15. Ne3 with equality. White must retreat now, and not waste any more tempi.

15. ... Ne5 16. Qb3 Qc6 17. Ba7 Qxc7 18. Bxb8 Qxb8 19. Bxa6 Nf6 20. Be2 Nxe4 21. Qb4 Nc5 22. O-O Ke8
23. Rfd1 Bd7 24. Nh3 Ke7 25. Rd2 f6 26. Rad1 Nf7 27. Bb5 Bxb5 28. Qxb5

28. .. g5

It's Black who is going to attack White's king!

(Objectively 28. ... Rc8 29. Qc4 Kf8 30. Nf4 Re8 31. b4 b5 32. Qd4 e5 was probably better, but I like Sjeng's move more)

29. Re1 h5 30. b4 Na6 31. Qf5 Nc7 32. Qc2 Bh6 33. Rd4 Ne5 34. f4

34. ... g4

(Better was: 34. ... gxf4 35. Nxf4 Nb5 36. Rde4 d5 37. Ng6+ Nxg6 38. Rxe6+ Kf7 39. Qd3 Qa7+ 40. Kf1, but Sjeng is going for the throat now ;)

35. fxe5 fxe5 36. Rd3 gxh3 37. Rxh3 Nd5 38. Rf3 Bg5 39. g3 Kd7 40. Rd3 Qa7+ 41. Kh1 41. ... Be7?!

Too passive, better was 41. ... Rf8! putting pressure on the f2 square.

42. Qd2 h4 43. c4 hxg3 44. Rxg3 Nb6 45. Rg7 Qb8

White's well-placed Rg7 now complicates matters...
 

46. Rxe5!

A beautyful trap.

46. ... Nxc4 fork? 47. Rxe7+ NO!

47. .. Kxe7 48. Qg5+ Kf7 49. Qf4+ Ke7 

Black's king cannot escape the checks...draw and an impressive save by Shrike.

Back to the AMD-500 for the first game...

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sjeng"]
[Black "Mint"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. a4 Nc6 11. Bf3 Bxb3 12. cxb3 Rc8 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Qa5 15. Qxa5 Nxa5 16. Bd1 f5 17. exf5 d5 18. Bb6 Bb4 19. Bxa5 Bxa5 20. Bg4 Rc2 21. Rac1 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Bb4 23. Rc7 Rf7 24. Rc8+

24. ... Bf8?

Now white gets a chance to pick at the weak black pawns.
 (Better 24. ... Rf8 25. f6 Rxc8 26. Bxc8 d4 27. Bxb7 a5 28. Bd5+ Kf8 29. Be4 g6 30. f4 exf4 31. Kf2 Kf7 +=)

25. Rd8 d4 26. Bf3 Rxf5 27. Bxb7 Rf6 28. Bd5+ Kh8 29. Bc4 g6 30. Ra8 e4 31. Bxa6 31. ... e3?

Weakening the pawns even more. Black cannot afford this as white can start pushing its own passers soon.
(Better 31. ... d3 32. Bb5 Kg7 33. Rc8 Bb4 34. Rc1 d2 35. Rd1 Kf7 36. h4 Ke6 37. Bc6 +/-)

32. fxe3 dxe3 33. Re8 Kg7 34. Bc4 Bc5 35. g3 h5 36. Re5 Rf5 37. Re6 Rf6 38. Re4 Rf2
  39. Re5

Black's pawn isn't going anywhere now. White's are.

39. ... Bd4 40. Re7+ Kf6 41. Rf7+ Ke5 42. Rxf2 exf2+ 43. Kg2 Bb6 44. b4 Be3 45. b5 g5 46. a5 Bc5
47. b6 h4 48. gxh4 gxh4 49. Kh3 Kd4 50. b3 Ke4 51. Kxh4 Bd4 52. Kg4 Bc5 53. h4 Bd4 54. h5 Bc5
55. h6 Bd4

Black resigns

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sjeng"]
[Black "Hossa"]
[Result "0-1"]

...nothing for 2 minutes...was Sjeng locked up?

1. Nf3

Aye! The operator had not set up the book correctly. Sjeng doesn't have a lot of opening knowledge, so it's more of less helpless in the openings. Hossa on the other hand is a very smart program...

Nf6 2. d3 d5 3. c3 e6 4. Nbd2 c5 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qb3 Qc7 7. e3 Nc6 8. c4 Bd6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Bf5 12. Qa4 Nb4 13. Qb3 b5 14. a4 c4 15. Qc3

No major mistakes, but due to a lot of suboptimal moves Sjeng's position is already totally hopeless.
  15. ... cxd3

Hossa's author said he preferred d4 here, but it does not matter much as Sjeng is already lost.

16. Qxc7 Bxc7 17. Bd1 Nc2 18. Bxc2 dxc2 19. Nd4 Bd3 20. axb5 Bxf1 21. Nxf1 g6
22. Nxc2 Rfb8 23. Nd4 Bd6 24. Nd2 Rb7 25. N2f3 Ne4 26. Ra6 Rb6 27. Ra5 Rc8 28. Ne2 Rc7 29. Nfd4 Bb4

Slowly gaining counterplay now...Hossa has trouble to hold on to it's advantage.

30. Ra1 Bc5 31. f3 Nf6 32. Bd2 Rb8 33. Nc3 Re8 34. Nce2 h6 35. Ra6 Kg7 36. Rc6 Bb6 37. Nc2 Rec8 38. Ned4 Ne8 39. Be1 Ra8 40. b4 Re7 41. Bd2 Kf8 42. Bc3 Nc7
 

43. Kh1

No good of course. This makes the win easier for Hossa.

(Better 43. f4 Kg8 44. f5 Kh7 45. f6 Rd7 46. Be1 Rb8 47. Bg3 Rc8 and Hossa has to fight for its point)

43. ... Rc8 44. f4 Ree8 45. g3 Nxb5 46. Rxc8 Rxc8 47. Nxb5 a6 48. Bd4 axb5 49. Bxb6 Rxc2 50. g4 Ke8 51. h3 Rc4 52. Kg2 Rxb4 53. Kf3 Ra4 54. g5 hxg5 55. fxg5 b4 56. Bd4 b3 57. Bc3 Ra2 58. Kf4 b2 59. Bxb2 Rxb2 60. Ke5 Rh2 61. Kxd5 Rxh3 62. Ke4 62. ... Rxe3+

Tablebase sillyness. 62. .. Ke7!

63. Kxe3 Ke7 64. Kd3 f5 65. gxf6+ Kxf6 66. Ke4 Kg5 67. Kf3 Kh4 68. Kg2 Kg4 69. Kf2 Kh3 70. Ke1 g5 71. Kf2 g4 72. Kg1 Kg3 73. Kf1 Kh2 74. Ke2 g3 75. Ke3 g2 76. Kf3 g1=Q 77. Ke4 Qc5 78. Kd3 Kh3 79. Kd2 Kg4 80. Kd3 Kf3 81. Kd2 Qc4 82. Kd1 Ke3 83. Ke1 Qc1# White checkmated

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.05"]
[Round "7"]
[White "ArasanX"]
[Black "Sjeng"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Be7 4. Bf4 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Bd6 Na6 7. Bxc5 Nxc5 8. Bg2 Qb6 9. Qd4 d6 10. a4 O-O 11. b4 Nce4 12. O-O Bd7 13. Qxb6 axb6 14. a5 bxa5 15. Rxa5 Rxa5 16. bxa5 Ra8 17. Nfd2 Nc5 18. Nc3 Rxa5 19. Rd1 b5 20. Rb1 Na6 21. e3 b4 22. Nce4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 Rc5 24. Nb3 24. ... Rc7

Sjeng was doing very good vs. a strong opponent like Arasan, but now it should have played 24. ... Rc3 to further increase the pressure.

25. Bd3 Bc8 26. Nd4 Bb7 27. Bxa6 Bxa6 28. Rxb4 Rb7 29. Rb3 Kf8 30. f4 Ke7 31. Nc6+ Kf6 32. e4 Rxb3 33. cxb3 e5
 

34. Nb4

A minor inaccuracy. Now Sjeng converts its advantage nicely into a win.

34. ... Bb7 35. Kf2 Bxe4 36. Ke3 Bf5 37. Nd5+ Ke6 38. Nc3 f6 39. Nb5 Kd7 40. Nc3 Kc6 41. Kd2 d5 42. h4 d4 43. Ne2 Kc5 44. fxe5 fxe5 45. Nc1 e4 46. Na2 e3+ 47. Ke2 Kd5 48. Kf3 Be4+ 49. Ke2 White resigns

[Event "ICC 45 10 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2000.11.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Sjeng"]
[Black "ZChess"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Be2 c5 8. Qb3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. O-O Nc6 11. Bd2 Na5 12. Qa3 Be6 13. Qa4 Rad8 14. Rad1 Nc6 15. dxc5 Qa5 16. Qxa5 Nxa5 17. e4 Bxa2 18. Ra1 Bc4 19. Bxc4 Nxc4 20. Bg5 f6 21. Bf4 e5 22. Bg3 Rd7
  23. Ra4?

 Simply 23. Rxa7 is fine here.

23. ... b5 24. Ra6 Rc8 25. c6 Rd3 26. Rxa7 Rxc3 27. Rd1 Rxc6 28. Rd8+ Bf8 29. Ne1 Nd6 30. f3 b4 31. Rad7 b3 32. Bf2

Sjeng is being outplayed...

31. .. h5 33. Kf1 g5 34. Kg1 Nc8 35. Rd2 Rd6 36. R2xd6 Nxd6 37. Rb8 Kf7 38. Rb6 Nc4 39. Rb7+ Ke6 40. Kf1 b2 41. Ke2 Ba3 42. Rb8 Rc1 43. Kd3 Nd6 44. Nc2 b1=Q 45. Rxb1 Rxb1 46. Nxa3 Rb3+ 47. Ke2 Rxa3 48. h3 g4 49. hxg4 hxg4 50. Bc5 Ra2+ 51. Ke3 Rxg2 52. Bxd6 Kxd6 53. fxg4 f5 54. gxf5 Kc5 55. Kf3 Rb2 56. Kg4 Kd4 57. f6 Kxe4 58. Kg5 Rf2

59. f7 Rxf7 60. Kg6 Rf4 61. Kg7 Kf3 62. Kg8 e4 63. Kg7 e3 64. Kh7 e2 65. Kg6 e1=R 66. Kg5 Rg1+ 67. Kh5 Rg2 68. Kh6 Rh4# White checkmated

All in all a good tournament for Sjeng. It was a fun and exciting experience.