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Subject: Re: Endgame test.

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 08:30:09 10/07/01

Go up one level in this thread


On October 07, 2001 at 05:21:04, Uri Blass wrote:

>On October 07, 2001 at 04:57:22, Gareth McCaughan wrote:
>
>>Slater Wold wrote:
>>
>>> Here is a position from a game I played recently.
>>>
>>> How long does it take other engines to get this move?
>>>
>>> [D]8/1kbQ2NK/4p2p/8/1p1p1P2/8/4q3/8 w - - 0 1
>>>
>>> Solution is Qxd4! and the game draws.
>>
>>Crafty 18.11, Athlon 1GHz, takes about 15 1/2 hours
>>to switch from Nxe6 to Qxd4. It doesn't think it's
>>drawing (eval is about -2.6).
>>
>>At the moment (nearly 60 hours in) it's working on
>>ply 20 and doesn't have an eval or a PV yet.
>>The PV at the end of ply 19 is:
>>
>>1. Qxd4 Qc2+ 2. Kxh6 b3 3. Nxe6 b2
>>4. Nc5+ Kc6 5. Qd7+ Kb6 6. Na4+ Qxa4
>>7. Qxa4 b1=Q 8. Qd4+ Kc6 9. Qc4+ Kd6
>>10. Qd4+ Ke6 11. Qc4+ Kd7 12. Qf7+
>>Kc8 13. Qg8+ Bd8 14. Qe6+ Kc7 15. Qe5+
>>Kd7 16. Qd5+ Ke7 17. f5
>>
>>(gosh! 33 ply.)
>>
>>Crafty is alleged to be good at endgames, but if you're
>>right that Qxd4 draws then it could clearly do with some
>>improving...
>>
>>--
>>g
>
>It is clear based on the main line that Crafty has no knowledge about KQB vs KQP
>endgames
>
>The position after 7...b1Q should be evaluated as something close to draw
>because queen and bishop usually does not win against queen and here black has
>queen and bishop against queen and pawn.
>
>Uri


Nope.  Never included all the special cases, just the ones that I have seen
such as KR+minor + KR or KR+P.  Lots of KQB vs KQP are winnable.  enough that
just saying "draw" would lead to embarassing results.  This problem will become
moot in another couple of years as more 6=piece EGTBs are done.  I think it is
dangerous to call KR vs KN a draw, because some are winnable, and I watched a
game vs some computer on ICC last week where this came up.  Crafty was in a
KRP vs KBN ending and the opponent played BxP with an eval of 0.00, and crafty
responded RxB with a score of mate in something.  Apparently the opponent had
that particular score hard-coded, and if there are exceptions, that becomes
embarassing at a critical moment...



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