Author: Heiko Mikala
Date: 18:43:36 10/19/98
Hi everyone!
I have just finished a small blitz tournament (game/10) between
2 commercial programs and 3 freely available Winboard engines.
The participants were:
Rebel 8.0 (Long time SSDF-leader)
MChess Pro 5.0 (World Champion 1995)
ZChess 1.0 (Second in the 1998 French Computer Chess championships)
Crafty 15.18
Phalanx XIII
The games have been played on my Pentium 200 MMX computer with 64 MB
Ram. All programs used 10 MB hash tables except for MChess, which
unfortunately can only use 64 kB(!) of hash under Windows.
Crafty and ZChess used endgame tablebases (all 3 and 4-men plus two
5-men tablebases), except for the first two games ZChess-Rebel.
Pondering was disabled for all programs.
Here are the final standings:
=============================
1 2 3 4 5
1 REBEL 8.0 - - - - 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 13.0/16
2 MChess Pro 5.0 0 0 ½ 0 - - - - 1 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 8.5/16
3 WCrafty-15_18 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 - - - - 1 1 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 8.0/16
4 Phalanx-XVIII 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 - - - - 1 0 1 1 6.5/16
5 ZChes100 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 - - - - 4.0/16
Rebel is the clear winner of this tournament. MChess finished second,
Crafty third, but very close to MChess! Phalanx played very strong too,
finishing close to Crafty.
Here are my impressions:
Rebel:
Rebel seemed to be nearly unbeatable in this tournament. It always played
very solid chess, no mistakes at all.
A little surprise to me was game #1 against MChess. Rebel played the whole
game out of it's opening book, up to the point where MChess saw that it
would be mated and resigned... (Please, let's not start a new thread about
killer books, AND I'm not saying, this was a killer line!)
MChess:
In my opinion, the by far most interesting games in this tournament were
those with MChess involved. Always aggressive, always attaking, it never
gives up, even if it is far behind. It has a very strong engine, and in
my opinion, despite of what others think, it's opening book sometimes
prevents it from beeing even more successful. Examples for this are game
number 1 against Phalanx, where MChess came out of book with a score
of -2 and game number 4 against Rebel, where it's score was -3.1 when it left
the opening book. Scores of -1 are quite normal. Nevertheless MChess often
manages to draw or even win it's games.
Crafty:
The strongest of all freeware engines, no doubt about it. And, in none of
the games against Rebel and MChess I had the feeling that Rebel or MChess
were clearly superior in strength compared to Crafty. It felt, as if Crafty
was playing in the same league!
Phalanx:
A very strong engine too. Might be as strong as Comet and very close to
Crafty. It scored two wins against MChess in this tournament!
ZChess:
Always good for a surprise. ZChess scored the only victory against Rebel
in this tournament. It may have finished last in this tournament, but it's
clearly one of the best Winboard engines.
I include six of the games of this tournament as PGN. It may not be the
most beautiful games, but these are the games that I found the most inte-
resting while watching/playing them.
1.) Rebel - Crafty (Round 2), 1/2-1/2
Crafty plays a gambit, lies back in score but manages to fight back and
draw the game.
2.) ZChess - MChess (Round 1), 0-1
A very nice king-side attack of MChess.
3.) Phalanx - MChess (Round 1), 0-1
MChess plays a very bad opening, it's score beeing -2 when it comes out
of book, the score drops to -3 but MChess fights - and wins the game!
This one was a real thriller, I couldn't sleep that night ;-)
4.) Rebel - MChess (Round 1) 1-0
Rebel plays the whole game out of it's book, up to move 25, when MChess
realizes, that it's beeing mated and resigns. The evaluation in move 26
is Rebel's evaluation. You can see, that this was the first move it
calculated itself.
5.) ZChess - Rebel (Round 3) 1-0
ZChess, beeing clearly behind for a long time in this game, wins in the
end. I said above, that Rebel made no mistakes in this tournament. Well,
nearly. In this game at least 42. ... Qb2 seems to be a big mistake.
6.) ZChess - MChess (Round 3) 0-1
A wonderful, powerful queen-side attack of MChess in it's preferred ope-
ning, the french opening. And a queen-"sacrifice" near the end of the game,
to open the way for a doubled passed pawn. Have a look at it!
The games:
==========
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "REBEL 8.0"]
[Black "WCrafty-15_18"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 b5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a3 Bg4 7. f3 a4 8.
Ba2 Bc8 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. Nxb5 Nxd5 11. d4 e6 12. c4 Nb6 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Nxd6+
cxd6 15. Ne2 O-O 16. O-O Ba6 17. Qc2 Qe7 18. Rac1 Rc8 19. c5 dxc5 20. Bb1
Qh4 21. dxc5 Bxe2 22. g3 Qh3 23. Qxe2 Nd5 24. Bxb8 Raxb8 25. Rc4 Qh6 26.
Rh4 Qf6 27. Bxh7+ Kf8 28. Bc2 Qxb2 29. Qd3 Rxc5 30. Bxa4 Rc3 31. Rh8+ Ke7
32. Rxb8 Qxb8 33. Qd4 Rxa3 34. Bc6 Qa7 35. Qxa7+ Rxa7 36. Rb1 Kd6 37. Be8
Rc7 38. Rb2 Nc3 39. Rc2 Ke7 40. Ba4 Kf6 41. Kf2 e5 42. h4 Kf5 43. Bb3 e4
44. Ke3 exf3 45. Kxf3 Ke5 46. g4 f5 47. gxf5 Kxf5 48. Rd2 Rb7 49. Rg2 Rxb3
50. Rxg7 Nd5+ 51. Kf2 Rh3 52. Rg5+ Ke4 53. Rh5 Nf4 54. Rh6 Rh2+ 55. Kg1
Rg2+ 56. Kf1 Kf3 57. Ke1 Rh2 58. Kd1 Ng2 59. Kd2 Nxh4+ 60. Kd3 Kf4 61. Rh7
Rh3+ 62. Kc4 Rh1 63. Kd3 Rh2 64. Rh8 Rh3+ 65. Kc4 Rh1 66. Kd3 Kg5 67. Rh7
Re1 68. Rf7 Nf5 69. Ra7 Kf4 70. Ra4+ Kf3 71. Rb4 Rd1+ 72. Kc2 Rd8 73. Kc3
Ke3 74. Rg4 Nd6 75. Rg3+ Kf4 76. Rg7 Ne4+ 77. Kc4 Ke3 78. Rg1 Rd4+ 79. Kb5
Rd5+ 80. Kb4 Nd6 81. Re1+ Kd2 82. Rh1 Rb5+ 83. Ka4 Rb6 84. Rh3 Kc2 85. Rf3
Nb7 86. Rg3 Rb1 87. Ra3 Nc5+ 88. Ka5 Nd3 89. Ra4 Kc3 90. Re4 Rb3 91. Rg4
Rb2 92. Re4 Rb1 93. Rh4 Ne5 94. Ka4 Rb2 95. Rh3+ Kc4 96. Rh4+ Kc5 97. Rh5
Rb4+ 98. Ka3 Re4 99. Kb3 Kd4 100. Kb4 Rf4 101. Kb5 Rf1 102. Rh4+ Kd5 103.
Kb4 Rc1 104. Rh5 Rc7 105. Rf5 Rc4+ 106. Kb3 Rc6 107. Rf8 Nc4 108. Kc3 Na3+
109. Kd3 Nc4
1/2-1/2
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "ZChes100"]
[Black "MChess Pro 5.0"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5
8. Bg5 a6 9. Na3 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nd5 f5 12. Bd3 Be6 13. Qh5 Bg7 14.
O-O f4 15. c4 b4 16. Nc2 Rb8 17. g3 O-O 18. gxf4 exf4 19. Nxf4 Ne5 20. Nxe6
fxe6 21. Be2 Rf4 22. Rfd1 Qf6 23. Qh3 Rxe4 24. Ne3 Rf8 25. Qg3 Rf4 26. Rxd6
Nf3+ 27. Bxf3 Qxb2 28. Rf1 Rxf3 29. Qg2 Qxa2 30. Rxe6 a5 31. Re7 Qb2 32.
Ra7 Qe5 33. Ng4 Qg5 34. h4 Qf4 35. Rxg7+ Kxg7 36. Nh2+ Kh8 37. Nxf3 Qxf3
38. Qxf3 Rxf3 39. Kg2 Rf5 40. Rc1 a4 41. c5 b3 42. c6 b2 43. Re1 a3 44. Rd1
Rc5 45. h5 a2 46. h6 Rg5+ 47. Kf3 b1=Q 48. c7 Qxd1+ 49. Ke3 Re5+ 50. Kf4
Qd4+ 51. Kg3 Rg5+ 52. Kf3 Qd3+ 53. Kf4 Rf5+ 54. Kg4 Qf3+ 55. Kh4 Rh5#
0-1
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Phalanx-XVIII"]
[Black "MChess Pro 5.0"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bc4 Nd3+ 7. Ke2
Nf4+ 8. Kf1 Ne6 9. Ne5 Qd4 10. Qa4+ Nd7 11. Nf3 Qd6 12. Nb5 Qb8 13. Bxe6
fxe6 14. Ng5 a6 15. Nxe6 axb5 16. Qxa8 Qxa8 17. Nc7+ Kd8 18. Nxa8 b6 19. a4
Bb7 20. axb5 Bxe4 21. Kg1 Kc8 22. Ra6 Kb7 23. h4 Bd3 24. Rh3 Bxb5 25. Ra1
e6 26. Rb3 Bc6 27. Rba3 Bd6 28. d3 Bb5 29. Be3 Kc6 30. Rb3 Rd8 31. h5 Nf6
32. h6 gxh6 33. Bxh6 Ng4 34. Bg7 Bh2+ 35. Kh1 Bf4 36. g3 Rd7 37. Bh8 Bd2
38. f3 Nf2+ 39. Kg2 Nxd3 40. Bc3 Bc1 41. Ra2 Rb7 42. Rba3 Bc4 43. Ra1 Bxb2
44. Bxb2 Nxb2 45. Rb1 Nd3 46. Rc3 b5 47. Ra1 Kd5 48. Rh1 b4 49. Rc2 b3 50.
Rd2 b2 51. Rdd1 Kd4 52. Rdg1 Ba2 53. Rh4+ Kc3 54. Rf1 c4 55. f4 b1=Q 56.
Rxb1 Bxb1 57. Kf3 Kd2 58. Rh2+ Kd1 59. Re2 Rb3 60. Rh2 Ne1+ 61. Kg4 c3 62.
Nc7 Bf5+ 63. Kh5 Bg6+ 64. Kh6 Rb7 65. f5 Bxf5 66. Na6 Rb2 67. Rh4 c2 68.
Rc4 Rb3 69. Nc5 Rxg3 70. Rd4+ Ke2 71. Rc4 Rg6+ 72. Kh5 c1=Q 73. Rxc1 Bg4+
74. Kh4 Nf3+ 75. Kg3 Bf5+ 76. Kf4 Rg4#
0-1
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.17"]
[Round "1"]
[White "REBEL 8.0"]
[Black "MChess Pro 5.0"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Nbc6
8. Qg4 c4 9. Be2 O-O 10. h4 f5 11. Qg3 Qa5 12. Bd2 Qa4 13. Bd1 Qb5 14.
Bh6 Ng6 15. h5 f4 16. Qg4 Qb2 17. hxg6 Qxc3+ 18. Kf1 gxh6 19. Rxh6 Qxa1
20. Rxh7 Rf5 21. Nh3 Ne7 22. Rxe7 f3 23. Kg1 Qxd1+ 24. Kh2 Qf1 25. gxf3
Bd7 26. Qh4 { 00:04 7.00 Matt in 6 Zge Dg4-h4 Df1xh3+ Dh4xh3 Kg8-f8
Dh3-h4 Tf5-h5 } 1-0
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "ZChes100"]
[Black "REBEL 8.0"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. a3
Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O h6 12. Bf4 d4 13. Nb5 Nd5
14. Bd6 a6 15. Bxf8 Kxf8 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Bxa6 Nf4 18. c3 Qd5 19. f3 Qg5
20. g3 Nf5 21. Kh1 Nxg3+ 22. hxg3 Rxa6 23. Qd2 Qh5+ 24. Kg1 Ne6 25. Rad1
Kg8 26. Qf2 b5 27. Rd3 Bb7 28. Qe3 Ng5 29. g4 Nh3+ 30. Kh2 Qh4 31. Rd8+
Qxd8 32. Kxh3 Re6 33. Qf4 Re2 34. b4 Rc2 35. Re1 Bc6 36. Kg3 g5 37. Qd4
Qc7+ 38. Qe5 Qa7 39. Re3 Qxa3 40. Qb8+ Kh7 41. Qd8 Qb2 42. Qd3+ Be4 43.
Qxe4+ Kg8 44. Qe8+ Kg7 45. Qe5+ Kh7 46. Qc7 Qb3 47. Re7 Kg6 48. Qd6+ Kg7
49. Qe5+ Kg6 50. Re8 f6 51. Qf5+ Kg7 52. Re7+ Qf7 53. Rxf7+ Kxf7 54. Qxc2
Ke7 55. Qe2+ Kd6 56. Qxb5 Ke7 57. Qd5 f5 58. Qxf5 Kd6 59. Qf6+ Kc7 60. b5
Kd7 61. b6 h5 62. c4 h4+ 63. Kh3 Ke8 64. b7 Kd7 65. Qf7+ Kc6 66. b8=Q Kc5
67. Qd5#
1-0
[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "HEIKOMIK"]
[Date "1998.10.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "ZChes100"]
[Black "MChess Pro 5.0"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Bd7 8.
a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Nbc6 10. Bb5 Qc7 11. O-O O-O 12. Bg5 Ng6 13. Qe2 h6 14. Be3
c4 15. Rfb1 Qa5 16. Ra3 a6 17. Bxc6 Bxc6 18. Bc1 Bxa4 19. Rxb7 Rfb8 20.
Rxb8+ Rxb8 21. Ra1 Qxc3 22. Rxa4 Rb1 23. Ne1 Rxc1 24. Kf1 Nf4 25. Qe3 Qxc2
26. Rxa6 Nd3 27. Ra8+ Kh7 28. g3 Rxe1+ 29. Qxe1 Nxe1 30. Kxe1 c3 31. Rc8
Qd2+ 32. Kf1 Qxd4 33. Kg2 Qc4 34. Rxc4 dxc4 35. Kg1 c2 36. h4 c1=Q+ 37. Kg2
Qe1 38. g4 c3 39. g5 c2 40. Kg3 c1=Q 41. g6+ fxg6 42. Kg4 Qxf2 43. Kh3 Qh1+
44. Kg4 Qfxh4#
0-1
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.