Wednesday 18 May 2011

Shahar Tzafrir vs Rybka Forum

This was a fine correspondence game played by Shahar. He mostly used IDeA with 48 cores on analysis by 48 single core Rybkas. Annotations are by him.

Tzafrir, Shahar - Rybka Warriors, Forum

Result: 1-0
[...] A 24 hour/move game: HEM vs. the Rybka forum team; part of two game simultaneous white/black match that started on November 4th 2009 and concluded on December 31st 2009. The other game (Rybka-Warriors had White) ended in a draw. State of the art chess-engines / computers were used by both sides throughout the game. The Rybka team played in consultation using a team-vote approach to decide their moves. According to my post mortem analysis, Black is losing by force after its 23rd move.1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.¤f3 ¤f6?! 3. ..d5 and 3. ..d6 are more common. Judging by this game, it's clear why. White's aim in the Wing gambit is to gain time, and Nf6 plays to White's hands.

4.e5 ¤d5 5.a3 e6 (5...bxa3 6.¥xa3) 6.axb4 ¥xb4 7.¤a3 With a c4->Nc2->Nxb4 plan. 7...¤c6
(Only one previous rated game on record with 7.Na3: [Event "Moscow RGSU-B"] [Date 2006.11. 16"] [Round "11"] [White "Kislov, Oleg"] [Black "Mozharov, Mikhail"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2267"] [BlackElo "2418"] 7...O-O 8.c4 ¤f4 9.¤c2 ¥a5 10.¥a3 ¦e8 11.h4 f6 12.exf6 £xf6 13.g3 ¤g6 14.¥d6 ¤c6 15.¥d3 ¥c7?? 16.¥xc7 1:0)
8.c4 ¤de7 9.¤c2 O-O?! An unwarranted concession of Black's bishop

(9...¥a5 Unclear) 10.¤xb4 I spent 4 tempi to exchange the bishop realizing I have sufficient development advantage (from the early b4 sac and e5 push) to not incur any penalty doing so. Black has anyway spent and will spend equal time on his knights jumping around. More important, White's subsequent plan and moves all follow naturally after this exchange.

10...¤xb4 11.¥a3 ¤ec6 This is Black's sixth Knight jump in the first eleven moves of the game - 54.5% of Black's opening moves dedicated to a knight tour.

12.£b1 a5 13.¥d3 Provoking f5 or even better (for White) g6

13...f5
(13...h6 I would have forced a draw had Black played h6.

14.¥h7 ¢h8 15.¥e4 ¦b8 16.O-O d5 17.exd6 £xd6 18.h3 ¦d8 19.¦d1 b5 20.¥xc6 £xc6 21.¥xb4 axb4 22.£xb4 £xc4 23.£xc4 bxc4 24.¤e5 ¦d5 25.¤xc4 While 13. ..h6 was safer, Black can't be blamed, being a pawn up, for not sensing the danger the position holds and avoiding the drawing line.)
(13...g6 14.h4 With attack) 14.¥e2 Lost a tempo but achieved provoking the weakening f5 that allows the subsequent h3->g4 break ideas for White. An extra benefit is that f5 also slows down the development of Black's c8 bishop and cramps Black's position.

14...d5 15.exd6 £xd6 16.d4 ¥d7 Start of a slow Black plan to place the bishop at h5. I'm not sure this was the best plan for Black as it allows White to peacefully finish development. Then again, it's already hard to come with a viable other plan.


(Possibly a better/faster plan was b6->Bb7->Rad8->Rfe8, or b6->Ba6 16...b6 17.O-O ¥b7 Unclear16...b6 17.O-O ¥b7 Unclear (17...¥a6 Unclear) )
17.£b2 ¥e8 18.O-O ¥h5 19.¦fd1 ¦ae8?! Likely the culprit of Black's subsequent trouble.


(19...¦ac8 20.¦d2 Unclear19...¦ac8 20.¦d2 Unclear (20.h3 Unclear) (20.¤g5 ¥xe2 21.£xe2 Unclear) )
20.¦d2 b6 Black has a hard time finding a plan as evident by this last 'waiting' move.

21.¦ad1² ¦e7 By now White has more than enough compensation for the saced pawn - White position is harmonious and Black needs to struggle to find an equalizing plan.

22.h3! Preparing g4! I played this now before Qb3 and Bb2 to 'hide' the g4 plan and try and make this look like an inconspicuous 'luft' or waiting move by White. I expected another waiting move from Black in return per the recent two non-moves Black just played - most likely h6 that was indeed played. Objectively it's quite hard to find a plan or a move here for Black that doesn't hurt its position further.

22...h6 23.£b3 ¦c8 According to my post-mortem analysis, White is winning by force after this move.

24.¥b2 ¤d8? A 'computer like' move that is not only 'not pretty' but worse it loses control of the key e5 square and probably underestimated (or missed?) the strength of White's subsequent two shots. However it's not easy to come up with a move that offers harder resistance, as Black is already in a predicament. My analysis post mortem shows Black is losing by force after White's 24th Bb2 move.


(24...¥xf3 An attempt that doesn't seem to work. 25.¥xf3 ¢h7 26.¥c3² (26.¥e2 Unclear) )
(24...¦ce8 An attempt that doesn't seem to work. 25.¤h4 ¥xe2 Only move 26.¦xe2 £d8
(26...g5 27.¤g6 ¦g7 28.¤e5 ¤xe5 29.¦xe5 ¦ge7 30.¥c3 £c7 31.¥xb4 axb4 32.£xb4 ¦d8 33.¦e3±)
27.£f3 (27.£g3 ¦d7 28.¦de1 £g5) (27.d5 ¦d7 28.¤f3 exd5 29.¦ed2 ¢h7 30.cxd5 ¤e7 31.d6 ¤ec6 Unclear) 27...¦f7 28.£h5 £g5 29.£xg5 hxg5 30.¤f3 ¤d8 31.d5 g4 32.hxg4 fxg4 33.¤d4±)
(24...f4!? Appears to have been Black's best attempt; however it's refuted as well.

25.¤h4
(25.¥c3 ¦ee8 (25...¦b8 26.£b1 ¦d8 27.¤g5 hxg5 28.¥xh5²)
(25...¦d8 26.£b1 b5 27.d5 exd5 28.cxd5 £c5 29.dxc6 ¦xd2 30.¦xd2 £xc3 31.£f5²)
26.d5 exd5 27.cxd5 ¤d8 28.£b2 ¤f7 29.¥xg7 £g6 30.¤h4 £xg7 31.£xg7 ¢xg7 32.¥xh5 ¦e5 33.¥xf7 ¢xf7 34.d6 Unclear)
25...a4
(25...¥xe2 26.¦xe2 ¦d7 27.d5 ¦cd8 28.¥xg7 ¢xg7 29.£f3 £e7 30.¤f5 exf5 31.¦xe7 ¤xe7 32.¦e1±)
26.£xa4 ¦a7 (26...¥xe2 27.¦xe2 ¦a7 28.£b3²) 27.£b3 ¤a5 28.£a3 ¥xe2 (28...¤ac6 29.£c3 ¥xe2 30.¦xe2 ¤a5 31.¥a3ќ) 29.¦xe2 ¦cc7 (29...¦xc4 30.d5±) 30.¦de1 ¤xc4 31.£b3 ¤a5 32.£f3 ¤c2 33.¦d1±)
25.g4! White's pieces are all optimally placed. It's time to convert White's positional advantage to material with the g4 and d5 break. Any delay in the break could have allowed Black to equalize. It's like knowing to not fall in love in a stock you own and when to sell - it was hard for me to 'ruin' White's beautiful position with 25. g4, but the time has come to break and convert.

25...fxg4 26.¤e5 ¥e8
(26...¤dc6 27.hxg4 ¥e8 28.g5 hxg5 29.£g3 ¤xe5 30.dxe5 £c7 31.¦d6 ¤a6 (31...¥a4 32.¦1d4ќ) 32.£xg5±)
27.d5!! Thematic break. Chess engines, even after a long analysis time, don't realize this is the strongest forcing move here.

(27.¥xg4 h5²) 27...exd5 28.¥xg4 ¤dc6 Black is forced to give up an exchange looking for an endgame he hopes is drawish. Black's alternatives per the following analysis were worse.

(28...¦cc7?? 29.¦xd5 ¤xd5 30.¦xd5 £f6 31.¦xd8ќ)
(28...¦c5 29.cxd5 h5
(29...¥b5 30.f4 ¦cc7 (30...¢f8 31.¥d4 ¦xd5 32.¥f3 ¤dc6 33.¥xd5ќ) 31.¥f5 ¥e8 32.¦g2ќ)
30.¥f5 h4 31.¤c6 ¤dxc6 32.dxc6 ¥f7 33.£xb4 axb4 34.¦xd6ќ)
(28...¤e6 28. ..Ne6 offered an interesting defence although White still reaches a very promising position through 33. Qe3!

29.cxd5 ¤c5 30.£c3 ¦a8
(30...¦b8 31.¤c4 £f4 32.¦d4 ¤e4 33.£e3 £xe3 34.fxe3 ¥a4 35.¦c1 ¤f6 36.d6ќ)
31.¤c4 £g6 Only move 32.d6 ¤e4 33.£e3!
(33.£c1 ¦e6 (33...¤xd2 34.dxe7ќ) 34.¢h2
(34.f4 ¤xd2 35.¦xd2 ¦e4 36.d7 ¦d8 37.¤d6 ¦xd7 38.¤xe4 ¦xd2 39.f5 ¦c2 40.fxg6 ¦xc1 41.¥xc1 ¥xg6 Unclear)
34...¤a2 35.£a1 ¤xd2 36.¦xd2 ¥f7 37.¥e5 ¤b4 38.¤xb6²)
33...¤xd2 34.dxe7 ¤xc4 35.£e6 ¢h7 (35...£xe6 36.¥xe6 ¢h7 37.¦d8 ¤xb2 38.¦xa8ќ) 36.¦d8±)
29.¥xc8 ¤xe5 30.¥xe5 ¦xe5 (30...£xe5 31.cxd5 ¥f7 32.¥g4²) 31.cxd5 Black now faces a major decision - 31. .. Bf7 vs. 31. ..Rg5+. According to the game and the analysis herein, both lose by force, although 31. ..Rg5+ offered tougher resistance via some very difficult lines.

31...¥f7?? Black expects 31. ..Bf7 to lead to a drawish endgame. However this is refuted in the game and further in the following analysis. The endgame reached after 31. ..Bf7 while very much outside the horizon of current chess engines, is losing by force with a simple plan. The game was played at a 24 hours per move time-control. However the Black team took a 'time out' and spent 4 days on this difficult move. I dare guess the Black team ended up playing the more dubious 31. ..Bf7?? due to having over-analyzed 31. ..Rg5+ and not being able to find a forcing drawing line there, opted for the seemingly more drawish endgame after 31. ..Bf7. I further believe that with only 24 hours for the move, the Black team was more likely to have played the more natural looking 31. ..Rg5+.


(31...¦g5 Leads to some very complicated lines, with 3 main tries for Black, and a very narrow path White must walk through, with a series of 'only moves' White must find to maintain the win / avoid a draw.

32.¢h1 Only move Black now has 3 main attempts: 32. ..Qf6, 32. ..Bh5, 32. ..a4. And further 2 easier to refute attempts: 32.. Bg6, 32. .. Bf7. I believe only 32. ..Qf6 challenges White (and I present its refutation too), but I'll quickly address all five attempts with their respective refutations. First attempt: 32. ..Qf6

32...£f6
(Second attempt: ..Bh5 32...¥h5 33.¥g4 ¥xg4 (33...¥g6 34.¦e2 ¢h7 35.¦e6 £f4 36.d6) (33...¤a6 34.¥xh5 ¦xh5 35.£f3 ¦g5 36.¦c2±) (33...a4 34.£g3 ¥xg4 35.hxg4 £d7 36.f3 ¤xd5±) 34.hxg4 ¦xg4 35.£h3 ¦e4
(35...£d7 36.d6 ¤c6 37.f3 ¦g1 38.¢h2 £xh3 39.¢xh3 ¦xd1 40.¦xd1 ¢f7 41.¦c1 ¤b8±)
(35...h5 36.f3 ¦g6 37.£c8 ¢h7 38.£f5ќ) (35...¦f4 36.£e6 £xe6 37.dxe6 ¦e4 38.¦d6ќ) (35...¦g6 36.£c8 ¢h7 37.£f5 ¢g8 38.¦c1 ¦f6 39.¦c8ќ) 36.£c8 £f8 37.£xf8 ¢xf8 38.d6 ¦e8 39.d7 ¦d8±)
(Third attempt: ..a4 32...a4 33.£f3 ¥h5 34.¥g4 ¥xg4 35.hxg4 ¤a6 36.¦d4 ¤c5 37.¢g2 ¢h7 38.£f4 ¦g6 39.£xd6 ¦xd6 40.¦b4ќ)
(Fourth attempt: ..Bg6: 32...¥g6 33.¥e6 ¢h7 (33...¢h8 34.£e3ќ) 34.£f3 ¥h5 (34...¤c6 35.h4 ¦h5 36.¢g2 ¤e5 37.£f4ќ) 35.¥f5 ¢h8 36.¥g4 ¥xg4 37.hxg4ќ)
(Fifth attempt: ..Bf7: 32...¥f7 33.¥e6 £f4 (33...¤a6 34.¦e2ќ) 34.£e3 £xe3 (34...£f6 35.f4±) 35.fxe3 ¥xe6 (35...¦e5 36.¥xf7 ¢xf7 37.d6ќ) 36.dxe6 ¦e5 37.¦d6ќ)
33.¦e1!! All other attempts e.g. 33. d6+, 33. h4 only draw.

33...¥a4
(33...¥f7 34.¥e6 a4 35.£d1 a3 36.¥xf7 £xf7 37.d6 a2 38.d7 a1=£ 39.d8=£ ¢h7 40.£e8 £c3 41.£e4 £f5 42.f3 ¤c6 43.£dc2 £xc2 44.¦xc2 ¤d4 45.¦c3 ¦g6 46.£xf5 ¤xf5ќ Reaches the same type of won end-game the game has reached. White will win the b pawn, force exchanging rooks etc as in the game.)
34.£e3 ¢h8 35.¥e6 ¤c2 Only move 36.¦xc2 ¥xc2 37.f4 ¦g6 Only move 38.£e5 (38.d6 ¥a4 39.£f3 £d8 40.f5 ¦f6 41.£d5) 38...¢h7 (38...£xe5 39.fxe5ќ) 39.f5 ¦g5 Only move 40.£xf6 gxf6 41.d6 ¥a4 (41...¦g3 42.d7 ¦xh3 43.¢g2 ¦d3 44.¦c1 ¥a4 45.¦c7ќ) 42.¦c1 ¦g7 43.h4ќ)
32.¥e6ќ White plan is simple: win Blacks a & b pawns without making any concessions. Activate the rooks, force swapping rooks and reach a won K+R+PP vs. K+N+PP 8 pieces end-game. Chess engines have a hard time evaluating this endgame, forming and executing this plan as it's outside the horizon and 6-pieces tablebase offer surprisingly little help. Instead the chess engines shuffle pieces without their eval making much progress. This is a nice example where a long term human plan sees, well, longer.

32...¥xe6
(32...£e7 33.¥xf7 £xf7 34.f4 ¦f5 35.£c4 ¦xf4 36.£c8 ¢h7 37.d6ќ)
33.dxe6 £xe6 34.¦d8 ¢h7 Only move 35.£xe6 ¦xe6 36.¦8d6 ¦e4 37.¦xb6 a4 38.¦a1 ¤d5
(38...¤d3 39.¦a3 ¦d4 (39...¤f4 40.¦a6) 40.¦b7)
39.¦b7 h5? Unnecessary weakening of the pawn structure. Black's plan was to play h4 later and try to create a fortress. However it does not work.

40.¢g2! Essential part of the winning plan. Not allow the king to get caged.

40...¦d4
(40...h4 Post mortem one of Black's comments was they believed 40. ..h4 could have created a fortress. This segment refutes that.

41.¦g1 ¤e7
(41...¦e6 42.¢f3 ¤e7 43.¦g4 ¦f6 44.¢g2 ¤f5
(44...¤g6 45.¦a7 a3
(45...¤f4 46.¢f1 ¤g6 47.¦axa4 ¦c6 48.¢g2 ¦f6 49.¦ge4 ¦b6 50.f4 ¦b7 51.f5 ¤e7 52.¦xh4 ¢g8ќ)
46.¦xa3 ¤f4 47.¢f1 ¤g6 48.¢e2 ¤f4 49.¢d2 ¦d6
(49...¤g6 50.¢e3 ¦b6 51.f4 ¢g8 52.¦g5 ¤e7 53.¢f3 ¦b7 54.¢g4 ¦c7 55.¢xh4ќ)
50.¢e3 ¤d5 51.¢f3 ¤f6 52.¦xh4ќ)
45.¦xa4 ¢g6 (45...¦g6 46.¦g4 ¦a6 47.¦gb4) 46.¦ba7 ¢h5 47.¦4a6 ¦xa6 (47...¦f8 48.f4 ¦d8 49.¢f3) 48.¦xa6 ¤d4 49.¦a5 ¢g6 50.¦a4 ¤f5 51.¢f3 ¤h6 52.¦xh4)
(41...¦c4 42.¢h2 ¤c7 43.¦g4 ¦c2 44.¦xh4ќ) 42.¢f3 ¦e6 43.¦g4 ¦f6 44.¦f4 ¤f5 45.¦a7 a3 46.¦xa3 ¢g6 47.¦a5 ¢g5 48.¦g4 ¢h6 49.¦ga4 ¤d4 50.¢e3 ¤f5 51.¢e4 ¤d6 52.¢d5 ¤e8 53.¦xh4 ¢g6ќ)
41.¦a7 ¤c3?! Losing another tempo. However there are no better alternatives by now anyway.

42.¦c1 ¤d5 43.¦c6! Much better than 43. Rg1 - a plan that some chess engines opt for but doesn't seem to work. 43. Rc6 activates the rook.

43...¤f4 44.¢g3 White's plan is to accept a few Checks from Black, and in between play f3 and h4 to get control of g5 to place there a rook later - threatening to win either g or h pawn thus forcing exchanging rooks.

44...a3 45.¦cc7 ¤e6 Only move 46.¦e7 ¦d6 47.¦xa3 First part of the plan complete. 47...¢h6 48.¦ea7 White now needs to force exchanging a pair of rooks to reach a won end-game. Still most chess engines are unable to determine a winning plan here.

48...¤c5 49.f3! ¦g6 50.¢f2 ¦d6 51.h4! Second part of the plan complete. Getting control of the key g5 square to allow placing a rook there in some possible lines.

51...¤d3 52.¢g2 ¦g6 53.¢h2 ¤c5 54.¦c3 ¤e6 55.¦a5 ¤f4 56.¦f5 ¤e2 Ends the game at once by giving up Blacks h5 pawn, however all other options lose fast as well.


(56...¦f6 57.¦cc5 ¢g6
(57...¦xf5 58.¦xf5 ¤e2 59.¦e5 ¤d4 60.¢g3 g6 61.¢f4 ¤c6 62.¦d5 ¤b4 63.¦d6 ¤a2 64.¢e5 ¤c3 65.¢f6 ¤e2 66.¦d8 ¢h7 67.¢g5 ¢g7 68.¦d7 ¢f8 69.¢f6ќ With mate shortly)
58.¦g5 ¢h6 59.¦cf5 ¦xf5
(59...¤e2 60.¦xh5 ¢g6 61.¦hg5 ¢h6 62.¦xf6 gxf6 63.¦c5ќ With mate shortly.)
60.¦xf5 ¤e6 61.¦e5ќ With mate shortly. This position highlights White's end-game plan after Black's 31. .. Bf7 - exchanging rooks and reaching a won position, even had Black not weakened the h6 pawn.)
57.¦cc5 ¦a6 58.¦xh5 ¢g6 59.¦hg5 ¢h6 60.¦c8 g6
(60...¢h7 61.¦c7 ¦g6 62.¦xg6 ¢xg6 63.h5ќ Reaching a won 6 pieces table base positions in a few moves.)
61.¦gc5
(61.¦g4 Most chess engines prefer Rg4, however as played 61. Rgc5 ends the game equally fast.)
61...¦a4
(61...¦a7 62.¦5c7 ¦xc7 Only move 63.¦xc7ќ Reaches a won 6 pieces table-base position in a few moves)
62.¦c4 ¦a3
(62...¦a2 63.¦c2 ¦xc2 64.¦xc2ќ Reaches a won 6 pieces table-base position in a few moves.)
63.¦4c7 g5 Only move 64.¦c6 ¢g7 65.¦8c7 ¢f8 66.¦f6 ¢g8 67.¦e6 ¢f8 68.¦xe2 Followed by mate. The game ran from November 4th until December 31st 2009.
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