Life in the Desert

Stockfish – Stoofvlees

Top Chess Engine Championship Season 17 — Division P; tcec-chess.com, April 1, 2020

Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. Nf1 bxa4 13. Bg5!?TN (13. Ne3 Bc6 14. Nh4 Bd7 15. Nhf5 Rb8 16. Qf3 Kh8 17. Qg3 Nh5 18. Qg4 g6 19. Qf3 Nc6 20. c3 Nf4 21. Nxe7 Qxe7 22. Nd5 Nxd5 23. Bxd5 f6 24. Qg3 Rb6 25. f4 exf4 26. Bxf4 Ne5 27. d4 g5 28. Bc1 cxd4 29. cxd4 Ng6 30. Qf2 Bc6 31. Be6 Rb4 32. Bf5 Nh4 33. d5 Bb5 34. Ra3 ½ : ½ Caruana – Tomashevsky, Grand Prix 2014–2015, 1st stage, Baku 2014) 13. ... Rb8 14. Bd2 Bc8 15. Ne3 Bd7 16. Bb1 h6 (16. ... Rxb2 17. Bxa5 Qxa5 18. Nc4±) 17. Bc3 Kh8 18. Nd2 Ng8 19. Nf3 Nb7 20. Bd2 Qc8 21. Ra3 Bd8 22. c3 Na5 23. Bc2 Nb3 24. Bxb3 axb3 25. Rxb3 a5 26. Rxb8 Qxb8 27. Qc2 Ne7 28. Rb1 Qa7 29. Ra1 f5 30. Be1 f4 31. Nc4 Bg4 32. Nfd2 f3 33. Qd1 Bh5 34. h3 Qd7 35. Ne3 Kh7 36. b3

36. ... c4!? (36. ... Ng6! 37. g4 Nf4 38. Qxf3 Rf6→) 37. Ndxc4 Rf4! 38. g3 Qxh3 (Δ ... Ne7-g6) 39. Bd2 Be8 40. Qf1 Qh5 41. gxf4 exf4 42. Nf5 Ng6. Also after 42. ... Nxf5 43. exf5 Qxf5 Black, despite being a Rook down, has at least a draw; for instance: 44. Kh2 Bd7! 45. Qh1 Qh5+ 46. Kg1 Qg6+ with perpetual check. 43. Ncxd6 Bd7 44. c4 Be7? Stoofvlees probably commits the last mistake. Instead 44. ... Bb6! 45. d4 Bxd4 46. Rxa5 Qg5+ 47. Kh2 Ne5!∞ would have compelled Stockfish to give back most of its wealth, with a likely draw by perpetual check in view. 45. c5+− Bh4 46. Ra2 a4 47. Bc3 axb3 48. Rb2 Ne7 49. Rxb3 Qg4+ 50. Kh1 Ba4 51. Rb7 Bc6 52. Rc7 Bg3 53. Bf6 Qh5+ 54. Bh4 Bd5 55. Rxe7 Bxh4 56. Qh3 Bf7 57. Rxf7 Kh8 58. Rxg7 Qxf5 59. Qxf5 Kxg7 60. Qf7+ Kh8 1 : 0. Because of 61. Qg6 ~ 62. Nf7 mate.

An employee rests inside a deserted office building in Belgrade, Serbia. Photo: Marko Đurića/Reuters.