TCEC 24 superfinal book, by GM Matthew Sadler and Jeroen Noomen

The TCEC 24 superfinal book was again developed in cooperation between international chess Grandmaster Matthew Sadler and myself (Jeroen Noomen). 

Here is the most important information about our book:

• The TCEC 24 superfinal book was completed on December 5th, 2022. Both Matthew and I have chosen 25 lines, which will be played alternately. Matthew's lines are #1, #3, #5 and so forth, my lines are #2, #4, #6 and so forth. 
• The lines are ordered in such a way that the lower book exits will be followed by much higher book exits. Furthermore the highest exits are played randomly through the superfinal, to avoid long strings of draws.
• All important openings will be played; just like in the previous TCEC superfinals the opening lines are risky and have a high - very high bias. This is necessary to avoid an excessive number of uninteresting draws. Lines with a low bias won't work in a TCEC superfinal, such lines will inevitably lead to two draws.
• In my opinion the S24 superfinal book is - on average - the riskiest Matthew and I have made. Thus it wouldn't surprise me if we might see a record number of wins. And maybe also a record number of 'busted' lines (i.e. a 1-0 1-0 or 0-1 0-1 result), but that is the price of high risk.
• Although this superfinal book has the highest average bias, we still used a wide variety of exits. I.e. not all exits are very high bias. We like to see engines fighting for wins, also from lower biased openings.
• The chosen lines typically have a length between 2 moves and 14 moves; there is one line which is 2 moves (4 ply) long and there is one line which is 14 moves long. 
• Four opening lines have a black advantage, to increase the chance of a black win.
• Average move length is 6.76, which is a bit higher compared to the previous superfinal.
• We have avoided positions that could lead to many exchanges, as well as positions with a symmetrical pawn structure and positions that could lead to easy wins for the side with an advantage. It's becoming more and more difficult to pick suitable lines for TCEC superfinals, with strong hardware, a long time control, 7-men tablebases and engines being so strong. As our book is the riskiest we have made, it's very well possible a couple of our picks might lead to easy wins.
• Our main goal is to have openings that will lead to interesting play with a reasonable chance of a decisive result. An opening result of 1.5-0.5 is the preferred outcome. Enjoy the TCEC 24 superfinal!

 

ECO code distribution

ECO A: 9 lines

ECO B: 13 lines

ECO C: 12 lines

ECO D: 7 lines

ECO E: 9 lines

Move length distribution

2 moves: 1 line

3 moves: 2 lines

4 moves: 5 lines

5 moves: 11 lines

6 moves: 5 lines

7 moves: 9 lines

8 moves: 5 lines

9 moves: 3 lines

10 moves: 4 lines

>10 moves: 5 lines