TCEC 15 superfinal opening PGN available

Jeroen Noomen's TCEC 15 superfinal opening PGN is available for download:

TCEC 15 superfinal opening PGN

If you like to have all Jeroen's TCEC superfinal opening PGN's (TCEC 9 superfinal through TCEC 15 superfinal), use this link:

TCEC 9-15 superfinal openings

The TCEC 15 superfinal was played in May 2019 between Leela Chess Zero and Stockfish. The 100-game match ended in a 53.5-46.5 victory for Leela. All the 100 games of this match - without comments, main lines and evals - can be downloaded below:

TCEC 15_superfinal_Leela_vs_Stockfish

Opening selection TCEC 15 superfinal

Here are Jeroen Noomen's comments on the opening selection for the TCEC 15 superfinal:

"Here are the most important details regarding my selection of the 50 opening lines for the TCEC 15 superfinal:

• The selection of this set has been done in the period August-October 2018; it was finalized in November 2018 and hasn't been changed anymore
• All important openings will be played
• The chosen lines typically have a length between 2 moves and 15 moves
• The starting position has returned to the superfinal, it will be line #39
• Average move length is 6.76 (comparable to the 6.68 from the TCEC 14 superfinal)
• There are sharp lines in the set, as well as positional lines, more complex lines, lines with opposite castling ("SALC", i.e. short and long castling), dubious lines and gambits
• Some lines are borrowed from previous superfinals, they can be the same, somewhat shorter, or longer if necessary
• The complexity of a position is one of my main selection criteria, i.e. most pieces are still on the board and there should be a lot of play left, with a reasonable chance for a decisive result
• In each line one side typically has an advantage, so each engine gets the chance to push for a win, while in the return game it has to defend the weaker side
• I have avoided positions that could lead to many exchanges and/or have a high draw rate, as well as positions with symmetrical pawn structures and positions that could lead to easy wins for the side with an advantage

ECO code distribution

ECO A: 15 lines

ECO B: 14 lines

ECO C: 11 lines

ECO D: 3 lines

ECO E: 7 lines

The reason there are less lines selected with ECO codes D and E, is because many lines in these sections are "too easy" for the current top programs and I consider them too drawish. Especially with a very long time control and with strong TCEC hardware.

Quick check

All lines have undergone a quick check with Stockfish, Komodo and Houdini, which means around 5 minutes on a Ryzen 1700X system (16 threads) for each engine on each position. The sole purpose of this quick check is to make sure: 

1) that there are no easy draws available (f.e. 0.00 scores and/or move repetitions)

2) that there will be no mass exchanges 

Please note that the quick check cannot predict how the game will continue, or which engine 'likes' the position. The quick check is also not a tool to let engines pick opening lines. The only reason to do this quick check is to avoid quick draws right out of the opening.

My expectations

The TCEC 14 superfinal saw only 19 wins. This was slightly below my minimum goal of 20 wins. Of course I hope that in the TCEC 15 superfinal we will reach at least this minimum of 20 wins. In any case, remember that in each line anything can happen! Wild lines can turn quickly into liquidations to a drawn ending, more quiet lines can suddenly explode into exciting games. While my selection method is destined to get as many games in the 2nd category, there is surely no guarantee this will happen.

Previous superfinals saw long strings of draws, but also lots of wins in a short period of time. This is normal in long matches between top engines and I am sure we will see this in the TCEC 15 superfinal, too. 

Last but not least: have fun!

For me, TCEC is currently the most interesting chess engine tournament around. Once again it was a challenging but interesting job to pick the positions for this superfinal edition. I hope you enjoy the games and we will see lots of exciting chess!"

Noomen 2 ply book for engine testing

Are you looking for a minimum of theory and a maximum of variety in your engine-engine tests? Do you like very short opening lines to find out which engine performs best in 100 different opening set ups?

Then Jeroen Noomen's new 2 ply book might be interesting for you! You can download it below. Some information:

• 90 two ply openings (two ply = one full move)
• 10 one ply openings (only the first white move)

Download Noomen 2 ply book

Opening selection TCEC 14 superfinal

Here are Jeroen Noomen's comments on the opening selection for the TCEC 14 superfinal:

"Here are the most important details regarding my selection of the 50 opening lines for the TCEC 14 superfinal:

• All important openings will be played
• The chosen lines typically have a length between 2 moves and 13 moves. There is one 15 move (29 ply) line, which is the longest
• Average move length is 6.68 (down from 7.4 in TCEC 13 and 8.18 in TCEC 12)
• There are sharp lines in the set, as well as positional lines, more complex lines, lines with opposite castling ("SALC", i.e. short and long castling) and gambits
• Some lines are borrowed from previous superfinals
• The complexity of a position is one of my main selection criteria, i.e. most pieces are still on the board and there should be a lot of play left, with a reasonable chance for a decisive result
• In each line one side typically has a slight advantage, with book exits mainly between +0.25 and +0.65 (note: this is with contempt = 0)
• I have avoided positions that could lead to many exchanges and/or have a high draw rate, as well as positions with symmetrical pawn structures and positions that could lead to easy wins for the side with an advantage

ECO code distribution

• ECO A: 14
• ECO B: 15
• ECO C: 10
• ECO D: 5
• ECO E: 6

Break-down in move length

• 2-4 moves (4-8 plies): 18 lines
• 5-7 moves (10-14 plies): 14 lines
• 8-10 moves (16-20 plies): 11 lines
• >10 moves (>20 plies): 7 lines

Some extra information
Regarding my selection method, the following information might be useful:

• All lines have undergone a quick check with the 3 top programs (Stockfish, Komodo and Houdini), which means around 5 minutes on a Ryzen 1700X system (16 threads) for each engine on each position;
• In the quick check the final position of each line is evaluated on a few criteria: score (preferably not 0.00 or above +0.65), no mass exchanges, no easy drawing lines;
• Please note that the evals in the quick check have been determined by using contempt=0. If an engine uses a contempt other than zero in the superfinal, the book exits will of course be different;
• Book exits may also be different because TCEC uses much faster hardware compared to the hardware used to do the quick check and because engines are updated and might use different settings;
• The reason there are less lines selected with ECO codes D and E, is because many lines in these sections are "too easy" for the current top programs and I consider them too drawish. 

My expectations

The TCEC 9 superfinal saw 25% wins, the TCEC 10 superfinal 24% wins, the TCEC 11 superfinal 22% wins, the TCEC 12 superfinal 38% wins and finally the TCEC 13 superfinal 22% wins. It will be very hard to beat the 38% of season 12, but I'd like to see a minimum of at least 20% wins. Of course I hope to beat the 25% wins of the TCEC 9 superfinal.

Anything can happen

I have seen quiet openings turn into wins and wild openings turn into draws in my first five superfinal selections. Hence it is my firm view that anything can happen in any line. It is up to the engines to decide how to follow up an opening line and to turn it into an interesting battle (or not). I see myself merely as a facilitator whom picks lines that can lead to interesting and exciting games, but it is surely no guarantee that this will happen :-).

Last but not least: have fun!

For me, TCEC is currently the most interesting chess engine tournament around. Once again it was a challenging but interesting job to pick the positions for this superfinal edition. I hope you enjoy the games and we will see lots of exciting chess!"

TCEC 13 superfinal: opening selection

Here are Jeroen Noomen's comments on the opening selection for the TCEC 13 superfinal:

"This are the most important details regarding my selection of the 50 opening lines for the TCEC 13 superfinal:

• All important openings will be played
• The chosen lines typically have a length between 3 moves and 13 moves. With a few exceptions: f.e. there is one 3 ply (2 moves) line and one 17 move (34 ply) line
• Average move length is 7.4 (in the TCEC 12 superfinal it had been 8.18)
• There are sharp lines in the set, as well as positional lines, more complex lines, lines with opposite castling ("SALC", i.e. short and long castling) and gambits
• The complexity of a position is one of my main selection criteria, i.e. most pieces are still on the board and there should be a lot of play left, with a reasonable chance for a decisive result
• In each line one side typically has a slight advantage, with book exits mainly between +0.20 and +0.55 (note: this is with contempt = 0)
• I have avoided positions that could lead to many exchanges and/or have a high draw rate, as well as positions with symmetrical pawn structures and positions that could lead to easy wins for the side with an advantage

ECO code distribution

• ECO A: 13
• ECO B: 12
• ECO C: 12
• ECO D: 6
• ECO E: 7

What did I do differently compared to the previous superfinal selection
There are some important differences regarding my selection method, compared to the TCEC 12 superfinal selection:

• All lines have undergone a quick check with the 3 top programs (Stockfish, Komodo and Houdini), which means around 5 minutes on a Ryzen 1700X system (16 threads) for each engine on each position;
• In the quick check the final position of each line is evaluated on a few criteria: score (preferably not 0.00 or above +0.55), no mass exchanges, no easy drawing lines;
• Please note that the evals in the quick check have been determined by using contempt=0. If an engine uses a contempt other than zero in the superfinal, the book exits will of course be different;
• Book exits may also be different because TCEC uses much faster hardware compared to the hardware used to do the quick check and because engines are updated and might use different settings;
• The reason there are less lines selected with ECO codes D and E, is because many lines in these sections are "too easy" for the current top programs. 

My expectations

The TCEC 9 superfinal saw 25% wins, the TCEC 10 superfinal 24% wins, the TCEC 11 superfinal 22% wins and finally the TCEC 12 superfinal 38% wins. It will be very hard to beat the 38% of season 12. I'd like to see a minimum of at least 20% wins. But of course I hope to beat the 25% wins of the TCEC 9 superfinal.

Anything can happen

I have seen quiet openings turn into wins and wild openings turn into draws in my first four superfinal selections. Hence it is my firm view that anything can happen in any line. It is up to the engines to decide how to follow up an opening line and to turn it into an interesting battle (or not). I see myself merely as a facilitator whom picks lines that can lead to interesting and exciting games, but it is surely no guarantee that this will happen :-).

Last but not least: have fun!

TCEC is currently the most important chess engine tournament around. For me it was once again a challenging but interesting job to pick the positions for this superfinal edition. I hope you enjoy the games and we will see lots of exciting chess games!"

Noomen 3-move ctg-book

Here is a new Jeroen Noomen ctg-book, based on the two opening testsets Noomen 2-move Testsuite and Noomen 3-move Testsuite, both of which you can find here:

http://blogchess2016.blogspot.nl/2017/10/noomen-2-move-testsuite.html

From these two testsuites Jeroen Noomen has made a 3-move.ctg book, which can be used under the ChessBase GUI's. Download link:

Noomen 3-move.ctg

Noomen 2-move & 3-move Testsuite

Two new Noomen testsuites for engine-engine testing, inspired by TCEC season 10:

Noomen 2-move Testsuite => 200 lines with only 2 book moves (4 ply)
Noomen 3-move Testsuite => 500 lines with only 3 book moves (6 ply)


Download link:  Noomen 2-move Testsuite

Download link: Noomen 3-move Testsuite



Watch TCEC season 10 live, the strongest chess tournament ever:

http://tcec.chessdom.com/live.php