Virtual match between Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer!

[Yarc]

I posted in the general forum that I was thinking about starting a match between a virtual Kasparov and a virtual Fischer by using the personality settings from the PC Chessmaster program on my King Lasker and King modules.

Well here it is, the first game of the match between the famous or infamous virtual personalities of Gary Kasparov and Robert Fischer. I have given them the names of King Kasparov and King Fischer.

I normally use a time control of 40 moves / 2 hours but this time have opted for a quicker one of 40 moves / 40 minutes. I think the quality of play with average of one minute per move should be reasonable unless the personality settings are no good.

I don’t know if the personality settings ripped from the ChessMaster program (slightly modified for TheKing) will make any sense, or will produce horrendous chess. In light of this I will treat the first two games as a tester. If they are entertaining and neither side make too many bad mistakes then I will carry on and play the full 10 (maybe more) games. I suspect that if King Kasparov for example, wins too many games, King Fischer will start feeling there is a conspiracy against him!

So what personality settings am I using?

King Kasparov
Setting ---------- Player ----- Opponent
PAWN ----------- 100 -------- 100
KINIGHT -------- 100 -------- 100
BISHOP --------- 100 -------- 100
ROOK ----------- 102 -------- 100
QUEEN ---------- 102 -------- 100
SPACE ---------- 107 -------- 100
MOBILITY ------ 120 -------- 100
KING SAFETY -- 150 -------- 100
PASSED PAWN - 102 -------- 100
PAWN WEAK --- 102 -------- 100
CONTEMPT FOR DRAW 0.0
SELECTIVITY 14

King Fischer
Setting ---------- Player ---- Opponent
PAWN ----------- 100 ------- 100
KINIGHT -------- 100 ------- 100
BISHOP --------- 103 ------- 100
ROOK ----------- 102 ------- 100
QUEEN ---------- 100 ------- 100
SPACE ---------- 105 ------- 105
MOBILITY ------ 115 ------- 115
KING SAFETY -- 100 ------- 100
PASSED PAWN - 100 ------- 100
PAWN WEAK -- 100 -------- 100
CONTEMPT FOR DRAW 1.2
SELECTIVITY 9

I have also now updated both my King Lasker and my King module with the latest firmware. I don’t think there are any differences in the playing strength with the new version but there are some, as yet undisclosed, bug fixes as well as feature additions.

On to the first game:

According to TheKing module, the Queen’s Indian Defence, A47 was played. However, ChessBase (CB) has identified it as the Torre, London and Colle Systems A46. But CB has greater opening knowledge and modifies the opening name as more moves are played. TheKing is only looking at the first two moves (4 ply) to provide the book opening name.

Well, both players were about evenly matched for half the game, but this was the turning point and one of them then proceeded to outplay the other until there was not much point carrying on!

In this game King Fischer was triumphant:

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "1"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.Bg5 Bb7 4.Nbd2 c5 5.c3 e6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O h6 9.Bh4 d6 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.e4 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.g3 Rfc8 14.e5 cxd4 15.cxd4 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nc5 17.Ne4 Rd8 18.Nxc5 Qxc5 19.Rc1 Qd5 20.Re3 Qxa2 21.Rc7 Rab8 22.Qe2 Rdc8 23.Qc2 Ra8 24.h3 Qa1+ 25.Bf1 Rxc7 26.Qxc7 Bd5 27.Qc2 Qa5 28.Bg2 Qb4 29.Rc3 Rd8 30.Qd2 a5 31.Nh2 Kh7 32.Qe2 Bxg2 33.Kxg2 f5 34.Qxh5 Qxb2 35.Rc6 Rd2 36.Qf3 Qxe5 37.Rxb6 Qe1 38.h4 a4 39.Ra6 Ra2 40.g4 Qe5 41.g5 Kg6 42.gxh6 gxh6 43.Kh3 Qe2 44.Qxe2 Rxe2 45.f3 h5 46.Rxa4 e5 47.Ra1 e4 48.Ra6+ Kg7 49.fxe4 Rxe4 50.Kg3 Rc4 51.Nf3 Rg4+ 52.Kf2 Re4 53.Rd6 Rg4 54.Re6 Rb4 55.Ke2 Ra4 56.Ke3 Rg4 57.Rc6 Re4+ 58.Kf2 Rb4 59.Rc8 Rf4 60.Rd8 Rg4 61.Rd7+ Kf6 62.Rd4 Re4 63.Rxe4 fxe4 64.Nd4 Ke5 65.Ke3 Kd5 66.Ne2 Ke5 67.Ng3 Kd5 68.Nxh5 Ke5 1-0

Here is the final position when King Kasparov (KK) resigned, shook hands with King Fischer {KF) and virtually stormed out of the room in a virtual strop.
[fen]8/8/8/4k2N/4p2P/4K3/8/8 w - - 1 69[/fen]

In the following position KF was testing to see if KK was awake with the move 23.Qc2:
[fen]1rr3k1/pbR2pp1/1p2p2p/4P2n/8/3BRNP1/qPQ2P1P/6K1 w - - 0 23[/fen]
Here there is a threat of a win with Rxb7! But KK was not asleep and replied 23…Ra8

However, in the following position we can see that KF with the white pieces is threatening Black’s Knight on H5 with its Queen:
[fen]3r4/5ppk/1p2p2p/p3P2n/1q6/2R3PP/1P2QPKN/8 w - - 0 33[/fen]
I’m not sure what KK was thinking when he moved 33…f5? Did he not care about his Knight? KF quietly smirked and grabbed the Knight with 34.Qxh5. KK was starting to look uneasy at this point as he realised more and more that KF was outplaying him in the end game.

Another curious move by KK occurred in the following position:
[fen]8/8/5k2/5p1p/3R2rP/5N2/5K2/8 w - - 0 62[/fen]
62…Re4? Giving the game away! Perhaps this was KK’s way of resigning?

Hmm, I don’t think the real Garry Kasparov would make those questionable moves! Something is wrong.

So in this game, according to SF tactical analysis KK playing with the black pieces achieved a move accuracy of 46% whilst KF managed 87%.

I’ll try the next game with King Kasparov playing with the white pieces and see what happens. If there is a trend of KK playing bad moves and never winning then I may conclude that the personality settings are not working for TheKing. This won’t please King Fischer who will really think I’m against him winning!

Current score 1- 0 to King Fischer Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

After a recess King Kasparov (KK) returned to the board to play game 2, this time playing with the white pieces.

KK as usual adjusted his pieces on the board and waited for KF to arrive. Time ticked by and then finally KF appeared ready to play which was fortunate because the game would have started without him!

The chosen opening was the Sicilian Prins Variation (B55), one which both KK and KF apparently favour.

This time around KK showed that he can beat KF and outplayed him from around move 14 until the end. KF was not able to defend against KK’s progressive onslaught.

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "2"]
[White "King Kasparov"]
[Black "King Fischer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B55"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.Nf5 d5 9.exd5 Qb6 10.Nc3 g6 11.Ne3 Rc8 12.Qd3 Bb4 13.Bd2 O-O 14.O-O-O Rfd8 15.Kb1 Qd4 16.Qe2 Qb6 17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.fxe4 Bxd2 19.Rxd2 Qb4 20.Ng4 h5 21.Nf2 Qa5 22.g4 h4 23.Rhd1 Nb6 24.Rd3 Nc4 25.Rb3 f6 26.Nd3 Rc7 27.Qf2 Kg7 28.Rb4 Rdc8 29.Rf1 Qa6 30.h3 Qd6 31.Re1 b6 32.Re2 Rh8 33.Rb3 Qe7 34.Rc3 Rcc8 35.Re1 Rc7 36.Rf1 Rcc8 37.Nb4 Rhf8 38.a3 Qc5 39.Qe2 Qb5 40.Rf2 a5 41.Nd3 Qe8 42.Rb3 b5 43.Qe1 Qd7 44.Re2 Rh8 45.Qf2 a4 46.Rb4 Nd6 47.Nc5 Qe7 48.c4 bxc4 49.Rxa4 Kg8 50.Rc2 Rh7 51.Ra6 Rf7 52.Qe3 Rh7 53.Ne6 g5 54.Qf3 Rf7 55.Rb6 Qd7 56.a4 Ra8 57.Rc3 Re8 58.a5 Rc8 59.Qe2 Rh7 60.a6 Re7 61.Qf3 Rf7 62.a7 Qxa7 63.Rxd6 Qg1+ 64.Rc1 Qg3 65.Qxg3 hxg3 66.Rc6 Rb8 67.R6xc4 Rh7 68.d6 Rd7 69.Rc6 Ra7 70.Rd1 Rba8 71.Kc2 g2 72.Nc5 Kf7 73.Rg1 Rb8 74.Rxg2 Rb4 75.Rd2 Ra2 76.Rc7+ Kg6 77.Ne6 Raxb2+ 78.Kd1 Rxd2+ 79.Kxd2 Rb8 80.d7 Rb2+ 81.Kc1 Rb8 82.Rc8 Kf7 83.Rxb8 Ke7 84.d8=Q+ Kxe6 85.Rb7 f5 86.exf5# 1-0

In the following position KK announced mate in 11 with the move 79.Kxd2
[fen]8/2R5/3PNpk1/4p1p1/1r2P1P1/7P/3r4/3K4 w - - 0 79[/fen]
KF no longer had a virtual smirk but carried on playing even though the game was lost.

So what happened in this game?

Here is the position at move 14 where KK has just castled queen side and showing an evaluation of +1.17. According to StockFish (not Stock Fischer!) the score was 0.37, but then it was looking about twice as many ply ahead. KK’s evaluation on average was showing around twice that of KF’s in favour of himself. I guess KF was in denial at this point.
[fen]2r2rk1/pp1n1p1p/1q3np1/3Pp3/1b6/2NQNP2/PPPB2PP/2KR3R w - - 0 14[/fen]

A few moves later after KK moved 21.Nf2 we have this position:
[fen]2rr2k1/pp1n1p2/6p1/3Pp2p/1q2P3/8/PPPRQNPP/1K5R w - - 0 21[/fen]
KK’s position is looking quite good, his King is reasonably safe and he has more control of the center. KF’s King on the other hand is a little exposed and Black is still a pawn down from the opening.

At move 37 KK was now testing to see if KF was awake. Revenge from the first game!
Here is the position after KK’s move 37.Nb4 which threatens to win with Nc6:
[fen]2r2r2/p3q1k1/1p3pp1/3Pp3/1Nn1P1Pp/2R4P/PPP2Q2/1K3R2 w - - 0 38[/fen]
Fortunately, and as expected, KF saw this possibility and also did not make the mistake of 37…Qxb4? White would have had a nice attack on Black’s King with 38.Qxf6+, then it would have been very nasty for KF. Instead, KF moved 37…Rhf8 fending off this possibility.

By KK’s move 44.Re2, KF was looking very uneasy whilst KK seemed confident. See here:
[fen]2r2r2/3q2k1/5pp1/pp1Pp3/2n1P1Pp/PR1N3P/1PP1R3/1K2Q3 w - - 0 44[/fen]
In this position KF played 44…Rh8? Not sure for what purpose. He really needed to consider KK’s King-side attacking possibilities here. Better would have been 44…g5 preventing White from advancing its g pawn.

From here onwards KK played well making some good moves while KF could only hope for a blunder, which was not going to happen.

Here is a position which is hopeless for Black:
[fen]2r3k1/3q1r2/PR1nNp2/3Pp1p1/2p1P1Pp/2R2Q1P/1P6/1K6 w - - 0 62[/fen]
Black has just moved 61…Rf7 protecting his pawn on f6.
Here, KK moved 62.a7! KF is now forced to take White's pawn thus losing his Knight on d6.

A few moves later KK announced mate in 11 and KF looked virtually stunned. I guess this opening is not so good for KF with the Black pieces.

In this game KK achieved a move accuracy of 65% whilst KF managed 52%.

I’m thinking of perhaps playing 10 games and then another 10 with the same openings but with the players reversed. This might highlight the better personality or not as the case maybe.

Score now virtually 1 – 1 Regards
Ray

[Steve B]

Just curious Ray

Is Lasker playing as Fischer or Kasparov?
I know it makes no sense what-so-ever but if Lasker wins its just more evidence that it is stronger then the King..

my results Vs the Wundermachine and your aborted match showed a clear advantage to Lasker
and while we were shouted down for continuing to pursue this silly notion it would be interesting if Lasker won this match as well

I think perhaps the "Lasker Edition" label on the module might be worth 300 Elo Pts...

Tounge-in Cheek Regards
Steve

[Yarc]

Just curious Ray

Is Lasker playing as Fischer or Kasparov?
I know it makes no sense what-so-ever but if Lasker wins its just more evidence that it is stronger then the King..

my results Vs the Wundermachine and your aborted match showed a clear advantage to Lasker
and while we were shouted down for continuing to pursue this silly notion it would be interesting if Lasker won this match as well

I think perhaps the "Lasker Edition" label on the module might be worth 300 Elo Pts...

Tounge-in Cheek Regards
Steve

Hi Steve,

In this case Lasker is playing as Kasparov. I wonder how he would feel about that?

The problem with comparing King Lasker and TheKing modules in this match is the quite different personality settings. So one may have an advantage purely because the personality settings favour The King's natural style of play, or perhaps the randomly chosen book opening favours a personality more.

It was fun comparing TheKing and King Lasker modules. I know that both you and I saw a difference or apparent difference between the two. Alas, I think it was just down to statistical 'noise'. But lets just see what happens and we can make our own minds up.

King Lasker King Kasparov vs TheKing King Fischer Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

Onto game 3 with both King Kasparov and King Fischer virtually seated and ready to start. This time KF had the White pieces and the Sicilian Kan Variation (B42) was played.

This is only the third game, but the pattern so far is the player with the White pieces wins. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "3"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. O-O Nec6 7. c3 Be7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. Nd2 d6 10. Re1 Nd7 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Qc2 e5 13. b4 Qc7 14. a4 Bb7
15. Nc4 Rfe8 16. Na5 Nf6 17. Nxb7 Qxb7 18. f3 Rec8 19. Rab1 Rd8 20. a5 Rdc8 21.
Bf2 Nh5 22. g3 Nf6 23. Qe2 Re8 24. f4 Nd7 25. Qa2 Bf8 26. Kh1 Re6 27. Bc4 Re7
28. Rbd1 Nf6 29. Rxd6 Ree8 30. Rdd1 Rac8 31. Qe2 Ra8 32. f5 Rec8 33. Rb1 Ne8
34. Bb6 Be7 35. Rbd1 Nf6 36. g4 Ne8 37. Qd3 Nd6 38. Bb3 h6 39. Rd2 Qd7 40. Qg3
Qe8 41. Qxe5 Bh4 42. Qxe8+ Rxe8 43. Re3 Nxe4 44. Rde2 Nd6 45. Rxe8+ Nxe8 46.
Ba4 Rc8 47. Re5 Nd6 48. Rc5 Nb5 49. Bxb5 axb5 50. Re5 Bf6 51. Re3 h5 52. h3 Kh7
53. Kg2 Kh6 54. Kf3 Rh8 55. a6 g6 56. fxg6 fxg6 57. gxh5 Kxh5 58. a7 Rf8 59.
Ke2 g5 60. Re6 Bxc3 61. Rd6 Ra8 62. Rd8 Rxa7 63. Bxa7 Bxb4 64. Rh8+ Kg6 65. Rc8
Kf5 1-0

Final position when King Kasparov through his arms up into the air, toppled his king and virtually marched out of the room in disgust at his play:
[fen]2R5/B7/2p5/1p3kp1/1b6/7P/4K3/8 w - - 0 66[/fen]

King Fischer was showing a higher evaluation virtually from the start of this game and held it all the way to the end, and StockFish concurred with this. This opening variation certainly suited KF whereas KK struggled to make any headway and slowly his position deteriorated.

In the following position KK was looking a little stressed and played 26…Re6
[fen]r3rbk1/1q1n1ppp/p1pp4/P3p3/1P2PP2/2PB2P1/Q4B1P/1R2R2K w - - 0 26[/fen]
This move is not good because KF replied 27.Bc4 forcing the Rook back and also having its Queen and Bishop on the same diagonal as Black’s King. It would have been better for KK to have played 26…Nf6 allowing the Queen to protect the f7 pawn.

Here is the position after KF moved 30.Rdd1:
[fen]r3rbk1/1q3ppp/p1p2n2/P3p3/1PB1PP2/2P3P1/Q4B1P/3RR2K w - - 0 30[/fen]
This is looking very good for King Fischer but King Kasparov was now under duress. He kept putting his virtual head in his virtual hands, and then made the poor move 30…Rac8? This is not achieving much. Better would have been 30…exf4 applying pressure on Whites e4 pawn and giving some attacking potential especially considering his Queen on b7, the same diagonal as White’s King! Alas, he was not thinking clearly.

Here is another example of a pointless Rook move by KK:
[fen]2r5/5pp1/1Bp2b1k/Pp3P1p/1P4P1/2P1RK1P/8/8 w - - 0 54[/fen]
Here KF with the White pieces is clearly in a winning position and had just played 54.Kf3.
KK’s reply was 54…Rh8? What use is the Rook there? Better would have been the other corner 54…Ra8 At least this is helping prevent White’s Pawn on a5 advancing.

By move 66 KK resigned. KF was happy and beeped his satisfaction to the audience.

In this game KF achieved a move accuracy of 72% whilst KK only achieved 47%.

Current score 2 – 1 to KF Regards
Ray

[Kasparov111]

I posted in the general forum that I was thinking about starting a match between a virtual Kasparov and a virtual Fischer by using the personality settings from the PC Chessmaster program on my King Lasker and King modules.

Well here it is, the first game of the match between the famous or infamous virtual personalities of Gary Kasparov and Robert Fischer. I have given them the names of King Kasparov and King Fischer.

I normally use a time control of 40 moves / 2 hours but this time have opted for a quicker one of 40 moves / 40 minutes. I think the quality of play with average of one minute per move should be reasonable unless the personality settings are no good.

I don’t know if the personality settings ripped from the ChessMaster program (slightly modified for TheKing) will make any sense, or will produce horrendous chess. In light of this I will treat the first two games as a tester. If they are entertaining and neither side make too many bad mistakes then I will carry on and play the full 10 (maybe more) games. I suspect that if King Kasparov for example, wins too many games, King Fischer will start feeling there is a conspiracy against him!

So what personality settings am I using?

King Kasparov
Setting ---------- Player ----- Opponent
PAWN ----------- 100 -------- 100
KINIGHT -------- 100 -------- 100
BISHOP --------- 100 -------- 100
ROOK ----------- 102 -------- 100
QUEEN ---------- 102 -------- 100
SPACE ---------- 107 -------- 100
MOBILITY ------ 120 -------- 100
KING SAFETY -- 150 -------- 100
PASSED PAWN - 102 -------- 100
PAWN WEAK --- 102 -------- 100
CONTEMPT FOR DRAW 0.0
SELECTIVITY 14

King Fischer
Setting ---------- Player ---- Opponent
PAWN ----------- 100 ------- 100
KINIGHT -------- 100 ------- 100
BISHOP --------- 103 ------- 100
ROOK ----------- 102 ------- 100
QUEEN ---------- 100 ------- 100
SPACE ---------- 105 ------- 105
MOBILITY ------ 115 ------- 115
KING SAFETY -- 100 ------- 100
PASSED PAWN - 100 ------- 100
PAWN WEAK -- 100 -------- 100
CONTEMPT FOR DRAW 1.2
SELECTIVITY 9

I have also now updated both my King Lasker and my King module with the latest firmware. I don’t think there are any differences in the playing strength with the new version but there are some, as yet undisclosed, bug fixes as well as feature additions.

On to the first game:

According to TheKing module, the Queen’s Indian Defence, A47 was played. However, ChessBase (CB) has identified it as the Torre, London and Colle Systems A46. But CB has greater opening knowledge and modifies the opening name as more moves are played. TheKing is only looking at the first two moves (4 ply) to provide the book opening name.

Well, both players were about evenly matched for half the game, but this was the turning point and one of them then proceeded to outplay the other until there was not much point carrying on!

In this game King Fischer was triumphant:

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "1"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.Bg5 Bb7 4.Nbd2 c5 5.c3 e6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O h6 9.Bh4 d6 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.e4 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.g3 Rfc8 14.e5 cxd4 15.cxd4 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nc5 17.Ne4 Rd8 18.Nxc5 Qxc5 19.Rc1 Qd5 20.Re3 Qxa2 21.Rc7 Rab8 22.Qe2 Rdc8 23.Qc2 Ra8 24.h3 Qa1+ 25.Bf1 Rxc7 26.Qxc7 Bd5 27.Qc2 Qa5 28.Bg2 Qb4 29.Rc3 Rd8 30.Qd2 a5 31.Nh2 Kh7 32.Qe2 Bxg2 33.Kxg2 f5 34.Qxh5 Qxb2 35.Rc6 Rd2 36.Qf3 Qxe5 37.Rxb6 Qe1 38.h4 a4 39.Ra6 Ra2 40.g4 Qe5 41.g5 Kg6 42.gxh6 gxh6 43.Kh3 Qe2 44.Qxe2 Rxe2 45.f3 h5 46.Rxa4 e5 47.Ra1 e4 48.Ra6+ Kg7 49.fxe4 Rxe4 50.Kg3 Rc4 51.Nf3 Rg4+ 52.Kf2 Re4 53.Rd6 Rg4 54.Re6 Rb4 55.Ke2 Ra4 56.Ke3 Rg4 57.Rc6 Re4+ 58.Kf2 Rb4 59.Rc8 Rf4 60.Rd8 Rg4 61.Rd7+ Kf6 62.Rd4 Re4 63.Rxe4 fxe4 64.Nd4 Ke5 65.Ke3 Kd5 66.Ne2 Ke5 67.Ng3 Kd5 68.Nxh5 Ke5 1-0

Here is the final position when King Kasparov (KK) resigned, shook hands with King Fischer {KF) and virtually stormed out of the room in a virtual strop.
[fen]8/8/8/4k2N/4p2P/4K3/8/8 w - - 1 69[/fen]

In the following position KF was testing to see if KK was awake with the move 23.Qc2:
[fen]1rr3k1/pbR2pp1/1p2p2p/4P2n/8/3BRNP1/qPQ2P1P/6K1 w - - 0 23[/fen]
Here there is a threat of a win with Rxb7! But KK was not asleep and replied 23…Ra8

However, in the following position we can see that KF with the white pieces is threatening Black’s Knight on H5 with its Queen:
[fen]3r4/5ppk/1p2p2p/p3P2n/1q6/2R3PP/1P2QPKN/8 w - - 0 33[/fen]
I’m not sure what KK was thinking when he moved 33…f5? Did he not care about his Knight? KF quietly smirked and grabbed the Knight with 34.Qxh5. KK was starting to look uneasy at this point as he realised more and more that KF was outplaying him in the end game.

Another curious move by KK occurred in the following position:
[fen]8/8/5k2/5p1p/3R2rP/5N2/5K2/8 w - - 0 62[/fen]
62…Re4? Giving the game away! Perhaps this was KK’s way of resigning?

Hmm, I don’t think the real Garry Kasparov would make those questionable moves! Something is wrong.

So in this game, according to SF tactical analysis KK playing with the black pieces achieved a move accuracy of 46% whilst KF managed 87%.

I’ll try the next game with King Kasparov playing with the white pieces and see what happens. If there is a trend of KK playing bad moves and never winning then I may conclude that the personality settings are not working for TheKing. This won’t please King Fischer who will really think I’m against him winning!

Current score 1- 0 to King Fischer Regards
Ray

Great match, thanks for that. It's a match we all would have loved to see play out in real life, specifically in 1985 if Fischer was still champion then had he played on.

[Yarc]

Great match, thanks for that. It's a match we all would have loved to see play out in real life, specifically in 1985 if Fischer was still champion then had he played on.

Glad you are enjoying this match. I'm sure people must have performed similar matches with the Chessmaster program on their PC's, but it's fun doing it with the King modules.

Regards Ray

[Kasparov111]

Great match, thanks for that. It's a match we all would have loved to see play out in real life, specifically in 1985 if Fischer was still champion then had he played on.

Glad you are enjoying this match. I'm sure people must have performed similar matches with the Chessmaster program on their PC's, but it's fun doing it with the King modules.

Regards Ray

Yeah I did that exact match years ago on Chessmaster, lots of fun.

[Yarc]

Well, here is game 4 of the match between King Kasparov and King Fischer.

I don’t know about King Fischer but I’m beginning to wonder if there is a conspiracy going on between these two players. It seems that the player with the White pieces wins! Have they come to some secret agreement to share the prize?

So with KK playing with the white pieces and the Sicilian Defence (B50) being played (the third game in a row with a Sicilian variation) KK equalises the score with a mate in 16 announcement! Interestingly, KF saw a mate in 14 against himself before KK’s announcement! I don’t think this made him feel any better though.

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "4"]
[White "King Kasparov"]
[Black "King Fischer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B50"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 e6 5.Bb3 Be7 6.O-O Nc6 7.c3 d5 8.e5 Nd7 9.Ba4 O-O 10.Re1 Nb6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Na3 Ba6 13.Qc2 Re8 14.c4 Nd7 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Qa4 Nf8 17.Nc2 Bb7 18.Reb1 Qa6 19.Qb3 Ng6 20.Ne3 Qb6 21.Qa4 a5 22.Re1 f6 23.Rab1 d4 24.Nf1 fxe5 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxe5 Bd6 27.Rh5 g6 28.Rh3 e5 29.Rh4 Qd8 30.Re4 h5 31.h3 Qf6 32.Re2 e4 33.dxe4 Re7 34.Qc2 Rf7 35.Nh2 Rd8 36.Qd3 Qe5 37.f4 Qe6 38.e5 Be7 39.Rc1 a4 40.Nf3 Ba6 41.Ree1 a3 42.b3 Kh7 43.Re4 Kg7 44.Rd1 Ra8 45.Be1 Rff8 46.Bh4 Bxh4 47.Nxh4 Rad8 48.Nf3 Bc8 49.Rde1 Qe7 50.e6 Rf6 51.Qd2 Rd6 52.Ng5 Rd8 53.Qa5 Rdf8 54.Rf1 Rf5 55.Qxa3 Re8 56.Qa5 Rd8 57.Qb6 h4 58.Nf3 Rf6 59.Nxh4 Rdf8 60.f5 gxf5 61.Re5 Bxe6 62.Qxc6 d3 63.Nf3 Rd8 64.Qxc5 Qxc5+ 65.Rxc5 Rff8 66.a4 Kf6 67.a5 Rf7 68.Nd2 Ra7 69.g4 Re7 70.b4 Bc8 71.a6 Re2 72.a7 Be6 73.gxf5 Bd7 74.Ra1 Ra8 75.Ra6+ Ke7 76.f6+ Ke8 77.Rc7 Rxd2 78.Rb6 Kd8 79.Rbb7 Rd1+ 80.Kf2 Bc6 81.Rxc6 d2 82.Rd6+ Ke8 83.Rdd7 Rc8 84.Re7+ Kf8 1-0

Final position when King Kasparov announced mate in 16 with the move 84.Re7+
[fen]2r1k3/PR2R3/5P2/8/1PP5/7P/3p1K2/3r4 w - - 0 84[/fen]

The first 23 moves had both players about equal. In the following diagram KF as Black had just moved 23…d4
[fen]r3r1k1/1b2b1pp/1qp1ppn1/p1p1P3/Q1Pp4/3PNN2/PP1B1PPP/1R2R1K1 w - - 0 24[/fen]
Stockfish, looking 27 ply ahead, gives White an advantage of 0.67 in this position.
KK responded by moving 24.Nf1! Moving to safety. No point advancing only to have to retreat on the next move!
[fen]r3r1k1/1b2b1pp/1qp1ppn1/p1p1P3/Q1Pp4/3P1N2/PP1B1PPP/1R2RNK1 w - - 0 24[/fen]
In this position we can see KF already has a doubled pawn on the C file but then creates another doubled pawn on the E file with the move 24…fxe5. Better might have been 24…f5 which opens up a path for the bishop and applies pressure on the centre.

Here we are at move 34.Qc2
[fen]r5k1/1b2r3/2pb1qp1/p1p4p/2PpP3/7P/PPQBRPP1/1R3NK1 w - - 0 34[/fen]
King Kasparov had been making steady progress although neither player really making optimum moves. For example, from this position King Fischer played 34…Rf7 Giving the E file to white.
But now KK does not make the best of this and moves 35.Nh2. A better line of play would have been
35.e5! Attacking Black’s Queen and Bishop but also opening up a useful diagonal for his Queen on C2. Now if 35…Bxe5, 36.Rbe1 would have given White a very strong position here:
[fen]r5k1/1b3r2/2p2qp1/p1p1b2p/2Pp4/7P/PPQBRPP1/4RNK1 w - - 0 36[/fen]

From here onwards King Fischer was feeling hot under the collar whilst King Kasparov was looking calm and confident. At his mate announcement both players shook hands and left the room.

In this game King Kasparov achieved a move accuracy of 55% whilst King Fischer only achieved 26%, the lowest in this match.

So, will this pattern continue with White always winning? Is there a conspiracy afoot?

Watch out for the next thrilling game between these two virtually notable players.

Current score 2 – 2 Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

After a little delay in the match trying to track down both players, they were eventually found drinking virtual beer in a virtually local bar! Escorted back to the chess board they played game five of the match.

In this game they played yet another Sicilian, this time the ‘Closed’ variant B23. Up until move 25, King Kasparov (KK) was playing quite well, had gained a pawn at move 12 and was in a better position. However, King Fischer (KF) fought back strongly and around the half way mark started to take over. Even then, at around the three-quarter mark, he went through a lull where the scores evened out for a while until he finally found the way through and KK resigned.

This result is continuing the trend of White always winning and encouraging the idea of a conspiracy, especially as both players were found having a beer!

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "5"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]

1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.f4 c5 4.e5 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.g3 Nh6 7.Bh3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.d4 cxd4 10.Ne2 Qb6 11.Nexd4 Bc5 12.Be3 Qxb2 13.Qd3 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Qb6 15.Rab1 Qc7 16.Qb3 b6 17.Rfd1 Rfc8 18.c3 Qb7 19.Rd2 Qa6 20.Bf2 Qa5 21.Re1 Rc7 22.Rb1 Rac8 23.Rd3 Qa6 24.Rf3 Bxd4 25.Bxd4 Qe2 26.Qd1 Qxa2 27.Ra1 Qc4 28.Rf2 Qc6 29.Rfa2 Qb7 30.Qe2 Qb8 31.Ra6 Rb7 32.g4 Rc4 33.Qa2 Rcc7 34.Qe2 Qe8 35.Bf1 Qe7 36.Bg2 Bc6 37.h3 Rb8 38.Rf1 Kh8 39.Rfa1 Qd7 40.Bf1 Ng8 41.Qf2 Ne7 42.Bd3 Rbb7 43.Qf1 Qd8 44.f5 Bd7 45.f6 Ng6 46.fxg7+ Kxg7 47.Qf3 Qg5 48.Rf1 Be8 49.Be3 Qe7 50.Bd4 Bc6 51.Raa1 Qg5 52.Be3 Qd8 53.Bd4 h6 54.Qg2 Qg5 55.Rf6 h5 56.gxh5 Qxh5 57.Kh2 Re7 58.Rg1 Be8 59.Qf2 a6 60.Bxa6 Rbc7 61.Bd3 Ra7 62.Be2 Qh7 63.Bxb6 Ra2 64.Bc5 Rxe2 65.Qxe2 Rc7 66.Qe3 Rb7 67.Rf2 Qh5 68.Qg5 Qxg5 69.Rxg5 Rc7 70.Bd4 Bb5 71.h4 Kh6 72.Rg3 Kh7 73.Kg1 Rb7 74.Rh3 Be8 75.h5 Ne7 76.Be3 Nf5 77.Bg5 Rb1+ 78.Rf1 Rb2 79.Ra1 d4 80.Bc1 Re2 81.cxd4 Nxd4 82.Rd3 Nc6 83.Re3 Rxe3 84.Bxe3 Nxe5 85.Ra7 Ng4 86.Bf4 Nf6 87.h6 Nd5 88.Bg5 e5 89.Kf1 e4 90.Kf2 e3+ 91.Ke1 Kg6 92.Ra5 Bc6 93.Ra6 Nb4 94.Rb6 Nc2+ 95.Ke2 Kh7 96.Kd3 Ba4 97.Rb2 e2 98.Kxe2 Nd4+ 99.Kd3 Ne6 100.Be3 Bc6 101.Rf2 Kg6 102.Rf5 Bg2 103.Rh5 Kh7 104.Bc1 Bf1+ 105.Ke3 Ba6 106.Rh2 Bc4 107.Ke4 Bb5 108.Rf2 Be8 109.Kf5 Ba4 110.Ke5 Kg8 111.Rh2 Nf8 112.Rb2 Kh7 113.Kf6 Bc6 114.Kxf7 Nd7 115.Rc2 Bf3 116.Rc7 Bg4 117.Ke8 Kg6 1-0

Final position when King Kasparov resigned with the move 117…Kg6:
[fen]4K3/2Rn4/6kP/8/6b1/8/8/2B5 w - - 7 118[/fen]

So what happened?

Here is the position after KF moved 25.Bxd4:
[fen]2r3k1/p1rb1ppp/qp2p2n/3pP3/3B1P2/1QP2RPB/P6P/1R4K1 w - - 0 25[/fen]
I was expecting KK to move his Knight away from the edge with 25…Nf5 and Stockfish tallied with my idea. However, KK had other ideas and moved 25…Qe2. Aggressive but he needs the Knight for support:
[fen]2r3k1/p1rb1ppp/1p2p2n/3pP3/3B1P2/1QP2RPB/P3q2P/1R4K1 w - - 0 26[/fen]
After a few moves of the Black Queen running around the enemy camp, which did not achieve much in the end due to both sides not playing optimally, the black queen retreated.

Later on after a few less than optimum moves by both sides (according to SF!) we have this position:
[fen]4b3/prr1qpkp/Rp2p1n1/3pP3/6P1/2PBBQ1P/8/5RK1 w - - 0 50[/fen]
KK had just retreated his Queen with 49…Qe7 and now KF played 50.Bd4! Protecting two valuable pawns and looking in quite a strong position. Then, KK played 50…Bc6? Here is the position:
[fen]8/prr1qpkp/Rpb1p1n1/3pP3/3B2P1/2PB1Q1P/8/5RK1 w - - 0 51[/fen]
This was a curious move. It blocks the c file and KK’s QP is already protected. Unless this is some longer term plan, but it doesn't look promising. Better would have been 50…Qh4 applying some pressure on White’s King defences and helping defend any possible King-side attack KF might try. Now, KF played 51.Raa1 giving this position:
[fen]8/prr1qpkp/1pb1p1n1/3pP3/3B2P1/2PB1Q1P/8/R4RK1 w - - 0 51[/fen]
SF was in horror and considered that the following move was essential: 51.h4! This move forms part of a long sequence. At first glance though, we can see it is attacking and after White swings his Rooks over to the King-side, a nasty attack could be mustered. Black would have to retreat his King which apart from the Knight, is very exposed.

With all these games we have to take into account that both KF and KK are not on a par with the mighty SF and are not always going to see such ideal moves.

Here is another example of bad play by KK. KF with the White pieces moved 55.Rf6!
[fen]8/prr2pk1/1pb1pRnp/3pP1q1/3B2P1/2PB3P/6Q1/R5K1 w - - 0 55[/fen]
KF is really starting a ferocious attack! KK was not being aggressive enough, he needed to bring his knight into action with 55…Nf4 alas, I think the beer had affected his brain and he moved 55…h5?

KF took this Pawn with 56.gxh5 and then as if to make sure KF would win KK played 56…Qxh5? Giving this position:
[fen]8/prr2pk1/1pb1pRn1/3pP2q/3B4/2PB3P/6Q1/R5K1 w - - 0 57[/fen]
Black really should have exchanged Queens to remove KF’s onslaught.

Although KF’s quality of play dropped from move 68, I think the beer was affecting him also! He maintained the attack until KF was forced to resign.

In summary I would definitely say that these personality settings are not optimum for TheKing module.

One interesting experiment I made after KK had resigned, was to have him carry on as White to see if his calculated move matched that of SF’s. At move 118, SF was showing it was a mate in 16 with 118.Rxd7 and KK although not seeing the mate, had a high score with this move. On the other hand, KF did not see this move and instead played 118.Ra7. There was no point carrying on at this stage though, KK’s position was hopeless and he knew it. I should think the higher personality setting of selectivity for KK is the reason he could see the correct move.

In this game KF managed a move accuracy of 59% and KK managed 46%.

Well this result brings the score to 3 – 2 to King Fischer. Will KK catch up in game 6?

KK needs to play catch up Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

Well I finally got around to playing game 6 of the match between the Virtual personalities of Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer. For a change, they played something other than a Sicilian opening, this time choosing the Queen’s Pawn Game (A40); actually it’s probably the Modern Defence variant. By Black’s 9th move Chessbase identifies the opening as the Dutch Defence (A81). Oh well, we can’t expect The King module to know all the names and my head is already spinning!

Maintaining the pattern in this match, the player with the white pieces won the game and in this case that was King Kasparov. He needed this game to equalise so was virtually happy.

I’m still wondering if there is a conspiracy going on here and that these two virtually iconic players have agreed to play for a draw and share the virtual prize.

So here is the game:

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "6"]
[White "King Kasparov"]
[Black "King Fischer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]

1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 f5 3.c3 Bg7 4.g3 Nf6 5.Qb3 e6 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nbd2 d5 9.Qc2 Ne4 10.b3 Qe7 11.a4 Nd6 12.Ne1 b6 13.Nd3 Ba6 14.Nf3 h6 15.Ba3 Rfd8 16.Nfe5 Qe8 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.Nb4 Qb7 19.c4 Ne4 20.cxd5 exd5 21.Nxa6 Qxa6 22.Qc6 Kh7 23.e3 Rac8 24.Be7 Re8 25.Bb4 Qe2 26.a5 Qd3 27.axb6 cxb6 28.Qxd5 a5 29.Ba3 Rc2 30.Rad1 Qa6 31.Bxe4 fxe4 32.Rc1 Rxc1 33.Rxc1 Rc8 34.Rc4 Rxc4 35.bxc4 Qc8 36.h4 Qf5 37.Qc6 Qg4 38.Qa4 Bf6 39.Bd6 Bxh4 40.Bc7 Bg5 41.c5 bxc5 42.dxc5 Bf6 43.c6 h5 44.Bd6 h4 45.c7 h3 46.f3 Qe6 47.Qc2 Qxd6 48.f4 Qa3 49.c8=Q Qxe3+ 50.Kh2 Qb6 51.Qxh3+ Kg8 52.Qh6 Qb2 53.Qxg6+ Kf8 54.Qxb2 Bxb2 55.g4 a4 56.Qf5+ Ke7 57.Qxe4+ Kd6 58.Qb4+ Kc6 59.Qxb2 a3 60.Qc2+ Kd7 61.Qa4+ Ke7 62.Qxa3+ Ke6 63.f5+ Ke5 64.Qc5+ Kf6 65.Kg3 Kf7 66.Qd6 Kg8 67.Qe7 Kh8 68.f6 Kg8 69.Qg7# 1-0

Position when King Kasparov (KK) announced mate in 11 with the move 59.Qxb2
[fen]8/8/2k5/8/p4PP1/8/1Q5K/8 w - - 0 59[/fen]

I let the game continue here just to see the mate announcements. I’ll discuss these below but just say that despite some curious numbers appearing, the original mate in 11 announcement was correct.

Well, KK was on form in this game, maybe it was the long break between games. At no point did King Fischer (KF) ever have a positive evaluation, the best he managed was zero!

Here is the position after KF’s move 9…Ne4 which is the Dutch Defence:
[fen]r1bq1rk1/ppp3bp/2n1p1p1/3p1p2/3Pn3/2P2NP1/PPQNPPBP/R1B2RK1 w - - 0 10[/fen]
I guess KF does not handle this opening so well. From here onwards KK’s evaluation progressively increased while KF’s evaluation, although not tallying with KK’s high value, showed a consistent negative. Was he really trying in this game? A question enforcing the conspiracy!

Here is the position with White to play at move 17:
[fen]r2rq1k1/p1p3b1/bpnnp1pp/3pNp2/P2P4/BPPN2P1/2Q1PPBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 17[/fen]
Here, KK played 17.Nxc6 forcing Black to recapture with the Queen 17…Qxc6:
[fen]r2r2k1/p1p3b1/bpqnp1pp/3p1p2/P2P4/BPPN2P1/2Q1PPBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 18[/fen]

This position is good for White (KK), at some point he can advance his Pawn on c3 (Black could not capture it with PxP because he would lose his Queen to White’s Bishop on g2) and a nice Queen-side attack could ensue.

At move 19, KK did indeed advance his pawn on c3:
[fen]r2r2k1/pqp3b1/bp1np1pp/3p1p2/PNPP4/BP4P1/2Q1PPBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 19[/fen]
This puts the pressure on Black’s pawn on d6, now attacked by three pieces. Black’s Queen is stuck in the corner helping to protect this pawn and not giving White any trouble.

KF then played 19…Ne4. This does take some of the pressure off. Whites Bishop on g2 is no longer so effective and Black’s Rook is now helping protect his Pawn. However, a better move would have been 19…c6 freeing up the Queen.

Here is an example where KK did not make the best of the situation:
[fen]2r1r3/p1p1B1bk/qpQ3pp/3p1p2/P2Pn3/1P2P1P1/5PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 25[/fen]
Black had just played 24…Re8 and KK worried about his Bishop, moved 25.Bb4 missing the more aggressive and better 25. Qd7.

KF was still fighting and in the following position after making his move 29…Rc2 we can see Black is now looking quite aggressive with three major pieces in the enemy camp:
[fen]4r3/6bk/1p4pp/p2Q1p2/3Pn3/BP1qP1P1/2r2PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 30[/fen]
White needed to be careful here which he was and correctly fended off the Queen with the move 30.Rad1! Then after the Black Queen retreated White exchanged his Bishop for the Knight on e4 thus removing the attack altogether.

Later on after Black’s move 36…Qf5 we have this position:
[fen]8/6bk/1p4pp/p2Q1q2/2PPp2P/B3P1P1/5P2/6K1 w - - 0 37[/fen]
This is now looking completely helpless for KF! I think the real Fischer would have resigned at this point.

KK announced mate in 12 with the move 61.Qa4+:
[fen]8/3k4/8/8/Q4PP1/p7/7K/8 w - - 0 61[/fen]
This announcement is strange considering at move 59 he had already announced mate in 11!?

Then, at move 62 he announced mate in 10 and announced the same again at move 64. His mate searching is certainly interesting. Finally, at move 65 he was back on track and announced mate in 5.

A very one-sided game with KK dominating pretty much all the way through. It will be interesting playing this opening with the players reversed to see if KF fairs any better with the white pieces.

In this game KK achieved a move accuracy of 82% whilst KF achieved 42%. This is the best accuracy that KK has achieved so far but still lower than KF’s best of 87%. KF holds the record for the lowest move accuracy which stands at 26%. KK’s lowest is 46%.

Here are the current move accuracy percentage values for each game:
---- KK --- KF
01. 46 --- 87
02. 65 --- 52
03. 47 --- 72
04. 55 --- 26
05. 46 --- 59
06. 82 --- 42

So far, KK has averaged a move accuracy of 56.8%
And KF has averaged a move accuracy of 56.3%

Well, this tallies with the current score which stands at:

3 – 3 Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

Moving on, we now have game 7 of the exciting match between King Fischer(KF) and King Kasparov(KK).

Maintaining the pattern and conspiracy, yes you guessed it, the player with the white pieces, in this case KF, won the game.

They played the Petroff Defence (C42) and both players were about equal around move 13, but then KF started to gain the upper hand and maintained this all the way through.

So far in this match, we have five totally one-sided games which is quite a high proportion. Taking into account that in each case White always wins then this is maybe indicates that these personality settings favour White and therefore not accurately representing the real player counterparts at all. Either that, or it’s still too few games to make any firm judgement!

Onto the game:

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "7"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 Be7 7.h3 O-O 8.Bd3 c5 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.O-O Nc6 11.Re1 Qb6 12.a4 Re8 13.Bf4 c4 14.Bxc4 Qxb2 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Be6 17.Rb1 Qf6 18.Bg5 Qf5 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Rxb7 Rad8 21.Qa1 Qd5 22.c4 Qxc4 23.Rc1 Qd5 24.Rxc6 Qxc6 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Bxe7 Rd5 27.Bb4 h6 28.a5 Qc2 29.Qc3 Qb1+ 30.Kh2 Qe4 31.Qc6 Qf4+ 32.Kg1 Qf7 33.Nd2 Kh7 34.Bc3 Qe7 35.h4 Qf7 36.g3 Rd8 37.Qe4+ Kg8 38.Nf3 Rd5 39.Kg2 Rc5 40.Qe3 Rb5 41.Qd3 Rc5 42.Qd8+ Kh7 43.Qd4 Rd5 44.Qb4 Qe8 45.Ne5 Qa8 46.Qe4+ Kg8 47.Ng6 Rd8 48.Ne7+ Kh8 49.Qxa8 Rxa8 50.Bd4 a6 51.Bb6 Re8 52.Nc6 Kh7 53.Nb4 Ra8 54.Kf3 Kg6 55.Kf4 Kf6 56.h5 g5+ 57.hxg6 h5 58.g7 Kxg7 59.Ke5 Kf7 60.Kd6 Kf6 61.Kc6 Ke5 62.Nxa6 Rxa6 63.Kb7 Rxa5 64.Bxa5 Kd6 65.Bc7+ Kd5 66.Kc8 e5 67.Kd7 Ke4 68.Ke6 Kf3 69.Bb6 e4 70.Kf5 Kg2 71.Kxe4 Kh3 1-0

Final position when KK resigned:
[fen]8/8/1B6/7p/4K3/6Pk/5P2/8 w - - 0 72[/fen]

Here is the position after KF’s move 13.Bf4 with both sides about equal:
[fen]r1b1r1k1/pp2bppp/1qn2n2/2p5/P4B2/2NB1N1P/1PP2PP1/R2QR1K1 w - - 0 13[/fen]
In this position KK played 13…c4. I don’t think this was such a good idea. Better would have been to play 13…Be6 first, developing a piece and then allowing the advance of the pawn on c4 later on.

Play continued with 14.Bxc4 giving White a nice position with all pieces developed and strong control of the central files. Here, Black replied 14…Qxb2:
[fen]r1b1r1k1/pp2bppp/2n2n2/8/P1B2B2/2N2N1P/1qP2PP1/R2QR1K1 w - - 0 15[/fen]
Okay, so he regains the pawn but White now advances his Knight forming a nice attacking formation whilst Black’s Queen is on her own in the enemy camp. It won’t be long before she is chased out wasting time.

Later on we can see how things are really shaping up nicely for King Fischer. In the following position King Kasparov had just played 23…Qd5 retreating from the attack of White’s Rook on c1:
[fen]3rr1k1/pR2b1pp/2n1p3/3q2B1/P7/5N1P/5PP1/Q1R3K1 w - - 0 24[/fen]
Now KF is ready to strike with the move 24.Rxc6! Play continued with 24…Qxc6 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Bxe7 giving this position:
[fen]3r2k1/p3B1pp/2q1p3/8/P7/5N1P/5PP1/Q5K1 w - - 0 26[/fen]
KF has gained in the exchange and now has Bishop and Knight against a Rook, but also a much better position.

Play continued until KK decided to resign. White’s position and piece advantage was too much to defend against.

There were no blunders in this game, just some inaccuracies (according to the mighty Stockfish) which manifested themselves later on. Neither of these personalities are powerful enough to see the inaccuracies they made, but certain weaknesses in their positional play are evident on occasions which we can observe even without the help of the mighty PC engines.

In this game KF achieved a move accuracy of 84% whilst KK managed 49%

Score now is 4 – 3 to King Fischer Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

After the Christmas break I finally managed to continue this match between the virtual giants of King Fischer (KF) and King Kasparov (KK). Here are the details of game 8:

Surprise result in this game considering the long run of White always winning; we have the first draw! This puts KF in the lead by a ½ point, a very close match.

This game can be divided into three evaluation stages of:

1. KK with the white pieces having a slight edge in the opening.
2. KF mainly dominating the middle game but with inaccuracies by both players.
3. KK fighting back and achieving a draw.

As expected with a draw, this was a long game that I adjudicated at move 100, a nice round figure.

They played the English opening which the King module reported as ‘A25 English: Sicilian Reversed.’ CB15 describes it as ‘A25: English opening vs King’s Indian with …Nc6 but without early d3.’ What a mouthful!

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "8"]
[White "King Kasparov"]
[Black "King Fischer"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A25"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3 Nge7 6.Nge2 d6 7.d3 O-O 8.O-O Bg4 9.h3 Be6 10.Nd5 Qd7 11.Kh2 f5 12.Bd2 Rab8 13.Qb3 a6 14.a4 b6 15.Qc2 a5 16.Rab1 Bf7 17.b4 axb4 18.Nxe7+ Nxe7 19.Bxb4 c5 20.Bd2 d5 21.cxd5 Nxd5 22.e4 Ne7 23.Rfd1 Rfd8 24.Be3 h6 25.Nc3 Nc6 26.Qd2 Kh7 27.f4 Nd4 28.exf5 gxf5 29.Rb2 Ne6 30.fxe5 Bxe5 31.Bf2 Nd4 32.Rbb1 Qd6 33.Ne2 Nxe2 34.Qxe2 Rg8 35.Qf3 Rg5 36.Re1 Bh5 37.Qd5 Bxg3+ 38.Bxg3 Qxg3+ 39.Kh1 Qc7 40.Re6 Rd8 41.Qc6 Qxc6 42.Rxc6 Be8 43.Rcxb6 Bxa4 44.Ra6 Be8 45.Re6 Rg7 46.Re5 Bg6 47.Rxc5 Rxd3 48.Rc8 Bf7 49.Rb2 Be6 50.Rc5 Re3 51.Rc6 f4 52.Kh2 Rg5 53.Rf2 Rf5 54.Bf3 h5 55.h4 Kh6 56.Re2 Rfe5 57.Rf2 Kg7 58.Kg2 Rd3 59.Kh2 Kf7 60.Ra6 Rd4 61.Ra7+ Kf6 62.Ra6 Rc4 63.Rb6 Kf7 64.Rb7+ Kg6 65.Rb6 Rd4 66.Kg1 Kh7 67.Rc2 Kg7 68.Rc7+ Kf6 69.Rh7 Rd2 70.Rh6+ Ke7 71.Rb7+ Bd7 72.Rh7+ Kf6 73.Rb6+ Re6 74.Rh6+ Ke7 75.Rh7+ Kd8 76.Rh8+ Re8 77.Rb8+ Ke7 78.Rh7+ Kd6 79.Rh6+ Ke5 80.Rxh5+ Kf6 81.Rxe8 Bxe8 82.Rh6+ Ke5 83.Rh8 Bf7 84.Rf8 Rd3 85.Kf2 Bg6 86.h5 Bh7 87.Re8+ Kf6 88.Rh8 Rd2+ 89.Ke1 Rd7 90.Rf8+ Kg5 91.Rc8 Ra7 92.Be2 Ra3 93.Kf2 Rh3 94.Rc5+ Kf6 95.Bg4 Ra3 96.h6 Bg6 97.Bf3 Ra2+ 98.Kg1 Rc2 99.Rd5 Rb2 100.Ra5 1/2-1/2

Here is the final position after KK moved 100.Ra5 and I declared it a draw:
[fen]8/8/5kbP/R7/5p2/5B2/1r6/6K1 w - - 0 100[/fen]
Both King players had been showing evaluations of 0.00 or very close to it for several moves.

For KF to have dominated the middle game we may be asking where did KK go wrong?
After KF moved 28…gxf5 we have this position:
[fen]1r1r4/3q1bbk/1p5p/2p1pp2/P2n1P2/2NPB1PP/3Q2BK/1R1R4 w - - 0 29[/fen]
Both players are about equal. The move that KK played here was 29.Rb2. I’m not sure what the idea was with this move, maybe to double the rooks on the b file? The move suggested by Stockfish looking 24ply ahead was 29.Qf2 which serves the purpose of supporting the King-side pawns. If we play through the actual moves we can see how Black’s position looks stronger at the end and why SF’s suggestion is better:

29.Rb2 Ne6! Applying pressure on White’s Pawn on f4. With this out of the way White’s King-side defences are somewhat weakened and Black can control the diagonal to White’s King. Also, White’s Pawn on d3 must be protected:
[fen]1r1r4/3q1bbk/1p2n2p/2p1pp2/P4P2/2NPB1PP/1R1Q2BK/3R4 w - - 0 30[/fen]

30.fxe5 Bxe5 31.Bf2 White needs to support his Pawn on g3, Black only needs to move Qd6 to apply some nasty pressure. 31…Nd4 32.Rbb1 Qd6 33.Ne2:
[fen]1r1r4/5b1k/1p1q3p/2p1bp2/P2n4/3P2PP/3QNBBK/1R1R4 w - - 0 33[/fen]
That’s 9 ply moves, potentially within the scope of TheKing modules’ look ahead as I noticed both were frequently hitting 10 ply. Black does indeed look far more active with many attacking prospects including Bh5 at some point but the even stronger Rg8 adding more pressure on White’s Pawn on g3.

As good as TheKing is, it’s still limited and comparing against the sheer brute force of SF is unfair. TheKing may well have been looking 9+ ply ahead, but the combinations are numerous so it may naturally miss such moves, or maybe this is an issue with the personality settings, something I can test after the match. Either way, a misunderstanding of the position has put KK in an inferior position. I can’t say that I would have done any better against the TheKing, probably far worse!

Despite KK’s inaccuracy, how well does KF take advantage?
Well not so good, neither personality understood the nuance of the position. Instead of moving 33…Rg8, KF played 33…Nxe2 causing an exchange of Knights but little to show for it. By move 39 the position was equal again. Here is the position after KK moved 39.Kh1 escaping from Black’s Queen:
[fen]1r6/7k/1p5p/2pQ1prb/P7/3P2qP/6B1/1R2R2K w - - 0 39[/fen]
Now, instead of sticking around in the enemy camp, KF retreated with 39…Qc7. Presumably worried about White’s Queen. Better would have been 39…f4 Both Attacking White’s Queen and applying more pressure on White’s defences.

Okay, so we can see neither side is making super grandmaster moves, and around move 51 all was even again and pretty much stayed this way until the end.

Despite these inaccuracies, which I don’t consider major for a dedicated machine, they both achieved a pretty high move accuracy. Considering the result was a draw then as you can imagine the results are similar with KK achieving 86% and KF 81%. I think KK did well to fight back or was it that KF did not make the best of its positional advantage? Maybe a combination of both.

Move Accuracy Chart
==================
… …KK … KF
01. 46 … 87
02. 65 … 52
03. 47 … 72
04. 55 … 26
05. 46 … 59
06. 82 … 42
07. 49 … 84
08. 86 … 81

Current average move accuracy results are: KK with 59.5% and KF with 62.875%
So KF just nudging ahead which tallies of course with its extra half point.

An interesting game despite it being a draw.

So this result looks to end the conspiracy that both players are seeking to share the virtual prize. Or maybe, this drawn game is still part of their plan to fool us and KK will win an extra game to draw level once again? He’d better hurry with only two more games to go.

Current Score 4 ½ - 3 ½ to KF Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

Game 9

No more conspiracy theories in this match. King Fischer (KF) gains another point and now King Kasparov (KK) cannot win the match! He stormed out of the room in anger and KF walked out smiling and said “I knew I would win”.

So what happened in this critical game of the match?

The advantage swung from side to side with small advantages gained and lost by both players until move 45 when KK started to gain a good advantage. Alas, this dwindled by move 54 and then shortly afterwards, KF seized the moment taking advantage of KK’s weaker play forcing a win and announcing a mate in 8 in the process. I decided to carry on the game until this mate announcement although the real Kasparov probably would have resigned long ago.

They played the B22 Sicilian: Alapin Variation:

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "9"]
[White "King Fischer"]
[Black "King Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.Bb5+ Nbd7 5.c4 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.cxb5 Nxd5 8.Nc3 e6 9.Nf3 Be7 10.O-O N5b6 11.d3 Nxa4 12.Qxa4 Bb7 13.bxa6 Rxa6 14.Qf4 O-O 15.Re1 Bd6 16.Qg4 Nf6 17.Qh3 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Qc7 19.g3 Rb8 20.a4 Nd7 21.Qe2 Qc6 22.Qe4 Qc8 23.f4 Be7 24.Qg2 Bf6 25.Be3 Rb4 26.Rec1 Qb8 27.Ra2 Ra5 28.Qc2 Qb7 29.Re1 c4 30.dxc4 Rxc4 31.Rd1 Bxc3 32.bxc3 Qc8 33.Qe2 Nf8 34.Rd8 Qc7 35.Rd4 Rc6 36.Rb4 Rca6 37.c4 e5 38.Qf1 Nd7 39.Rab2 Ra8 40.Rb7 Qc6 41.Qd1 Nf8 42.fxe5 Rxe5 43.Bd4 Re4 44.Qf3 f6 45.Kf2 Rae8 46.a5 Qe6 47.Rd2 Ng6 48.Rb1 Qh3 49.Rh1 Qh6 50.Rhd1 Qxh2+ 51.Kf1 Qh3+ 52.Qg2 Qe6 53.Bf2 Qxc4+ 54.Kg1 Ne5 55.Rd8 Nf7 56.Rxe8+ Rxe8 57.Qb7 Ne5 58.a6 Qe2 59.Qd5+ Kh8 60.a7 Qa6 61.Rb1 Nc6 62.Rb8 Nxb8 63.a8=Q Qe2 64.Qab7 h6 65.Qb1 Qg4 66.Qdd3 f5 67.Qxf5 Qxf5 68.Qxf5 Rd8 69.Qc5 Rd1+ 70.Kg2 Rd8 71.Bd4 Rd7 72.Qb4 Kh7 73.Qb1+ Kg8 74.Qxb8+ Kf7 75.g4 Rd5 76.Qc7+ Ke6 77.Bxg7 Rd2+ 78.Kf3 h5 79.Qc8+ Kf7 80.Qf8+ Ke6 81.Qe8+ Kd6 82.gxh5 Kc7 83.Qe5+ Kd7 84.Qb5+ Ke7 85.Qg5+ Kd6 86.Qxd2+ 1-0

Final position when KF announced mate in 8 with the move 86.Qxd2+
[fen]8/6B1/3k4/7P/8/5K2/3Q4/8 w - - 0 86[/fen]

Here is an example where KF makes a poor move losing the advantage:
After Black’s move 45…Rae8 the position is equal. White has an extra Pawn but Black has compensation with his doubled Rooks on the E file:
[fen]4rnk1/1R4pp/2q2p2/8/P1PBr3/5QP1/1R3K1P/8 w - - 0 46[/fen]
There is a fine balance to this position. If Black is not careful White is threatening a win in just a few moves. The critical piece is Black’s Pawn on f6 which must be protected at all costs. If Black’s Queen is moved, say by taking White’s Pawn on c4?? White’s Bishop on d4, Rook on b7 and Queen on f3 are poised ready to pounce with Rxg7+ Kh8 Bxf6 and now it’s hopeless for Black. However, White needs to tread carefully. Black already has doubled Rooks and only needs his Queen on the same file to create some very nasty pressure with plenty of attacking potential. An interesting position indeed!

Here, KF played 46.a5 which indicates he does not appreciate Black’s formidable control of the E file. Better would have been 46. Bc3 as suggested by SF which prevents Black from reaching the e1 square and maintains the balance.

Later on at move 50 we have this position with Black to move:
[fen]4r1k1/6pp/5pnq/P7/2PBr3/5QP1/3R1K1P/3R4 w - - 0 50[/fen]
Black has the upper hand in this position, White may have a Pawn advancing on a5, but his attention must be to fend off Black’s strong attack. Here KK played 50…Qxh2+ which is okay but he missed the far more deadly move 50…Nh4. White would have to capture with 51.gxh4 then Black would punish with 51…Rf4 ouch! Not sure why KK did not calculate this? Again, will have to check this position with other personality settings.

Despite gaining this upper hand, KK’s advantage dwindled to zero which we can see from the following position:
[fen]4r1k1/6pp/5pn1/P7/2q1r3/6P1/3R1BQ1/3R2K1 w - - 0 54[/fen]
White (KF) had just moved 54.Kg1 and Black replied 54…Ne5? What? Has KK fallen asleep? This destroys his doubled Rooks and totally ignores the threat of the advancing Pawn. But then, KF did not take advantage and play 55. a6, instead he replied 55.Rd8.

So we are seeing a lack of understanding in these positions. Maybe a longer time control would help or maybe the personality settings are hindering TheKing? The Active style I think would more likely have fared much better.

The final crunch came in the following position. KF had just played 57.Qb7 with the position about equal:
[fen]4r1k1/1Q3npp/5p2/P7/2q5/6P1/5B2/3R2K1 w - - 0 57[/fen]
Black is a Pawn up but White has compensation considering his advanced Pawn on a5.
Black needed to bring his Knight into play with 57…Ng5, from here he could make his way to h3 and cause White some trouble. Instead, he moved 57…Ne5 Possibly the idea was to move to c6 to attack the advancing Pawn, but too late!

Here is the position after White moves 58.a6:
[fen]4r1k1/1Q4pp/P4p2/4n3/2q5/6P1/5B2/3R2K1 w - - 0 58[/fen]
KK was feeling very uncomfortable now. KF’s position is looking very good especially with his Pawn marching up the board which is only going to give Black trouble. I think the real Kasparov would have resigned here, and maybe KK’s move should be taken as resignation? He played 58…Qe2? That’s pretty much game over! Play continued 59.Qd5+ Kh8 60.a7 Qa6 61.Rb1 Nc6 giving this position:
[fen]4r2k/P5pp/q1n2p2/3Q4/8/6P1/5B2/1R4K1 w - - 0 62[/fen]
KF then played the obvious killer move 62.Rb8! with Pawn promotion to Queen to follow shortly after.

My apologies to the real Kasparov if he happens to be watching this match! I really don’t think King Kasparov is playing like the real McCoy.

I will play the final game in this match for the sake of completeness, but it seems that the King Fischer personality settings are a little more suited to TheKing’s style of play.

Move accuracies for this game are:
KF achieved 67% and KK achieved 51%

Current move accuracy chart:
… … KK … KF
01. . 46 … 87
02. . 65 … 52
03. . 47 … 72
04. . 55 … 26
05. . 46 … 59
06. . 82 … 42
07. . 49 … 84
08. . 86 … 81
09. . 51 … 67

Averages:
KK = 58.56%
KF = 63.33%

Not a huge difference but enough. It will be interesting to see the final figures.

Current Score 5 ½ - 3 ½ To King Fischer Regards
Ray

[Yarc]

Game 10

Well here it is, the final game in the 10 game match between King Fischer (KF) and King Kasparov (KK). Although unnecessary to play this final game because KF has already won by points, I decided to play it for the sake of completeness.

KK came out of hiding and won the game thus closing the gap and in fact making this a very close match.

They played the B29 Sicilian Defence: Nimzowitsch Variation. That makes a total of 6 games where a version of the Sicilian was played. I assume the selection of opening is completely random, so this is probably just coincidence. The Master book was selected on both modules as book1 whilst book2 was turned off.

[Event "40 moves / 40 minutes"]
[Round "10"]
[White "King Kasparov"]
[Black "King Fischer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B29"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.b3 g6 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 d6 8.O-O Nc6 9.Re1 O-O 10.Bf4 Bg4 11.Qd3 Qa5 12.exd6 exd6 13.Re3 Rad8 14.Bd5 Rd7 15.Qc4 Ne7 16.Rd1 Nf5 17.Re2 Qxc3 18.Qa4 Nd4 19.Nxd4 cxd4 20.f3 Qc5 21.Kh1 b5 22.Qa6 Qxd5 23.fxg4 Be5 24.Bh6 Re8 25.c3 Rdd8 26.Qxa7 Ra8 27.Qd7 d3 28.Re3 Rad8 29.Qc7 Qe6 30.Rexd3 Rc8 31.Qb6 Qxg4 32.Be3 Rb8 33.Qc6 Ra8 34.h3 Qe2 35.R1d2 Qe1+ 36.Bg1 Rac8 37.Qxb5 Bxc3 38.Rd1 Qe2 39.a4 Be5 40.Qd5 Rc7 41.b4 Qc2 42.a5 Qa4 43.Bb6 Rc2 44.Rf3 Re7 45.Rdf1 Qa2 46.Qxa2 Rxa2 47.Rb1 Ra4 48.b5 Rb7 49.g3 f5 50.Rbb3 Kf7 51.Ra3 Rc4 52.Rfb3 Rc1+ 53.Kg2 Rc2+ 54.Kf1 Ke6 55.Be3 Rf7 56.Bf4 Bd4 57.a6 g5 58.Bxg5 f4 59.Bxf4 Bf2 60.b6 Bxg3 61.a7 Rxf4+ 1-0

Final position when I resigned for KF:
[fen]8/P6p/1P1pk3/8/5r2/RR4bP/2r5/5K2 w - - 0 62[/fen]

This game can be divided into three main sections:

1. The opening where it was about equal.
2. The middle where KF started to gain an advantage but this dwindled to zero.
3. The end game where KK fought back, gained a good advantage and won.

Here is a position where KK makes a move that would lose a pawn with correct play:
[fen]5rk1/pp1r1pbp/3p2p1/q1pB1n2/2Q2Bb1/1PP1RN2/P1P2PPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 17[/fen]
Black had just moved 16…Nf5

The position is roughly equal except White does have doubled Pawns. KK then played 17.Re2 moving his Rook away from the attacking Knight. However, Black could now gain a Pawn in just 5 ply moves. The sequence would be 17…Bxc3, that’s the pawn. 18. Be3 preventing Black’s Knight occupying d4, 18…Bxf3 19.Bxf3 b5 giving the following position:
[fen]5rk1/p2r1p1p/3p2p1/qpp2n2/2Q5/1Pb1BB2/P1P1RPPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 20[/fen]
Black is now a Pawn up and still attacking. Alas, although KK missed this, so did KF! Instead of 17…Bxc3, KF played 17…Qxc3 giving this position:
[fen]5rk1/pp1r1pbp/3p2p1/2pB1n2/2Q2Bb1/1Pq2N2/P1P1RPPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 18[/fen]

I really think these personality settings are not so good. I must test some of these positions with the Active style. The other point of course is that I usually play using the longer time control of 40 moves/2 hours, which might also make a difference.

The way the advantage frequently swings from one side to the other in the middle game, indicates these personalities are not grasping the nuances of the positions. I realise that in many cases these inaccuracies are down to the sheer number of moves to calculate, but in some cases like the one above where a 5 ply look ahead would have gained a pawn, then there is something else amiss. I must admit I don’t watch the clocks, so it could also be down to time constraints and this is where the longer time control would help.

Despite all that, I never expected top performance from this match, and it was only done for my amusement and hopefully for others.

Had there been a larger winning margin I may have thought this useful as a starting point for creating a unique personality, but with only 1 point difference would have to say that both personalities are roughly equal and not best suited for the King.

Anyway, back to the game! Jumping ahead to the following position:
[fen]2r1r1k1/5p1p/3p2p1/1Q6/8/1PbR3P/P2R2P1/4q1BK w - - 0 38[/fen]
Black had just moved 37…Bxc3 bringing the Pawn count equal. Now KK with the White pieces starts fighting with the move 38.Rd1. Play followed 38…Qe2 preventing White taking the Pawn on D6 with his Rook, 39.a4 the start of problems for Black 39…Be5 not so good! I think Black really needed support from his Rook on E8, instead of blockading it off. Better would have been 39…Rb8 at least this is attacking.
[fen]2r1r1k1/5p1p/3p2p1/1Q2b3/P7/1P1R3P/4q1P1/3R2BK w - - 0 40[/fen]

From here onwards KK made steady progress and finally won the game.

An interesting game which will definitely be worth analysing with Active style to see what that would have possibly played.

In this game KK achieved a move accuracy of 74% and KF achieved 50%

The update accuracy chart:
Move Accuracy

… … KK … KF
============
01. 46 … 87
02. 65 … 52
03. 47 … 72
04. 55 … 26
05. 46 … 59
06. 82 … 42
07. 49 … 84
08. 86 … 81
09. 51 … 67
10. 74 … 50

Averages:
KK = 60.1%
KF = 62%

Final score 5 ½ – 4 ½ to KF Regards
Ray