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GM David Smerdon (@smurfo) defeated chess engine Komodo (@PlayKomodo), playing with knight odds, 5-1. The Man vs. Machine rapid match was played on Chess.com on April 10 and 11 and provided more insight into the effect of material imbalance in human vs engine play.

A knight is a knighteven for Komodo.

While many experts, including grandmasters, predicted Smerdon to lose the match with big numbers, the Australian grandmasterwas right when he noted on his website before the match:

"Still, Komodo may be Komodo, but a knight is a knight (to paraphrase Mikhail Tal). A rapid game is nowhere near as long as a classical game, but neither is it the tactical lottery of a blitz match, so in theory, I should be able to avoid outrageous blunders."

Commentary was provided by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and IM Andreas Toth.

Smerdon needed a game to warm up as he blundered terribly in the opening in the first game. However, after that, he played solid games, managed to trade pieces at the right moments and comfortably converted endgames with extra material.

Here is that first game:

GM Larry Kaufman of the Komodo team commented:

"David played very well except for the first game. In game five, it looked like he might have to settle for a draw playing a difficult endgame with only the 10-second increment, but he played it splendidly and won after more than a hundred moves. His other four wins were relatively easy. It looks like full knight odds is just too much for a grandmaster at the 15' + 10" time control. Perhaps next time we'll try knight for b7 or c7 pawn, or full knight odds at Chess960 vs. a GM."

Here's that fifth game mentioned by Kaufman, where Smerdon indeed shows strong determination to also win this endgame with an extra piece:

Smerdon on Facebook:

"My odds match against Komodo is over, with me prevailing by five wins to one. It turns out that "the knight is just too strong" (Evgenij Miroshnichenko), even though about 75 percent of the pre-game predictions were for a computer victory (including by many grandmasters, correspondence players, computer experts - and my wife). It turns out that the trade-off between chess strength and chess odds is really difficult to estimate. But others had a better sense (Peter Svidler)."

ThisMan vs. Machine match was held in conjunction with a special anniversary issue of the "ICGA Journal" (International Computer Games Association). It consisted of six games with a time control of 15 minutes and a 10-second increment per move.

Smerdon played Black in every game; Komodo was missing a knight in the starting positions, alternating from removing it from b1 and from g1. It was the first formal match on record in which a grandmaster takes knight odds in rapid (as opposed to blitz) chess from any opponent.

Komodo is a computer chess engine developed by Don Dailey, GM Larry Kaufman, and Mark Lefler. It is the 2019 World Computer Chess Champion and was acquired by Chess.com in the spring of 2018.

Smerdon is a semi-retired grandmaster who lives in Brisbane, Australia, where he works as a lecturer at the University of Queensland. His areas of research are applied economics; economic development and growth; and experimental, behavioral, and evolutionary methods.

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Smerdon Beats Komodo 5-1 With Knight Odds - Chess.com

Chess.com's Team Battle series continueson Saturday, April 11 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (20:00 Central European Time) on Twitch.tv/Chess.This month's theme, Zoomers Play Chesswill feature a teenage clash between Chess.com's top teen streamers.

IM Hans Niemann andAndrea Botez will play againstIM Carissa Yip and NM Justin Liang, with the majority of proceeds going to NoKidHungry, an organization dedicated to providing food for children in need, particularly those most affected by COVID-19.

The match will last three hours, featuring a 15+10 time control. The two teams of two players will play hand and brain to score as many points as they can before time runs out.

This team battle's prize fund will feature $500 in cash as a starting point with 40 percent of all in-stream donations going towards the prize fund with the remaining 60 percent going towards charities aimed at serving those coping with mental health challenges during the prolonged quarantine.

"As us zoomers say: easy dub, said Carissa Yip on the match. "But on a more serious note, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis warrants fundraising for needful communities, and Im glad we can fulfill this charitable cause with our match."

Justin Liang, a national master and active Twitch streamer, will be making his debut on Saturday as Carissa's teammate.

Liang had the following to say about the upcoming match: "Hans has adopted me, and I've adopted Andrea, so that evens out. But also having Carissa as a partner definitely makes this look like an easy win."

Along with playing for the prize pool, the players will compete on behalf of charities aimed at combating the negative mental health effects attributed to prolonged isolation, and viewers will be able to donate to them during the stream.

"Its going to be difficult for me to carry Hans, but I know I can do it. Hans will bring the trash talk, and I will bring the energy," said Botez on teaming up with Niemann. Last January, Niemann reached the Puzzle Battle World Championship semifinals after upsetting GM Hikaru Nakamura.

Niemann, the American International Master with two grandmaster norms to his name, will be making his Team Battles debut. While he can regularly be found on the Chess.com servers playing blitz and bullet against the best players in the world, he was looking forward to the upcoming change of pace.

Im excited to be representing the zoomer chess community. This match has a lot of personalities and I looked forward to some eventful trash talk," Niemann said. Im also very happy to raise money for NoKidHungry. I live in New York and Ive volunteered at chess in the schools which helps underprivileged kids through the game of chess. I have friends who rely on school for meals so Im very happy that this stream will go to making sure every kid has food.

The last edition of Team Battles saw over $3,500 donated during the stream which contributed towards COVID-19 research and prevention around the world.

This team battle continues a series of creative clashes, including Femme Batale, Chess.com vs Chessbrah, and more on Twitch.tv/Chess and Chess.com/TV.

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Zoomers Set For Hand & Brain ChessTV Takeover This Saturday - Chess.com

As we navigate this unusual time, some people are taking the opportunity to learn new things. Playing chess could be among your newfound skills when this is all over. This week, the column presents an introduction to chess.

Chess first appeared in India in the seventh century AD, so it is very old. In ancient tombs, certain pieces were found which archaeologists assure us constituted a form of chess.

Originally, it was a game of war. It was called Chaturanga and it rapidly made its way to Persia and Arabia. Some of the Arab terminology remains to this day. For example, the word checkmate comes from the Persian shah mat, with shah meaning king and mat meaning helpless or lost.

The oldest recorded game, according to H J R Murray, was played in the first half of the tenth century between Abu-Bakr Muhammad and his pupil Abul-Faraj al-Muzaffar. The game was discovered in a manuscript and was deciphered and translated. The rules of chess differed then in several instances. Pawns could advance only one square at a time and could promote only to a Queen. The Bishop could only advance two squares at a time and similar to the Knight could pass over an occupied square. The Queen could move only one square diagonally and there was no castling.

A chess set is integral to the pursuit of chess. A person can play the game via the internet but owning a chess set is vital for practice before testing the net. Further information can be obtained from the Guyana Chess Federation, which can point interested persons to local tutors after things return to normalcy.

In the meantime, the diagram on this page depicts the start position of a chess game. The game is played on a checkerboard of 64 squares similar to draughts or checkers. You will notice that the white squares are always on the right-hand side.

Chess is a game for two players, each of whom moves his 16 pieces according to fixed rules. Each player tries to checkmate his opponents king. On the back or second rank of the chessboard, the chess pieces are arranged as follows starting from left: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook. On the first rank of the board, there are pawns. One word of caution when arranging the pieces: while the pieces and pawns are placed directly opposite to each other, the white Queen goes on a white square, and the black Queen goes on a black square.

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An introduction to chess - Stabroek News

With immediate effect, Chess.com's Titled Tuesday tournaments will be held every week instead of every month. Each tournament will feature a $1,600 prize fund.

In response to COVID-19, Chess.com is creating opportunities for all titled players to stay active and engaged in this time of social distancing and self-quarantine. We are expanding Titled Tuesday to a weekly event, with an increased prize fund each week.

The start time of 10 a.m. Pacific Time (19:00 Central Europe) has been chosen in order to accommodate players from around the world. Titled Tuesday will maintain its nine-round Swiss format, with a time control of three minutes and one-second increment. Each week's tournament will be broadcast live on Chess.com/TV.

Titled Tuesday's expansion will mean the 2020 season's monthly prize fund will increase from $2,200 to $6,400. With $1,600 in prizes available every week, the prize fund will be distributed as follows:

In addition to the increased prize fund, Chess.com is proud to offer its first-ever Titled Tuesday prize for female players. In keeping with tradition, the Best Stream prize will be awarded as 20 gifted subs to the streamer's channel.

Titled Tuesday's expansion means that all competitors in this event are required to have their full legal name in their Chess.com profile. Anonymous titled player accounts or accounts found to be using a fake name will not be eligible to win prizes during the event.

All players must also abide by all rules and site policies found at Chess.com/agreement and cooperate fully with Chess.com's fair play detection team. Participants should be prepared to join a ZOOM call for proctoring at the arbiter's discretion and this request may be made between rounds via direct chat in live chess by a Chess.com staff member.

This month's Titled Tuesday was by far the biggest edition ever held, with nearly 900 titled players participating, including top GMs Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi,Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, andHikaru Nakamura. Weekly editions are expected to be just as star-studded as the monthly versions have been since Titled Tuesday's inception.

GM Simon Williams playing and streaming Titled Tuesday.

The next Titled Tuesday is set to start next week on Tuesday, April 14 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (19:00 Central Europe). Titled players may register for the tournament up to one hour before it begins in the tournament tab located at Chess.com/live.

Find more information about Titled Tuesdays here.

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Titled Tuesday Now Every Week With Increased Prizes - Chess.com

Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has helped spark an immediate and impressively rapid growth in online chess with his announcement of a $250,000 elite tournament which starts on Saturday 18 April with the Norwegian himself as the No 1 seed.

Before that, there is the fascinating prospect of a dream final in chess24s Banter Blitz Cup where players commentate on their moves verbally while the game is in progress and may also trash talk their opponent.

Carlsen and the brilliant exiled Iranian 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja, who is already a global fan favourite and widely regarded as a likely world title challenger any time from 2022 onwards, were seeded in opposite halves of the draw and will meet in the final the date of which has not yet been announced. It will most likely be between Sunday and the start of the Carlsen Invitational on 18 April.

This pairing will hark back to the controversial Carlsen v Firouzja game in the World Blitz in Moscow in December. Firouzja is compared to the tactical legend Mikhail Tal, while Carlsen is perceived as the successor to Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov.

There has already been a recent astonishing low profile marathon series between the two, played on 2 April on Lichess and consisting of 194 one-minute bullet games, many of which have been captured in online videos.

The match was first to 100 wins. Counting the draws, Firouzja triumphed 103.5-90.5. Some blamed Carlsens defeat on his using a mouse while Firouzja moved faster by finger touch. Others claimed that Carlsen had tired himself by playing 70 bullet games against fellow Norwegians immediately beforehand. The play was often of remarkably high quality on both sides for all moves in one minute with no increment, like this example analysed by GM Daniel King on Chessbase.

The Banter Blitz dream final promises to be exceptionally watchable since both players have been in devastating form in earlier rounds. Up to the semi-final, Firouzja had won all five of his best of 16 game matches by at least six points, while Carlsen produced a Fischer-style performance in his semi-final. The world champion defeated Sanan Sjugirov, a Russian who had beaten him twice over the board, by a perfect 9-0, playing some wonderful games en route, all of which can be watched on video with Carlsens commentary.

Firouzja had a much harder fight in Friday evenings second semi-final, but still defeated Indias 26-year-old GM Srinath Narayanan, who had eliminated his five previous opponents, by a 9-6 margin, checkmating his opponent in the final game.

Other major internet events have already begun or will soon be under way as experts and amateurs seize the opportunity for the serious competition which abruptly stopped over the board in mid-March due to Covid-19.

Britains national league, the 4NCL, was quickly into action as an online 4NCL attracted 172 four-player teams, far above expectations. The opening weekly round (of 10) was played on Tuesday on lichess.org, the user-friendly free site where you are paired with an opponent within a few seconds and which is recommended for newcomers to internet chess.

One unusual aspect of the online 4NCL is that Guildford,who have dominated the over-the-board version for the best part of a decade, are absent. In place of their elite GM squad there is a team of rising talents, Guildford Young Guns. There is also Guildford Gatekeepers, a quartet of low-rated amateurs.

ChessPlus Alpha, a new 4NCL name, and Irelands Gonzaga, whose base is a Dublin college, are the two top seeds. ChessPlus Alpha have registered some well-known Swedish GMs, though they did not field any of them in defeating Watford 3-1. Gonzaga suffered a shock defeat, 1.5-2.5 to Surbiton, for whom Koby Kalavannan, aged 17, enhanced his growing reputation by scoring the individual upset of the night, beating Frances GM Sbastien Maz.

Wednesday 15 April sees the chess.com $10,000 Abu Dhabi Blitz, whose entry is headed by the US world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, and Frances world No 5, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, leader of last months aborted Candidates. This event is open to all titled players.

The online tournament boom hosted by popular websites has left the official global body Fide looking a touch flat footed,and without a challenger to Carlsen following the suspension of the Candidates last month at the halfway point. Fide does have a web presence, its online Arena where you can qualify for international titles up to AGM, but it still lacks the appeal of the leading commercial websites.

3666 1...Rxe5! If now 2 Nxe5 Qg5! with the winning double threat Qxg2 mate and Nxh3+followed by Qxd2 winning the queen. In the game White tried 1...Rxe5 2 dxe5 Qg3! and White resigned because even after 3 Qxf4 Nxf4 mate by Qxg2 is unavoidable.

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Chess: Magnus Carlsen prepares for meeting with prodigy Alireza Firouzja - The Guardian