Amazing rook sacrifice in Fritz game at WCCC (video)

by Albert Silver
7/15/2023 – While engines on powerful hardware are ever closer to chess perfection, draws tend to happen more and more. However, even perfection does not need to be dull, and at the 2023 World Computer Chess Championship, a spectacular game took place between Fritz running on 192 cores (!) and Stoofvlees using massive GPUs. See the video on this tactical slugfest!
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What is chess perfection? Put simply, it is a game where no move could have led to a loss is committed. Many assume that this also means the game will be boring, but as seen in the game below, while all roads may lead to Rome, they don't also have to pass through New Jersey.

The operators of both respective engines were kind enough to share the logs of the game so that the evaluations, times, and predictions could be seen from both sides. You will find some of this in the analysis of the incredibly entertaining game played in round four of the 2023 World Computer Chess Championship.

Fritz is running on 192 cores, overclocked at 3.5GHz (kindly provided by sponsor BOSTON) with 1.5 TB of Ram, while Stoofvlees, a powerful neural network that requires strong GPUs to perform at its best, is using no fewer than four RTX4090s. A clash of the titans!

You can also enjoy the analysis on the replayer below:

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,191,16654%2421---
1.d4963,34855%2433---
1.Nf3287,99556%2440---
1.c4185,82856%2442---
1.g319,93656%2427---
1.b314,66854%2428---
1.f45,97748%2376---
1.Nc33,94550%2383---
1.b41,79648%2378---
1.a31,25854%2406---
1.e31,08549%2409---
1.d397050%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446954%2381---
1.c344251%2424---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a412060%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.h3 0-0 9.Na3 Ne7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Bf1 11.Be3 c6 12.Bf1 Nxe4 13.dxe5 Bxe3 14.Rxe3 d5 15.c4 Be6 16.Qe1 Nc5 17.Rd1 Qb6 18.cxd5 Bxd5 19.Nc4 Qc7 20.Nd4 f6 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.a3 a4 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Raf8 25.f3 Qb6 26.Qb4 Qxb4 27.axb4 Nd7 ½-½ Nihal,S (2673)-Sevian,S (2684) Sharjah Masters 6th 2023 (5) 11...exd4 11...Re8 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nb5 Bb8 14.c4 c6 15.Nc3 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 d5 17.cxd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 ½-½ Kadric,D (2601)-Sevian,S (2684) Sharjah Masters 6th 2023 (3) 12.cxd4 c6 13.Nb1 13.Nc4 Nxe4 14.Rxe4 d5= 13...d5 14.e5 Nh5 Not obvious as it seems easily left out of the game with 15.g3 f6 Grabbing the bull by the horns. Black not only plans to open the f-file, but is attacking White's center and space. 16.Be3 fxe5 17.dxe5 d4!
Strong and incisive 18.Bg5 The point is that if 18.Nxd4 which seems to leave the Nh5 hanging, Black has Nxe5! 19.Qxh5 Bxd4 20.Bxd4 Nf3+ Picking up the rook or knight. 18...Qc7 19.Nbd2 Be6 20.Nh2
20...Rxf2‼ An astonishing move! And the rook is untouchable. 21.Bd3 It needs to be pointed out that not only had Fritz predicted this sequence, but was not the least bit worried and estimated itself at +0.83, while Stoofvlees was cool as a cucumber and thought White was a mere +0.22 with best play. So what happens if White takes with 21.Kxf2 d3+ 22.Be3 The only other option here is 22.Kg2 Bd5+ 23.Nhf3 Nxe5 24.Bf4 Nxf4+ 25.gxf4 Nxf3 26.Nxf3 Qxf4 and White is going to have to not only give up his material advantage of a rook, but pay up with interest. 27.Bxd3 Rf8 and now if White tries to protect the knight with 28.Rf1 Qg5+ 29.Kh1 Qg3 22...Qxe5
and suddenly the threat on g3 is absolutley deadly. White's last play to try to avoid disaster is 23.Ne4 But it is not enough. Look at this spectacular refutation! 23.Qf3 Rf8 23...Nxg3 24.Nxg3 Rf8+ 25.Nf3 Bb8 and everything is going down! 21.Ne4 Nxg3 22.Nxf2 Nxf1 23.Nxf1 Rf8 24.Nd3 c5 21...Nxe5 22.Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.Qxh5+ Kg8 24.Kxf2 Bf7! The only move that does not lose. Talk about a tightrope act. 25.Qh4 As extraordinary as the entire sequence was, both super comptuers, albeit vastly different types of engines, with one being a massive AlphaZero type nerual network running on 4 massive GPUs, and the other using 192 overclocked processors, they actually agreed on almost all the moves, even when there was more than one possibility. Here was one of the only divergences. Stoofvlees has anticipated 25.Qd1 though it would not change the outcome. Had it been played, Nd3+ would have followed, and after 26.Kg2 Nxe1+ 27.Qxe1 Qb6 28.Nhf3 Re8 29.Qf1 Qxb2 30.Re1 Qxa2 the game is an ultradynamic equality. 25...Bd5 Again the only move Black has that doesn't lead to a forced loss. 26.Re4 d3+ 27.Be3 Bxe3+ 28.Rxe3 Qb6 Black will win another pawn and enter b2, since a move such as 29.Qg5 29.b3 loses to Rf8+ and the rook on e3 is pinned. 29...Qxb2 30.Rxe5 It was only at this point that Fritz's optimism began to wane and the evaluation dropped to a modest +0.23. 30.Qxe5 Qxd2+ 31.Kf1 Qxh2 30.Rd1 is another choice that holds, but it is not as exciting as the move played. 30...Qd4+ The immediate 30...Qxa1? would be a mistake since White now has
31.Rxd5! cxd5 32.Qxd5+ Kh8 33.Nhf3 and Black's exposed king against the Queen, two knights and even potential h4 and g4 means White has a clear advantage. 31.Qe3 Rf8+ 32.Nhf3 Qxa1 33.Re8 Qxa2 34.Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.Qf4+ Kg8 36.Qb8+ Kh7 37.Qd6 Bxf3 38.Qxd3+ Be4 39.Qxe4+ Kg8 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qh5+ and although White chose to prolong the game here rather than repeat, it drew 25 moves later. Kg8 42.Qg5 a4 43.Qd8+ Kh7 44.Qd3+ Kh8 45.Ke3 Qa1 46.Qd8+ Kh7 47.Qh4+ Kg8 48.Qc4+ Kh8 49.Kd3 a3 50.Qh4+ Kg8 51.Qe7 a2 52.Qe6+ Kh7 53.Kc2 Qg1 54.Qe4+ Kh8 55.Qh4+ Kg8 56.Qc4+ Kh7 57.Qxa2 Qxg3 58.Qc4 Qxh3 59.Qe4+ Kh6 60.Qf4+ Kg6 61.Ne4 Qf5 62.Qd6+ Kf7 63.Qd3 Ke6 64.Ng3 Qxd3+ 65.Kxd3 g5 66.Ke4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fritz,(-Stoofvlees,(-½–½2023C542023 WCCC4

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech as well as the author of Typing Tomes, a powerful typing program.
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