Power of two Knights

[Howard E]

Corei7-920
40/20min repeating
4 threads each. (ht on)

An entertaining game for me. Expected FireBird to win but Stockfish's
two Knights hopped their way to a victory.

What would your human eval say here?
2r3k1/3q3p/1Q2p1p1/1p1r1p2/5P2/1R1N2PK/5N1P/8 b - - 14 38

[Event "SF17"]
[Site "HOWARD-PC"]
[Date "2010.04.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Stockfish-17-64-ja"]
[Black "FireBird 1.2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Time "22:16:22"]
[TimeControl "40/1200:40/1200:40/1200"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b1kbnr/1pqp1ppp/p1n1p3/8/3NP3/2N5/PPP1BPPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 1"]
[Termination "adjudication"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[WhiteType "program"]
[BlackType "program"]

1. f4 {+0.36/20 62} b5 {-0.23/20 27} 2. Be3 {+0.48/20 37} Bb7 {-0.10/18 7}
3. a3 {+0.36/21 56} Na5 {+0.11/20 36} 4. Qd3 {+0.20/20 49} Nc4 {+0.23/20
41} 5. Bc1 {0.00/22 43} Rc8 {+0.23/19 9} 6. O-O {-0.20/22 53} Nxa3
{+0.23/18 9} 7. Rd1 {-0.16/19 50} Nc4 {+0.23/18 13} 8. e5 {0.00/20 52} d6
{+0.37/17 43} 9. exd6 {-0.44/17 29} Nxd6 {+0.37/16 0} 10. Bh5 {-0.84/19 46}
g6 {+0.49/20 37} 11. Bf3 {-0.96/20 36} Nf6 {+0.32/19 48} 12. Kh1 {-0.92/19
47} Nd7 {+0.53/18 10} 13. Qe2 {-0.28/19 32} Bxf3 {+0.19/20 37} 14. Nxf3
{-0.48/21 19} Qb7 {+0.21/21 40} 15. Nd5 {-0.48/20 19} Bg7 {+0.24/22 53} 16.
Nb4 {-0.84/22 67} Nc4 {+0.38/22 76} 17. Rxa6 {-0.80/20 20} Nc5 {+0.44/21
43} 18. Ra2 {-0.84/21 27} O-O {+0.44/21 9} 19. Re1 {-0.72/20 15} Rfd8
{+0.48/19 56} 20. Qf2 {-0.68/20 34} Rd7 {+0.49/19 57} 21. Ng5 {-0.80/21 29}
Nd6 {+0.55/20 95} 22. c3 {-0.76/19 22} Na4 {+0.58/19 12} 23. Qf1 {-0.72/21
14} Nc4 {+0.77/21 25} 24. Ne4 {-0.64/20 16} f5 {+0.82/22 24} 25. Nf2
{-0.80/21 21} Ncxb2 {+0.73/21 51} 26. Bxb2 {-0.52/22 18} Nxb2 {+0.73/20 0}
27. Rxb2 {-0.52/23 19} Bxc3 {+0.65/22 43} 28. Rb3 {-0.52/22 13} Bxe1
{+0.65/20 0} 29. Qxe1 {-0.48/20 7} Rd6 {+0.65/22 41} 30. Kg1 {-0.32/21 27}
Qb6 {+0.76/20 17} 31. g3 {-0.32/21 25} Rc4 {+0.76/20 37} 32. Nd3 {-0.28/21
14} Rd5 {+0.76/20 52} 33. Kg2 {-0.28/20 15} Qc6 {+0.64/20 31} 34. Kh3
{0.00/20 16} Qd6 {+0.57/20 16} 35. Qa1 {0.00/24 17} Rc8 {+0.50/20 16} 36.
Qa7 {0.00/24 16} Qc7 {+0.50/21 11} 37. Qa6 {0.00/26 21} Qd7 {+0.45/21 9}
38. Qb6 {0.00/26 24} Qe8 {+0.37/20 15} 39. Kg2 {0.00/26 17} Rb8 {+0.50/19
5} 40. Qe3 {0.00/26 16} Qe7 {+0.43/21 28} 41. Kh3 {0.00/25 39} Rbd8
{+0.33/20 44} 42. Ne5 {0.00/23 58} Qb7 {+0.18/21 68} 43. Nfd3 {+0.36/22 38}
Rc8 {+0.11/21 48} 44. Nf3 {+0.40/24 37} Rd6 {+0.03/21 58} 45. Nde5
{+0.40/22 38} Qb6 {0.00/21 36} 46. Qe1 {+0.52/23 33} Rc7 {0.00/22 47} 47.
Qe2 {+0.64/25 35} Rd5 {0.00/23 25} 48. Nc4 {+0.60/26 44} Qc6 {-0.22/22 80}
49. Ne3 {+0.76/26 39} Rd6 {-0.28/21 58} 50. Rxb5 {+1.21/23 35} Rd8
{-0.34/21 32} 51. Rb4 {+1.25/23 50} Qc5 {-0.32/20 67} 52. Ra4 {+1.49/23 41}
Ra7 {-0.34/20 26} 53. Rc4 {+1.53/25 31} Qb6 {-0.54/22 53} 54. Nc2 {+1.81/24
34} Rad7 {-0.54/22 21} 55. Nb4 {+1.97/23 22} Qd6 {-0.62/22 52} 56. Nc6
{+1.93/26 22} Re8 {-0.62/20 0} 57. Nfe5 {+2.22/25 33} Rc7 {-1.02/23 65} 58.
Rd4 {+2.98/25 29} Qc5 {-1.04/23 15} 59. Qa6 {+2.74/25 42} Qf8 {-1.06/23 21}
60. Qd3 {+2.78/25 17} Rb7 {-1.34/22 81} 61. Qd2 {+2.90/23 16} Qh6+
{-1.39/21 17} 62. Kg2 {+2.46/6 0} Qg7 {-1.65/22 49} 63. Rd6 {+2.90/24 24}
Qf6 {-2.04/19 35} 64. Qa2 {+2.90/25 26} Kh8 {-1.07/21 26} 65. h4 {+3.11/22
22} Rg7 {-1.44/19 12} 66. Kh3 {+3.63/25 26} Rc7 {-2.21/19 19} 67. Nd4
{+4.76/24 26} Rce7 {-2.74/19 16} 68. Qc4 {+4.88/25 19} h6 {-2.49/19 13} 69.
Qc6 {+5.41/26 29} Kh7 {-3.29/20 11} 70. Nd7 {+7.27/28 27} Qf7 {-3.83/23 10}
71. Nxe6 {+9.89/29 24} Rxe6 {-4.77/22 8} 72. ... {1-0 Arena Adjudication}
1-0

[Robert Flesher]

I remember Kasparov explaining one time that a knight with beautiful outposts like that are easily worth the exchange or more! This position seems to be even better because there are two knights to support each other. Very nice, well played game.

[Swaminathan]

I think white is slightly better. There's some central squares the knights can be posted on and they can give numerous threats. White does have more activity than Black. Black's Queen and Rook have been immobilized owing to defense of b5 pawn. Never underestimate the power of the knights.

[kingliveson]

Corei7-920
40/20min repeating
4 threads each. (ht on)

An entertaining game for me. Expected FireBird to win but Stockfish's
two Knights hopped their way to a victory.

What would your human eval say here?
2r3k1/3q3p/1Q2p1p1/1p1r1p2/5P2/1R1N2PK/5N1P/8 b - - 14 38
.
.
.

Pawn on File B is dead -- 4 attacking piece to 3. The game should have been draw though, but stockfish played brilliantly by aggressively attacking E file Pawn with the Knight to ensure it does not advance and destroy White King's defense. An hour analysis by Rybka 4:

2r3k1/3q3p/1Q2p1p1/1p1r1p2/5P2/1R1N2PK/5N1P/8 b - - 0 1

Analysis by Deep Rybka 4 SSE42 x64:

1...Rc2 2.Ra3 Rc7 3.Ne5 Qd6 4.Ra8+ Kg7 5.Qe3 
  =  (-0.10)   Depth: 6   00:00:00  9kN
1...Rc2 2.Ra3 Rc7 3.Ra6 Kg7 4.Ne5 Qe7 5.Kg2 b4 6.Ra8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 7   00:00:00  12kN
1...Rc6 2.Qb8+ Qc8 3.Rxb5 Rxb5 4.Qxb5 Qa6 5.Qb2 Rc8 6.Kg2 Qc6+ 7.Kg1 
  =  (-0.03)   Depth: 7   00:00:00  14kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Nb4 Rd6 5.Qe5 Ra8 
  =  (-0.06)   Depth: 7   00:00:00  38kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Nb4 Rd6 5.Qe5 Qb7+ 6.Kg1 Qb6 
  =  (-0.18 !)   Depth: 8   00:00:00  41kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Nb4 Rd6 5.Qe5 Qb7+ 6.Kg1 Qb6 
  =  (-0.20)   Depth: 8   00:00:00  43kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Nb4 Rd6 5.Qe5 Qb7+ 6.Kg1 Rbd8 7.Ra3 R8d7 8.Nfd3 
  =  (-0.19)   Depth: 9   00:00:00  60kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Nb4 Rd6 5.Qe5 Qb7+ 6.Kg1 Rbd8 7.Ra3 R8d7 8.Nfd3 
  =  (-0.19)   Depth: 10   00:00:00  74kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Qe7 4.Ne5 Qb7 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Qe2 Rc8 7.Nd3 
  =  (-0.22)   Depth: 11   00:00:01  194kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rd6 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Qe2 Ra5 6.Kg1 Ra1+ 7.Kg2 Rb6 8.Qe3 
  =  (-0.14)   Depth: 12   00:00:01  211kN
1...Qe8 2.Kg2 Rb8 3.Qe3 Ra8 4.Qb6 Rc8 5.Rb2 Rb8 6.Qe3 Qe7 7.Nb4 Rd6 8.Rc2 Qb7+ 9.Kg1 Rbd8 10.Nfd3 
  =  (-0.10)   Depth: 13   00:00:01  304kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 b4 4.Rb3 Rdb5 5.Ne5 Qc8 6.Nfd3 Qc2 7.Qa7 Qxb3 8.Qf7+ Kh8 9.Qf6+ Kg8 10.Qf7+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kg8 12.Qf7+ Kh8 13.Qf6+ Kg8 14.Qf7+ Kh8 15.Qf6+ Kg8 16.Qf7+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 14   00:00:02  529kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 b4 4.Rb3 Rdb5 5.Ne5 Qc8 6.Nfd3 Qc2 7.Qa7 Qxb3 8.Qf7+ Kh8 9.Qf6+ Kg8 10.Qf7+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kg8 12.Qf7+ Kh8 13.Qf6+ Kg8 14.Qf7+ Kh8 15.Qf6+ Kg8 16.Qf7+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 15   00:00:04  1036kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 b4 4.Rb3 Rdb5 5.Ne5 Qc8 6.Nfd3 Qc2 7.Qa7 Qxb3 8.Qf7+ Kh8 9.Qf6+ Kg8 10.Qf7+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kg8 12.Qf7+ Kh8 13.Qf6+ Kg8 14.Qf7+ Kh8 15.Qf6+ Kg8 16.Qf7+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 16   00:00:06  1480kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 b4 4.Rb3 Rdb5 5.Ne5 Qc8 6.Nfd3 Qc2 7.Qa7 Qxb3 8.Qf7+ Kh8 9.Qf6+ Kg8 10.Qf7+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kg8 12.Qf7+ Kh8 13.Qf6+ Kg8 14.Qf7+ Kh8 15.Qf6+ Kg8 16.Qf7+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 17   00:00:09  2037kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 b4 4.Rb3 Rdb5 5.Ne5 Qc8 6.Nfd3 Qc2 7.Qa7 Qxb3 8.Qf7+ Kh8 9.Qf6+ Kg8 10.Qf7+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kg8 12.Qf7+ Kh8 13.Qf6+ Kg8 14.Qf7+ Kh8 15.Qf6+ Kg8 16.Qf7+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 18   00:00:17  3819kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+ Kh8 8.Qf6+ Kh7 9.Qe7+ Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kh7 12.Qe7+ Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+ Kh7 15.Qe7+ Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 19   00:00:30  7459kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+ Kh8 8.Qf6+ Kh7 9.Qe7+ Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kh7 12.Qe7+ Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+ Kh7 15.Qe7+ Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 20   00:00:39  9464kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+ Kh8 8.Qf6+ Kh7 9.Qe7+ Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+ Kh7 12.Qe7+ Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+ Kh7 15.Qe7+ Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 21   00:00:57  14245kN
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 22   00:02:27  38039kN, tb=2
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 23   00:03:49  59242kN, tb=6
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 24   00:06:14  99485kN, tb=51
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 25   00:10:11  166mN, tb=198
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 26   00:19:06  317mN, tb=297
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 27   00:38:11  663mN, tb=1039
1...Qe8 2.Ra3 Rb8 3.Qe3 Rbd8 4.Ne5 Ra8 5.Rxa8 Qxa8 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxe6+[] Kh8 8.Qf6+[] Kh7 9.Qe7+[] Kg8 10.Qe6+ Kh8 11.Qf6+[] Kh7 12.Qe7+[] Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kh8 14.Qf6+[] Kh7 15.Qe7+[] Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh8 
  =  (0.00)   Depth: 28   01:11:27  1254mN, tb=2814