Playing against your own engine

[Henk]

First half of the game I was better. But game getting chaotic and I got behind in time.
So this version of my engine plays opening badly. 4. Bd6? 6.gxf6?

Time control 10 minutes

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "LAPTOP-1FK7MTIP"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Gebruiker"]
[Black "SkipperDev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Annotator "1... +0.01"]

1. Nc3 Nc6 {+0.01/11 12} 2. g3 Nf6 {+0.16/11 12} 3. Bg2 e5 {+0.15/12 12} 4.
d3 Bd6 {+0.07/12 11} 5. Bg5 h6 {+0.54/9 11} 6. Bxf6 gxf6 {+0.50/11 11} 7.
e3 b6 {-0.02/10 11} 8. Qh5 Nb4 {+0.00/8 10} 9. O-O-O c6 {-1.08/9 10} 10. a3
Na6 {-0.75/10 10} 11. Ne4 Be7 {-0.71/9 10} 12. Nf3 d5 {-0.58/8 10} 13. Nc3
Bd7 {-0.46/8 9} 14. Nh4 Nc7 {-0.68/8 9} 15. Nf5 Bf8 {-0.82/8 9} 16. f4 Qc8
{-0.74/8 9} 17. Bh3 Rh7 {-0.77/8 9} 18. fxe5 fxe5 {-0.98/8 8} 19. Rhf1 Ne6
{-0.93/8 8} 20. Rf2 Ng5 {-0.52/8 8} 21. Rdf1 Nxh3 {-0.44/8 8} 22. Qxh3 Qc7
{-0.47/9 8} 23. e4 d4 {-0.21/9 8} 24. Ne2 Be6 {-0.24/9 8} 25. Qh5 c5
{-0.25/9 7} 26. g4 c4 {+0.15/9 7} 27. Rf3 Rc8 {+1.13/8 7} 28. Nfxd4 cxd3
{+2.22/8 7} 29. Rxd3 exd4 {+2.36/8 7} 30. Nxd4 Bc4 {+2.11/8 7} 31. Rc3 Be7
{+1.75/7 7} 32. Qf5 Rg7 {+1.66/7 6} 33. Re1 Rg5 {+1.87/7 6} 34. Qh7 Rxg4
{+2.88/6 6} 35. Nf5 Rg6 {+2.50/6 6} 36. Qh8+ Bf8 {+1.55/8 6} 37. h4 Rd8
{+2.67/6 6} 38. b3 Qf4+ {+2.43/7 6} 39. Kb2 Bb5 {+2.74/6 6} 40. h5 Rg2
{+2.22/6 5} 41. Nxh6 Qd6 {+2.32/6 5} 42. Nf5 Qxa3+ {+1.33/6 5} 43. Kb1 Bd7
{+1.12/6 5} 44. Qe5+ Be6 {+0.00/10 5} 45. Rc7 Qb4 {+1.96/7 5} 46. Rf1 Rgd2
{+2.31/6 5} 47. h6 Rd1+ {+3.63/2 5} 48. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49. Kb2 Qa3+ 50. Kc3
Qa1#
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1
[/pgn]

[mvanthoor]

At move 15, you gain a knight outpost on F5; it gets really strong after 23 e4 d4.

What I think your engine should have done:

1. The Knight is too strong on F5. Give it an outpost bonus. The criteria would be:
- The knight is on your opponent's side of the board.
- It can't be attacked by a pawn anymore.

Now your engine just lets it sit there, probably because it values the bishop a bit higher (they're often 320, vs Knights 310 or so), or because of a bishop pair bonus (or both).

2. It should have castled long, to get the rook into the game. This can be done by giving the rook a (small) bonus for being on d8, f8 or e8, and giving a king a malus for being in the center. This will encourage the engine to castle.

3. The engine shouldn't have blocked the center by d4-d3. This made your knight on F5 stronger. If it had castled, it would have had a rook on d8, so playing d5xe4 would probably be a good idea. You'd have to take back with d3xe4. This gives you an isolated pawn on e4 which can be attaacked by a battery of queen+bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal.

4. Opening the d-file would be good if the engine had a rook on d8. After f7-f6, the other rook can come to d7. At some point the queen could possibly join in.

5. To prevent something like Bf8-d7, you could give a malus for blocking a center pawn on its starting square. That isn't a good idea, most of the time. If you also give a malus for blocking the bishop on its starting square (which can be done by introducing a mobility calculation), you'd encourage the engine to move the bishop from f8, and not block the d7 pawn; which will probably make the bishop go to c5 or b4. Or have the engine play g6 and then Bg7 to gain mobility (especially if the e-pawn is on e6).

Please note that this is just a quick analysis, without using another engine, from the viewpoint from black.

[Henk]

I don't know when an outpost is harmless. I remember games in the past when my engine was putting a knight on a square on fifth row where it couldn't be attacked by a pawn or a minor and defended by a pawn. But knight was doing nothing there. Being om the wrong side of the board. Might even being trapped. Knights can be slow pieces as well. Takes much time to get them on the right squares.

[mvanthoor]

A knight on the fifth (from the viewpoint of white) can be annoying for black, especially if that knight is on e5 or d5. A knight on the sixth can be downright dangerous, cramping the black position so much that it's often advisable to give up a rook for the knight and the pawn that defends it.

(It holds true the other way around with black knights on the fourth and third in the white position, obviously.)

The further a knight is forward, up to and including the sixth rank, and the closer it is to the center, the stronger it becomes.

[Chessqueen]

First half of the game I was better. But game getting chaotic and I got behind in time.
So this version of my engine plays opening badly. 4. Bd6? 6.gxf6?

Time control 10 minutes

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "LAPTOP-1FK7MTIP"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Gebruiker"]
[Black "SkipperDev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Annotator "1... +0.01"]

1. Nc3 Nc6 {+0.01/11 12} 2. g3 Nf6 {+0.16/11 12} 3. Bg2 e5 {+0.15/12 12} 4.
d3 Bd6 {+0.07/12 11} 5. Bg5 h6 {+0.54/9 11} 6. Bxf6 gxf6 {+0.50/11 11} 7.
e3 b6 {-0.02/10 11} 8. Qh5 Nb4 {+0.00/8 10} 9. O-O-O c6 {-1.08/9 10} 10. a3
Na6 {-0.75/10 10} 11. Ne4 Be7 {-0.71/9 10} 12. Nf3 d5 {-0.58/8 10} 13. Nc3
Bd7 {-0.46/8 9} 14. Nh4 Nc7 {-0.68/8 9} 15. Nf5 Bf8 {-0.82/8 9} 16. f4 Qc8
{-0.74/8 9} 17. Bh3 Rh7 {-0.77/8 9} 18. fxe5 fxe5 {-0.98/8 8} 19. Rhf1 Ne6
{-0.93/8 8} 20. Rf2 Ng5 {-0.52/8 8} 21. Rdf1 Nxh3 {-0.44/8 8} 22. Qxh3 Qc7
{-0.47/9 8} 23. e4 d4 {-0.21/9 8} 24. Ne2 Be6 {-0.24/9 8} 25. Qh5 c5
{-0.25/9 7} 26. g4 c4 {+0.15/9 7} 27. Rf3 Rc8 {+1.13/8 7} 28. Nfxd4 cxd3
{+2.22/8 7} 29. Rxd3 exd4 {+2.36/8 7} 30. Nxd4 Bc4 {+2.11/8 7} 31. Rc3 Be7
{+1.75/7 7} 32. Qf5 Rg7 {+1.66/7 6} 33. Re1 Rg5 {+1.87/7 6} 34. Qh7 Rxg4
{+2.88/6 6} 35. Nf5 Rg6 {+2.50/6 6} 36. Qh8+ Bf8 {+1.55/8 6} 37. h4 Rd8
{+2.67/6 6} 38. b3 Qf4+ {+2.43/7 6} 39. Kb2 Bb5 {+2.74/6 6} 40. h5 Rg2
{+2.22/6 5} 41. Nxh6 Qd6 {+2.32/6 5} 42. Nf5 Qxa3+ {+1.33/6 5} 43. Kb1 Bd7
{+1.12/6 5} 44. Qe5+ Be6 {+0.00/10 5} 45. Rc7 Qb4 {+1.96/7 5} 46. Rf1 Rgd2
{+2.31/6 5} 47. h6 Rd1+ {+3.63/2 5} 48. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49. Kb2 Qa3+ 50. Kc3
Qa1#
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1
[/pgn]

Are you playing on your android or Computer, anyway if it gets too hard for you take a knight Odds or a Rook for a Knight depending how slow or fast your computer is, but if you are using Komodo 13.3 set the contempt between 140 thru 150, so Komodo avoid trading pieces when it has already giving you Odds pieces

[zullil]

First half of the game I was better. But game getting chaotic and I got behind in time.
So this version of my engine plays opening badly. 4. Bd6? 6.gxf6?

Time control 10 minutes

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "LAPTOP-1FK7MTIP"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Gebruiker"]
[Black "SkipperDev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Annotator "1... +0.01"]

1. Nc3 Nc6 {+0.01/11 12} 2. g3 Nf6 {+0.16/11 12} 3. Bg2 e5 {+0.15/12 12} 4.
d3 Bd6 {+0.07/12 11} 5. Bg5 h6 {+0.54/9 11} 6. Bxf6 gxf6 {+0.50/11 11} 7.
e3 b6 {-0.02/10 11} 8. Qh5 Nb4 {+0.00/8 10} 9. O-O-O c6 {-1.08/9 10} 10. a3
Na6 {-0.75/10 10} 11. Ne4 Be7 {-0.71/9 10} 12. Nf3 d5 {-0.58/8 10} 13. Nc3
Bd7 {-0.46/8 9} 14. Nh4 Nc7 {-0.68/8 9} 15. Nf5 Bf8 {-0.82/8 9} 16. f4 Qc8
{-0.74/8 9} 17. Bh3 Rh7 {-0.77/8 9} 18. fxe5 fxe5 {-0.98/8 8} 19. Rhf1 Ne6
{-0.93/8 8} 20. Rf2 Ng5 {-0.52/8 8} 21. Rdf1 Nxh3 {-0.44/8 8} 22. Qxh3 Qc7
{-0.47/9 8} 23. e4 d4 {-0.21/9 8} 24. Ne2 Be6 {-0.24/9 8} 25. Qh5 c5
{-0.25/9 7} 26. g4 c4 {+0.15/9 7} 27. Rf3 Rc8 {+1.13/8 7} 28. Nfxd4 cxd3
{+2.22/8 7} 29. Rxd3 exd4 {+2.36/8 7} 30. Nxd4 Bc4 {+2.11/8 7} 31. Rc3 Be7
{+1.75/7 7} 32. Qf5 Rg7 {+1.66/7 6} 33. Re1 Rg5 {+1.87/7 6} 34. Qh7 Rxg4
{+2.88/6 6} 35. Nf5 Rg6 {+2.50/6 6} 36. Qh8+ Bf8 {+1.55/8 6} 37. h4 Rd8
{+2.67/6 6} 38. b3 Qf4+ {+2.43/7 6} 39. Kb2 Bb5 {+2.74/6 6} 40. h5 Rg2
{+2.22/6 5} 41. Nxh6 Qd6 {+2.32/6 5} 42. Nf5 Qxa3+ {+1.33/6 5} 43. Kb1 Bd7
{+1.12/6 5} 44. Qe5+ Be6 {+0.00/10 5} 45. Rc7 Qb4 {+1.96/7 5} 46. Rf1 Rgd2
{+2.31/6 5} 47. h6 Rd1+ {+3.63/2 5} 48. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49. Kb2 Qa3+ 50. Kc3
Qa1#
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1
[/pgn]

Are you playing on your android or Computer, anyway if it gets too hard for you take a knight Odds or a Rook for a Knight depending how slow or fast your computer is, but if you are using Komodo 13.3 set the contempt between 140 thru 150, so Komodo avoid trading pieces when it has already giving you Odds pieces

Rather than posting drivel, why not spend some time actually reading. Henk is playing against his own engine (Skipper), not Komodo. Look at the title of the thread: Playing against your own engine. The names of the two players are right there in the pgn embedded in the original post.

[Henk]

First half of the game I was better. But game getting chaotic and I got behind in time.
So this version of my engine plays opening badly. 4. Bd6? 6.gxf6?

Time control 10 minutes

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "LAPTOP-1FK7MTIP"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Gebruiker"]
[Black "SkipperDev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Annotator "1... +0.01"]

1. Nc3 Nc6 {+0.01/11 12} 2. g3 Nf6 {+0.16/11 12} 3. Bg2 e5 {+0.15/12 12} 4.
d3 Bd6 {+0.07/12 11} 5. Bg5 h6 {+0.54/9 11} 6. Bxf6 gxf6 {+0.50/11 11} 7.
e3 b6 {-0.02/10 11} 8. Qh5 Nb4 {+0.00/8 10} 9. O-O-O c6 {-1.08/9 10} 10. a3
Na6 {-0.75/10 10} 11. Ne4 Be7 {-0.71/9 10} 12. Nf3 d5 {-0.58/8 10} 13. Nc3
Bd7 {-0.46/8 9} 14. Nh4 Nc7 {-0.68/8 9} 15. Nf5 Bf8 {-0.82/8 9} 16. f4 Qc8
{-0.74/8 9} 17. Bh3 Rh7 {-0.77/8 9} 18. fxe5 fxe5 {-0.98/8 8} 19. Rhf1 Ne6
{-0.93/8 8} 20. Rf2 Ng5 {-0.52/8 8} 21. Rdf1 Nxh3 {-0.44/8 8} 22. Qxh3 Qc7
{-0.47/9 8} 23. e4 d4 {-0.21/9 8} 24. Ne2 Be6 {-0.24/9 8} 25. Qh5 c5
{-0.25/9 7} 26. g4 c4 {+0.15/9 7} 27. Rf3 Rc8 {+1.13/8 7} 28. Nfxd4 cxd3
{+2.22/8 7} 29. Rxd3 exd4 {+2.36/8 7} 30. Nxd4 Bc4 {+2.11/8 7} 31. Rc3 Be7
{+1.75/7 7} 32. Qf5 Rg7 {+1.66/7 6} 33. Re1 Rg5 {+1.87/7 6} 34. Qh7 Rxg4
{+2.88/6 6} 35. Nf5 Rg6 {+2.50/6 6} 36. Qh8+ Bf8 {+1.55/8 6} 37. h4 Rd8
{+2.67/6 6} 38. b3 Qf4+ {+2.43/7 6} 39. Kb2 Bb5 {+2.74/6 6} 40. h5 Rg2
{+2.22/6 5} 41. Nxh6 Qd6 {+2.32/6 5} 42. Nf5 Qxa3+ {+1.33/6 5} 43. Kb1 Bd7
{+1.12/6 5} 44. Qe5+ Be6 {+0.00/10 5} 45. Rc7 Qb4 {+1.96/7 5} 46. Rf1 Rgd2
{+2.31/6 5} 47. h6 Rd1+ {+3.63/2 5} 48. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49. Kb2 Qa3+ 50. Kc3
Qa1#
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1
[/pgn]

Are you playing on your android or Computer, anyway if it gets too hard for you take a knight Odds or a Rook for a Knight depending how slow or fast your computer is, but if you are using Komodo 13.3 set the contempt between 140 thru 150, so Komodo avoid trading pieces when it has already giving you Odds pieces

Bit off topic now.
[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "LAPTOP-1FK7MTIP"]
[Date "2020.05.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Komodo 10 64-bit"]
[Black "SkipperDev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppp1p/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/1NBQKBNR w Kkq - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

{--------------
r n b q k b n r
p p p p p p . p
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
P P P P P P P P
. N B Q K B N R
white to play
--------------}
1. d4 {-3.52/22} Bh6 {+4.68/10 12} 2. Bxh6 {-3.15/20 8} Nxh6 {+4.67/9 12}
3. e4 {-3.25/21 2.7} d6 {+4.56/9 12} 4. Qh5 {-3.32/22 40} Ng4 {+5.01/9 11}
5. Bc4 {-3.23/23 17} O-O {+5.08/8 11} 6. Nc3 {-3.11/22 23} Nc6 {+5.41/8 11}
7. Nf3 {-2.99/23 17} Nf6 {+5.01/8 11} 8. Qh6 {-1.73/21 7} a6 {+5.34/8 10}
9. Ng5 {+0.00/22 8} e6 {+5.95/8 10} 10. e5 {+99.85/21 1.4} Nxd4
{+3.46/6 10} 11. exf6 {+99.95/99 0.1} Nf3+ {-10.59/3 10} 12. gxf3
{+99.97/99 0.1} Qxf6 13. Qxh7# {+99.99/99 0.1}
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 1-0
[/pgn]

[Angrim]

If I play my own engine, most of the games can be summarized as "total noob plays GM, who makes fun of them by avoiding all standard opening lines"
Although in atomic variant, some of the standard opening lines were developed by computers, so my engine has duplicated standard lines a fair bit there.

[Henk]

A knight on the fifth (from the viewpoint of white) can be annoying for black, especially if that knight is on e5 or d5. A knight on the sixth can be downright dangerous, cramping the black position so much that it's often advisable to give up a rook for the knight and the pawn that defends it.

(It holds true the other way around with black knights on the fourth and third in the white position, obviously.)

The further a knight is forward, up to and including the sixth rank, and the closer it is to the center, the stronger it becomes.

If a knight is on a good square and it can be chased away it is not of much worth. Doesn't matter if it is protected because protection can be captured or chased away too. Maybe the amount of effort to chase it away is it's extra value if it makes the pieces get onto worse squares because of that.

[mvanthoor]

Obviously. However, a knight can only be driven away by being attacked by a pawn.

The definition of a knight outpost is a square that is good for a knight, where it _can't_ be attacked by a pawn. Then you can only get rid of it by trading it.