A Bishop Sacrifice That Clears the Position • AlphaZero vs Stockfish • London, England (2017) • French Defense: Steinitz Variation (C11)
Francisco Yepes Barrera
1 min read
Mayukh Karmakar - https://unsplash.com/photos/a-chess-board-with-a-chessboard-iR3WZXHMDJk
AlphaZero and Stockfish are pioneering chess engines that clashed in a landmark closed-door match. AlphaZero, developed by Google DeepMind, learns via self-play reinforcement learning without human knowledge, books, or tablebases—trained just 4 hours per match. Stockfish, the open-source leader in 2017 (Stockfish 8), relies on traditional search with massive evaluations.
AlphaZero-Stockfish match, London, ENG, December 4, 2017. AlphaZero dominated: 28 wins, 72 draws, 0 losses over 100 games, revolutionizing AI chess.
No public buildup; private DeepMind test stunned experts upon release—AlphaZero’s creative style vs. Stockfish’s calculation sparked debates on AI evolution. Site near Google HQ (Tottenham Court Rd area).
AlphaZero (White) wins French Defense (C11) in 52 moves. Aggressive center push (e5, f4) trades knights, sacs pawn (g4), and infiltrates with active King (Ke3-Kd2). Stockfish errs (28…Kd7 +1.55, 37…Qf8 +4.27), allowing rook invasion (Rc7-Rc6). Endgame: AlphaZero queenside pressure crushes passed pawns; Stockfish resigns facing material loss
