kylemeister wrote on 12/01/13 at 21:26:00:


12...Nc5 13.Qe3 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qa5 15.b3 Rae8 = to +/= It would be tough to beat Houdini with White! White has an active UP.

The problem for White is that he is running out of minors, has not induced any pawn weaknesses, nor achieved a meaningful lead in development i.e. he has to start showing some real progress here or wind up in a heavy piece ending with no real winning chances. The only advantage of Qd1 is that it avoids simplification.

What is White threatening after 15...Rae8? Black has connected his Rooks, the only target, e7, is defended, and Black can hold the Queenside forever.

kylemeister wrote on 12/01/13 at 19:11:57:



In the second game, I didn't play 10.Qd3 because I didn't like the looks of Be6 11.Be3 Nd7 with about an equal position; Qd1 doesn't seem any worse---in either case White has a UP.

kylemeister wrote on 12/01/13 at 16:01:34:


That White could not achieve a significant plus with two extra tempos is a testimony of the resiliency of UP's. White's offside Knight on b3 gives Black compensation for the tempos.

Black played another Dragon and both sides played Universal Positions. The final position seems to be better for White due to his better pawn structure; again, the final position is a UP for both sides.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be2?! (Nc2) Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.Qd1 Nd7 (UP) 11.Qc2 b6 12.Bd2 Nc5 (Technically, not a UP because the Knight is ahead of the farthest advanced pawn) 13.Rac1 Ba6 14.b3 Bb7 15.f3 Bd4+?! 16.Kh1 Re8 17.Nd1 Rc8 18.Bc3 e5?! 19.Bxd4 exd4 20.Nf2 +/=

Black, Houdini 3 Pro at 120'40 started out with a weak "book" move in its memory but quickly dropped back into a Universal Position and began a counterattack securing a minute plus.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Qd8! (Black recognizes that the Queen serves no useful purpose on b6 and regroups) 8.O-O g6 9.f4 Bg7 10.Bf3 O-O 11.Be3 Bd7 12.Qe2 Ne8! (The Pro drops into Universal mode i.e. Black has all its pieces in back of its pawns there is only one half-open file and no piece is farther advanced than the farthest advanced Black pawns) 13.Nd1 Rc8 14.c3 Qc7 15.Nf2 Nf6! (The Pro steps out of Universal mode and goes on the attack) 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Rd2 e5 18.g3 Be6 19.Rad1 Rb8 20.Nc1 (White drops into Universal Mode) b5 21.b3 exf4 22.gxf4 Ne8! (Dropping into Universal mode withe an obvious hit) 23.Rc2 Qe7 so the Pro recovered from a poor opening by relying on Universal positions.