H. G. Muller wrote on Wed, Dec 23, 2020 02:42 PM UTC:
In the following position (White should be able to obtain it, I'd guess), Black to move loses.
Well, I was just relaying what I heard from someone I trusted. The EGT builder did not resolve the issue, as with Queen (and white to move) it already 99% of the positions are wins; it is apparently very hard to reach the fortress position before you are slaughtered. So I configured Fairy-Max to use an Amazon instead of a Queen, and fed it the position you indicate. I even made a special version of Fairy-Max that doesn't use null moves, to make sure it would not miss any zugzwangs.
It was not impressed... It plays 1... Ng6!, and after 2. Zxg6? it would be stalemate! The score doesn't go up from the initial evaluation (based on the material advantage), no matter how deep I let it search.
So I guess my trust was justified. The fortress is a bit more elaborate (i.e. must use more positions) than against a Queen, but it does not crumble.
Well, I was just relaying what I heard from someone I trusted. The EGT builder did not resolve the issue, as with Queen (and white to move) it already 99% of the positions are wins; it is apparently very hard to reach the fortress position before you are slaughtered. So I configured Fairy-Max to use an Amazon instead of a Queen, and fed it the position you indicate. I even made a special version of Fairy-Max that doesn't use null moves, to make sure it would not miss any zugzwangs.
It was not impressed... It plays 1... Ng6!, and after 2. Zxg6? it would be stalemate! The score doesn't go up from the initial evaluation (based on the material advantage), no matter how deep I let it search.
So I guess my trust was justified. The fortress is a bit more elaborate (i.e. must use more positions) than against a Queen, but it does not crumble.