Nakamura To Play New 'Dragon' Engine In Odds Match

GM Hikaru Nakamura will play an eight-game odds match against the new "Dragon" chess engine developed by Komodo. In all games, Nakamura will receive odds of two pawns and will play Black. The match will be an exciting battle between artificial intelligence and humans at the highest possible level and will serve as a test of the new "Dragon" engine's capabilities.

The match will take place on November 18 and 19 with four games being played each day. Play begins at 2 p.m. PST (23:00 CET). All games will be streamed on Nakamura's Twitch Channel and at Chess.com/tv. Nakamura will win $250 per victory over Dragon and $100 per draw.

The Games:

Nakamura will play Black in all games and will receive odds of two pawns from Dragon. All games will be 15+10, and there will be a five-minute break between games.

Dragon plays without the b2- and f2-pawns - November 18 (game 1) and November 19 (game 4)

Dragon plays without the c2- and f2-pawns - November 18 (game 2) and November 19 (game 3)

Dragon plays without the b2- and g2-pawns - November 18 (game 3) and November 19 (game 2)

Dragon plays without the c2- and g2-pawns - November 18 (game 4) and November 19 (game 1)

About Hikaru Nakamura:

GM Nakamura is renowned for his Twitch streaming, classical chess achievements, and online speed chess prowess. He is also known for his many battles against computer engines in online events. In the following video, he analyzes a legendary blitz chess defeat of Rybka.

In the 2019 Twitch Rivals event, he defeated Komodo 20 in a rapid game. Komodo 20 was the highest level of Komodo available at the time and had a rating of far above 3000.

About "Dragon" by Komodo:

Dragon is a new chess engine that adds NNUE technology to Komodo. It represents a major improvement on prior versions of Komodo which were already rated 3596 in the latest Chess.com Computer Ratings and is one of the strongest chess engines in the world.

The latest release from Komodo, of which Dragon is one part, incorporates multiple new features including personalities and armageddon mode. Watch it in action in this positional game from the Chess.com Computer Chess Championship.