Positional Chess, ELO 3300+ style....

A few days ago GM Joel Benjamin, a former US Champion currently sporting a 2544 FIDE rating, played a four game match against Komodo, the 3300+ rated champion of computer chess. It was an odds match, with Komodo giving greater and greater odds. Here were the odds in the four games:

1. Five Moves — Benjamin plays White. d4, e4, f4, and Nc3 have already been played.
2. Exchange and Move — Benjamin plays White. The b1 knight and the a8 rook are removed; the a1 rook starts on b1.
3. One Pawn and Two Moves — Benjamin plays White. e4 has already been played. Komodo plays without the f7-pawn.
4. Queen Vs. Two Bishops — Komodo plays White. Komodo starts without the queen. Benjamin starts without either bishop.

Komodo won the first game and drew the other three to win the match 2.5-1.5. Komodo won a similar match (but with different odds, ) against Nakamura a few months back. Chess.com, who sponsored the match, has a nice report about the match. I recommend it to see how Komodo overcame the handicaps. It's disturbing to know that players of the caliber of Benjamin and Nakamura can't even beat the beasts with odds as great as this, even in 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move format with odds.