Book10, an auxiliary opening book

I have been using the opening book generator with the 10-piece kingsrow to explore various difficult opening lines. Some of these are published losses, and others are difficult positions that people have asked me about or positions for which I have had an interest in learning a conclusive result. In most of these cases I have only confirmed what has been previously published or generally assumed. But there have been a few draws discovered which may not have been previously known or published. I am making available here the opening book file that was generated for these lines. The book includes the play on both the losses and the draws. Although the losses only confirm existing knowledge, the book on these lines can still be useful, since it shows for all defensive moves how to force the losing side into a position that kingsrow considers to be a probable loss. The book file can be downloaded and used with kingsrow as an alternative to its normal opening book. This file does not overwrite the normal opening book, nor is it a replacement for it, since it only has play on some specific lines that are described below. The filenames are different, and there is a command in kingsrow that allows you to select which book to use. 

New: As of July 2016, the data from book10 has been merged into the standard opening book, so there is no need for this separate book file.

Lines Expanded in Book10

• 11-15 22-17 2. 8-11 17-13 3. 15-18 23x14 4. 9x18 21-17 5. 10-15 24-20
  Book10 shows the draw.
• 10-15 21-17 6-10 17-13 9-14 
  Then after 22-18 15-22 25-9 5-14, Fortman and others have published 13-9! to win, but in fact it draws.

• Wyllie's "Invincible"
  An expansion of Wyllie's famed 1. 11-15 24-19 2. 15x24 28x19 3. 8-11 22-18 4. 11-16 25-22 5. 16-20 29-25 shows this to be a conclusive black win. After 6. 10-14, Basic Checkers says 19-16 "may survive", but book10 shows that it loses.
• 9-13 23-19 10-15 19x10 7x14
  The 7x14 weak capture in the Garter Snake opening is shown to be a draw.
• 9-13 23-18 6-9 26-23 10-14    
  This 10-14 move, sometimes played by Elbert Lowder, is a narrow draw. After white responds with 24-19, then 11-16 is the only move that draws.
• 9-13 24-19 11-15 28-24 8-11
  This line is covered in Tescheleit's "Master Play", which suggests several several ways to draw. All of these are white wins, but there is a way to draw this line shown in book10.
• Octopus 9x18
  This line is a favorite of 3-move world champion Alex Moiseyev. Book10 shows that it is a white win. After 1. 10-15 21-17 2. 7-10 17-14 3. 9x18 23x7 4. 3x10, white now has 3 moves that win: 26-23, 24-20, and 22-17. 
• Gemini I
  • 10-14 22-17 2. 11-16 17x10 3. 6x15 23-18 4. 15x22 25x18 5. 16-20 is a draw.
  • 10-14 22-17 2. 11-16 17x10 3. 6x15 23-18 4. 15x22 25x18 5. 8-11 is a white win. White must follow with 24-20 to win. 21-17 only draws.

• Wilderness 16-20
  An expansion of 1. 9-13 22-18 2. 11-16 18-14 3. 10x17 21x14 4. 16-20 shows that it draws. Book10 corrects some errors in published play, and drawing against the 24-29 attack is quite difficult. The 8-piece versions of kingsrow and cake were not able to defend very well against 24-19 even when guided by the book moves in book10.
  
• Black Hole
  5 new draws are shown in the Black Hole (10-14 22-17 9-13), including at least one in each of white's 3 main attacks.

Against 25-22, in addition to previously published draws 12-16 and 7-10:
1. 10-14 22-17 2. 9-13 17x10 3. 6x15 25-22 4. 15-19 24x15 5. 11x25 29x22 6. 8-11 draws
1. 10-14 22-17 2. 9-13 17x10 3. 6x15 25-22 4. 15-19 24x15 5. 11x25 29x22 6. 5-9 draws
1. 10-14 22-17 2. 9-13 17x10 3. 6x15 25-22 4. 15-19 24x15 5. 11x25 29x22 6. 1-6 draws

Against 24-19, in addition to previously published draw 1-6:
1. 10-14 22-17 2. 9-13 17x10 3. 6x15 24-19 4. 15x24 28x19 5. 7-10 draws

Against 21-17, in addition to previously published draw 7-10:
1. 10-14 22-17 2. 9-13 17x10 3. 6x15 21-17 4. 13x22 26x17 5. 11-16 draws

• Double Cross
  An expansion of the 5-9 attack in the Double Cross has revealed that 24-20 draws! Until now 26-23 has been the only white move known to draw here. 

  An expansion of some other Double Cross lines yielded no additional new draws.

  • 1. 9-14 23-18 2. 14x23 26x19 is expanded to a probable loss.
  • After 1. 9-14 23-18 2. 14x23 27x18 3. 12-16, then 18-14 is the only draw found. All other white moves are expanded to probable losses.
• 18-14 Dreaded Edinburgh
  Expansion starts after 9-13 22-18 6-9 18-14 10x17 21x14 9x18 23x14. The book shows draws for 12-16, 1-6, and 11-15, and probable losses for the others. 12-16 and 11-15 are published draws. I don't know if anything is published about 1-6.
• 8x15 Twilight Zone
  An expansion of 1. 9-13 24-20 2. 11-16 20x11 3. 8x15 23-18 shows that 3-8, 6-9, and 7-11 are draws. All other black moves are expanded to probable losses
• 17-14 Tyne
  An expansion of the 17-14 Tyne shows the following defenses are draws:
  • 1. 10-15 21-17 2. 9-13 17-14 3. 6-9 draws.
  • 1. 10-15 21-17 2. 9-13 17-14 3. 6-10 draws.
  • 1. 10-15 21-17 2. 9-13 17-14 3. 11-16 draws.
  • 1. 10-15 21-17 2. 9-13 17-14 3. 15-18 draws.
• 26x17 Single Corner 
  An expansion of the weak 26x17 capture in the Single Corner (1. 11-15 22-18 2. 15x22 26x17) shows a drawn result against all black attacks.
• 27x20 Waterloo
  An expansion of the weaker 27x20 capture in the Waterloo (1. 11-15 23-18 2. 8-11 18-14 3. 9x18 24-19 4. 15x24 22x8 5. 4x11 27x20) shows a drawn result against all black attacks.
• 22-18 Switcher
  1. 11-15 21-17 2. 9-13 22-18 is expanded to a probable loss.
• 15-18 Old 14th
  A weak pitch in this Old 14th line (1. 11-15 23-19 2. 8-11 22-17 3. 4-8 25-22 4. 9-13 27-23 5. 15-18) is expanded to a 13-piece ending which is a probable draw.
• Dunne's Loss
  1. 11-16 22-18 2. 8-11 25-22 3. 16-20 22-17 4. 9-14 18x9 5. 5x14 29-25 6. 4-8 is expanded to a probable loss.
• 13-17 Will-o-Wisp
  Elbert Lowder's weak 13-17 in 1. 11-15 23-19 2. 9-13 22-18 3. 15x22 25x18 4. 13-17 is expanded to show a very narrow draw. Black has only one move to draw at almost every turn. 
• Another Switcher
  Some limited expansion after 1. 11-15 21-17 2. 9-13 25-21 3. 8-11 23-18 4. 4-8 shows that white can draw only by playing 26-23. But this is not expanded very far as there are still 20 men left on the board when we drop out of book along the drawing line.
  

Ed Gilbert
Last revised: July 18, 2016.