after looking at the game file i can not confirm your findings (you are refering to round 3, right?). nevertheless: the last moves seem kinda odd. on my slow laptop houdini finds a mate in 18 on move 75 with depth 28. (#17 with 29ply, #16/30ply). so why on earth does the game continue for another 28 moves? there definitely is some pointless manouvering with the rooks. (at move 80 a mate in 13 pops up right away)
how about that? does the engine wants to let its competitor fry a bit?
after looking at the game file i can not confirm your findings (you are refering to round 3, right?). nevertheless: the last moves seem kinda odd. on my slow laptop houdini finds a mate in 18 on move 75 with depth 28. (#17 with 29ply, #16/30ply). so why on earth does the game continue for another 28 moves? there definitely is some pointless manouvering with the rooks. (at move 80 a mate in 13 pops up right away)
how about that? does the engine wants to let its competitor fry a bit?
Your position is incorrect. Black's King is on f1 and is in check.
Game 18, Rybka vs. Houdini, was a D89, Grunfeld: Classical, Exchange, Main Line, and it was a draw.
Game 18 can be viewed here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/houdini-vs-rybka-30-games-round-18.htm
Rybka leads the match by a score of 9.5-8.5
Round 19, Houdini vs Rybka, is an Italian game, and is currently in progress. Watch it live here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/live-game.htm
Round 19, Houdini vs Rybka, was a C54: Giuoco Piano (Italian Game): Moller-Herzog Variation, and Houdini won. Houdini slowly kept pressing its miniscule advantage and eventually got material on the march for the win.
View game 19 here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/houdini-vs-rybka-30-games-round-19.htm
After 19 rounds, it's all tied at 9.5 games each.
Round 20, Rybka vs Houdini, is a Giuoco Piano (Italian Game): Moller-Herzog Variation, and is currently in progress. Watch game 20 LIVE here:
http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/live-game.htm?
It looks like Houdini is now (move 53) completely winning 
an exchange and two passed pawns up with no counterplay to speak of for the opponent...
So Houdini will take the lead for the first time in the match 
By the way, on my PC with normal time controls, Houdi blows away all and every other engine including Rybka
Seems to me Rybka and Houdini are quite equal, and that choosing one over the other makes virtually no difference except to appease a persons potential insecurities (ie picking one 50 elo higher than another when both are well over 3000). With that said, there no longer seems to be a justification to buying a commercial engine, except for perhaps for the other functionalities of the application package, maybe you like the Fritz UI, or wanted the added database it came with.
Im suprised at houdinis playing agaisnt rybka
Round 20, Rybka vs Houdini, was a C54: Giuoco Piano (Italian Game): Moller-Herzog Variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 h6 14.Qe2 hxg5 15.Re1 Be6 16.dxe6 f6), and Houdini won. Houdini also won in this same starting position with White in round 19.
View game 20 here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/houdini-vs-rybka-30-games-round-20.htm
After 20 rounds, Houdini is beating Rybka by a point: 10.5-9.5
Wow this is one of the most useful posts i encountered.
Kudos to the TS!!
Is there a King's gambit tourney coming up next?
I have all games planned already, except for the last two rounds. So, yeah, I have one more opening to decide on. The King's Gambit has been mentioned before, so I might use it. Not for sure yet.
Game 21, Houdini vs Rybka, is a Semi-Slav, Meran, and it has just started. Watch game 21 LIVE here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/live-game.htm?
In that game, Rybka has the advantage.
The move 17.f5 by White is the first really unusual move, if not a novelty; in most other games in the database White played Nd5.
The only game featuring 17.f5 was won by Black (Illescas Cordoba vs. Shirov 2000
http://www.chess.com/games/view.html?id=1005699#)
and that game continued like this one until Black played 19...c4 instead of 19...Qc6. So 19...Qc6 is the first new move in the chess.com database.
In that game, Rybka has the advantage.
The move 17.f5 by White is the first really unusual move, if not a novelty; in most other games in the database White played Nd5.
The only game featuring 17.f5 was won by Black (Illescas Cordoba vs. Shirov 2000
http://www.chess.com/games/view.html?id=1005699#)
and that game continued like this one until Black played 19...c4 instead of 19...Qc6. So 19...Qc6 is the first new move in the chess.com database.
The game started out balanced, and I thought it would be a draw, but now it is move 43 and the game is already over!
Yes, it's surprising that Houdini loses like that with White in a quiet line.
For some reason it seems to have overlooked the strong move 34...Rcd8 because the eval suddenly drops from -0.47 to -1.00.
It will be all the more interesting to see how the engines handle the position with colors reversed 
I have not created the page to show the game from Round 21. It was a Semi-Slav, Meran, and Rybka won as Black. I will get the game posted soon. Until then...
Round 22, Rybka vs Houdini, is also a Semi-Slav, Meran, and it has just started. Watch game 22 LIVE here: http://www.westportchessclub.org/computer-chess/live-game.htm
Will Rybka win as White? Will Houdini get revenge?
Currently at move 28 White (Rybka) is an exchange down for a pawn, but stands slightly better according to both engines, the white bishop on b5 is strong and he has a protected passed pawn. Black is passive but can probably put a knight on d6 to blockade the pawn.
The move 13.Qe2 appeared in only 6 games in the database, and after 13...O-O 14.Be3 is new. After Back's 16...Re8, 17.a4! was problematic to Black and let to queenside domination by White.
There was a point in the game that looked like that. White had just moved the rook to b1, allowing ...Ra2#. But Black played a different move instead, and mate came several moves later.