Because the computer cannot calculate to the end, and so gives an evaluation.
If you add tablebases to the engine it would then correctly evaluate it as a draw.
Why don't engines understand fortresses?
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desert_chess_326 wrote:
In the following FEN,
there is a fortress for white. Black can't do anything about it. I let stockfish battle it out a gainst itself in this position on cloud servers for broccar number, yet it gives an eval of aboutt -12. Isn't this a draw? Why can't an engine figure this out?
If you add tablebases to the engine, it will correctly evaluate it as a draw.
Engines are bad at strategy and long term planning.
Engines even do not understand dead positions per
'5.2.2 The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a ‘dead position’. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 – 4.7.' Laws of Chess
In the following FEN,
there is a fortress for white. Black can't do anything about it. I let stockfish battle it out a gainst itself in this position on cloud servers, yet it gives an eval of aboutt -12. Isn't this a draw? Why can't an engine figure this out?