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CCC10 Attempt 2 Up and Running

CCC10 Attempt 2 Up and Running

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After nearly a full week of delays and testing, the 10th Computer Chess Championship is back! This event pits the world's top chess engines against each other. CCC10 started a few weeks ago, but was repeatedly delayed by GPU issues. A GPU, or graphical processing unit, is a type of engine that uses a distributed neural network to compute moves, as opposed to a conventional CPU, or central processing unit. GPUs are typically regarded as being stronger than CPUs, but in CCC10, a hardware glitch meant that the four GPU engines - Leela Chess Zero (also known as Lc0), Leelenstein, DarkQueen, and Stoofvlees - would frequently crash, and were thus unable to complete any games. The tournament was put on hold to try to fix the error, and during this interim period, the CPU engines (which all still functioned normally) faced each other in a set of mini-tournaments.

Interim tournaments show Stockfish still king of CPU engines

The first mini-tournament featured Stockfish, Turbofish, Komodo, Houdini, and Lc0 CPU. Stockfish won convincingly, scoring 75 points in 112 games.

Position Engine Name Points
1 Stockfish 75.0/112
2 Turbofish 65.0/112
3 Komodo 53.5/112
4 Houdini 49.0/112
5 Lc0 CPU 37.5/112

The next one, "CPU Classics", featured Stockfish, Komodo, and Houdini again, this time going against Fire, Komodo MC, Xiphos, and Ethereal. They played a total of 8 games against each other engine. Stockfish again won convincingly, with 36 points in 48 games. 

Position Engine Name Points
1 Stockfish 36.0/48
2 Komodo 27.0/48
3 Houdini 25.0/48
3 Fire 25.0/48
5 Komodo MC 21.0/48
6 Xiphos 18.0/48
7 Ethereal 16.0/48

The next mini-tournament featured Fire, Komodo MC, Ethereal, and Lc0 CPU, in a 60-game tournament (each engine played each other engine 20 times). Fire triumphed in a close race for first place.

Position Engine Name Points
1 Fire 35.0/60
2 Komodo MC 31.0/60
3 Lc0 CPU 28.5/60
4 Ethereal 25.5/60

Fire and Lc0 CPU then faced each other in an 8-game, 30+5 time control match which saw Fire win 4.5-3.5. The engines drew seven games in a row, but Fire was able to win with the white pieces in the final game. 

Fire, as white, was able to defeat Lc0 CPU after seven draws in a row.
The key takeaway from these mini-tournaments seems to be that Stockfish is still the strongest CPU out there. But can the GPUs beat the Fish? It remains to be seen. The common wisdom has been that only Lc0 and Leelenstein have a chance of dethroning Stockfish as the top chess engine, but some of the other engines may have something to say about that. During the break, Rofchade (a CPU engine, but not one who participated in any of the mini-tournaments) and Stoofvlees (a GPU engine) both received updates that supposedly gave them a skill boost. Rofchade, in particular, apparently gained 40 ELO points! 
CCC10 Format and How to Watch
Rofchade and Stoofvlees' upgrades could really come in handy, as the qualifiers for CCC10 are brutal. Stockfish, Leelenstein, and Lc0, by virtue of finishing on the podium for CCC9, have already secured their spot in the next round, but are choosing to play the qualifying round for practice. That leaves ten other engines - Andscacs, DarkQueen, Ethereal, Laser, Lc0 CPU, Rofchade, Rubi, Stoofvlees, Winter, and Xiphos - vying for just four spots in the next round, where they'll join Stockfish, Leelenstein, Lc0, and the 4th through 8th placers in CCC9 - Allie, Komodo, Houdini, Fire, and Komodo MC.
The 10th Computer Chess Championship features NONSTOP, 24/7 chess action between the world's top chess engines. For all of the matches, live analysis, and chat, click this link.