TCEC Season 9 artwork by Santiago Mendez
The Top Chess Engine Championship, strongest chess event in history started this May 1st with the participation of 12 engines over 3100 ELO and, 17 engines over 3000 ELO and a total of 32 participants. Currently the preliminary Stage 1a is underway – a single round robin with sixteen participants, eight of them qualifying for further stages of the TCEC Season 9.
After round 14 of 15 there are seven engines that guaranteed their spot in the next stage. These are last season’s champion Komodo with 13,0/14, Houdini with 12,5/14, Rybka 10,5/14, Protector 10,0/14, Gull 9,0/14, Hannibal 8,0/14, and Ginkgo 8,0/14.
The last position giving right for qualification will be disputed between four engines. Raptor, Fizbo and Texel have 6,5/14, while Bobcat is with 6,0/14. The final round is now live and you can follow the games at the official website
Decisive pairings of TCEC Stage 1a
Gull – Texel
Fizbo – Rybka
Bobcat – Myrrdin
DisasterArea – Raptor
See the live standings table here
Stage TCEC 1a medals
Stage TCEC 1a group medals are also up for grabs. Komodo has the amazing 13,0/14 and is in the lead, having twelve victories and only two draws (against Protector and Gull). However, it has a direct encounter with Houdini in the last round and the difference between them is only 1/2 points.
Rybka is third with 10,5/14, but only 1/2 points behind is Protector, so the bronze medal is up for grabs too.
Replay all games of Stage 1a here with analysis
TCEC videos by GM Iotov
