TCEC by Martin Thoresen is the top world computer chess competition, now at Stage 2 with 19 engines
The chess engine Spike 1.4 (2921 ELO) is the surprising leader of TCEC Stage 2. In a field of multiple engines over 3000 ELO, Spike has collected 3,5/4 and is leading the field. It achieved victories over Exchess, Spark, Jonny, and drew with the TCEC Stage 1 winner Bouquet.
Second position is for Critter 1.6a (3072 ELO) with 3,0/4. It’s performance however is not that spectacular, as all victories were achieved against relative outsiders, while it was held to a draw by Toga II (2857 ELO) and Hiarcs (2984).
Third position is shared by Rybka and Houdini, a full point behind the leader Spike. Houdini drew with the second lowest rated engine in the field Tornado 5 (2830 ELO) right at the start, and later stumbled against Toga II and Gull. Rybka followed a similar path and drew with the lowest rated engine Jonny 6 (2789 ELO). The performance of Jonny is especially interesting as it held to draws Rybka, Equinox, and Stockfish, all of them 3000 ELO engines, while losing only to the leader Spike.
The next games of the TCEC championship promise to be very exciting, as 3000+ ELO Stockfish and Komodo are at 2,0/4, while the winner from Stage 1 Bouquet 1.8a is at 1,5/4. Watch the live games here / Visit the official website
Here are the full standings after round 4.
Replay the games of Stage 1 / See the current live game / Full list of participants / Information / Play online at Chessdom Arena
TCEC Stage 2, standings after 4 rounds
| Engine | ELO | Pts | |
| 1 | Spike | 2921 | 3.5 |
| 2 | Critter 1.6a | 3072 | 3 |
| 3 | Gull | 3063 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Houdini | 3146 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Rybka | 3092 | 2.5 |
| 6 | Hiarcs | 2979 | 2 |
| 7 | Stockfish | 3098 | 2 |
| 8 | Komodo | 3086 | 2 |
| 9 | Shredder | 2942 | 1.5 |
| 10 | Bouquet 1.8a | 3069 | 1.5 |
| 11 | Jonny | 2789 | 1.5 |
| 12 | Naum | 2978 | 1.5 |
| 13 | Spark | 2889 | 1.5 |
| 14 | Junior | 2913 | 1.5 |
| 15 | Toga II | 2857 | 1 |
| 16 | Tornado | 2830 | 1 |
| 17 | Equinox 2b | 3051 | 1 |
| 18 | Onno 1 | 2834 | 0.5 |
| 19 | Exchess 7.15b | 2702 | 0.5 |
Information about TCEC Stage 2
Stage 2 consists of the 19 engines that qualified from Stage 1. It is a single round robin where the openings are chosen randomly. The top 10 move on to Stage 3 while the rest is out of nTCEC for the current Season. 171 games are played in Stage 2.
The nTCEC Computer hardware
CPUs: 2 x 8 core Intel Xeon E5-2689 @ 3300 MHz
CPU Coolers: 2 x Corsair H80i
Motherboard: Asus Z9PE-D8 WS
RAM: 32 GB Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US @ 8-8-8-24
PSU: Corsair AX 760
SSDs: 2 x Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB @ Raid 0
Case: Silverstone Raven RV03B-WA
