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Stockfish claims its 19th TCEC title, defeating Reckless in the Superfinal

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Stockfish has done it again. The open-source chess engine clinched the Top Chess Engine Championship Season 29 Grand Champion title after a dominant 100-game Superfinal against the surging challenger Reckless, completing another masterclass in computer chess. The result marks Stockfish’s 19th TCEC championship overall and its 12th consecutive season title.

Official website of the Top Chess Engine Championship

TCEC Season 29 Superfinal

Throughout the broader Season 29 tournament, the competition was notably fierce. Engines such as Torch, which joined the field for the first time, and several other Premier Division monsters such as Lc0, Plentychess, and Integral, pushed hard for Superfinal qualification, reflecting the accelerating pace of development across the computer chess ecosystem.

For years, the top tier of computer chess has been defined by a familiar rivalry: Stockfish versus Leela Chess Zero (see last season Stockfish vs Lc0 Season 28 Superfinal). But in a dramatic and unexpected turn, that era was disrupted. For the first time in many seasons, the prestigious Top Chess Engine Championship Superfinal did not feature the long-standing clash between those two giants. Instead, a new contender, Reckless, has surged into the spotlight. A relative newcomer that had turned heads throughout the Season 29 leagues with its aggressive, unconventional playing style, Reckeless pushed Stockfish harder in the early game pairs than many observers expected.

However, as the tournament progressed, Stockfish established its dominance and step by step increased the lead. The final score of the match was a dominant 59.0 – 41.0 in favor of the reigning champion.

Replay: TCEC Season 29 Superfinal Interview: Arseniy Surkov, author of Reckless

TCEC Grand Champion (Superfinal/Leagues Season)

SeasonDateStockfish VersionScoreRunner-up
Season 6Feb–May 2014Stockfish 170514 (1st title)+13 =45 -6Komodo 7x
Season 9May–Dec 2016Stockfish 8 (2nd)+17 =75 -8Houdini 5
Season 11Jan–Apr 2018Stockfish 260318 (3rd)+20 =78 -2Houdini 6.03
Season 12Apr–Jul 2018Stockfish 180614 (4th)+29 =62 -9Komodo 12.1.1
Season 13Aug–Nov 2018Stockfish 18102108 (5th)+16 =78 -6Komodo 2155.00
Season 14Nov 2018–Feb 2019Stockfish 190203 (6th)+10 =81 -9LCZero v0.20.2
Season 16Jul–Oct 2019Stockfish 19092522 (7th)+14 =81 -5AllieStein v0.5
Season 18May–Jul 2020Stockfish 202006170741 (8th)+23 =61 -16LCZero v0.25.1
Season 19Aug–Oct 2020Stockfish 202009282242 (9th)+18 =73 -9LCZero v0.26.3
Season 20Dec 2020–Feb 2021Stockfish 20210113 (10th)+14 =78 -8LCZero 0.27.0d
Season 21May–Aug 2021Stockfish 14_202107131735 (11th)+19 =74 -7LCZero 0.28
Season 22Jan–Apr 2022Stockfish dev15_20220401 (12th)+28 =63 -9KomodoDragon 2894.00
Season 23Aug–Nov 2022Stockfish dev16_20221027 (13th)+27 =63 -10LCZero 0.30
Season 24Feb–Apr 2023Stockfish dev-20230409 (14th)+20 =64 -16LCZero 0.30
Season 25Aug–Oct 2023Stockfish dev-20231010 (15th)+27 =50 -23LCZero 0.31
Season 26May–Jun 2024Stockfish dev-20240513 (16th)+31 =52 -17LCZero 0.31
Season 27Oct 2024–Jan 2025Stockfish dev-20241208 (17th)+35 =47 -18LCZero 0.31
Season 28Jun–Sep 2025Stockfish dev-20250824 (18th)+36 =43 -21LCZero 0.33
Season 29Jan–Apr 2026Stockfish dev-20260318 (19th)+41 =36 -23Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11

Stockfish has amassed 19 Grand Champion titles, 12 Cup titles, 5 Swiss titles, 5 FRC titles, 2 DFRC titles, 4 FRD titles, making it by far the most decorated engine in TCEC history.

TCEC Cup

CupDateStockfish VersionScoreRunner-up
Cup 1Oct 2018Stockfish 270918 (1st)+1 =7 -0Houdini 6.03
Cup 4Oct 2019Stockfish 19100908 (2nd)+1 =7 -0LCZero v0.22.0
Cup 5Apr 2020Stockfish 202004181536 (3rd)+1 =3 -0LCZero v0.24
Cup 7Nov 2020Stockfish 2020102823 (4th)+1 =3 -0LCZero v0.26.3
Cup 8Feb 2021Stockfish 202102202249 (5th)+1 =7 -0LCZero 0.27.0
Cup 9Oct 2021Stockfish dev15_20211015 (6th)+1 =3 -0LCZero 0.28
Cup 10May 2022Stockfish dev16_2022051413 (7th)+2 =9 -1KomodoDragon 3
Cup 12Jul 2023Stockfish dev-20230713 (8th)+10 =9 -9LCZero 0.31
Cup 13Mar 2024Stockfish dev-20240217 (9th)+4 =17 -1LCZero 0.31
Cup 14Oct 2024Stockfish dev-20240928 (10th)+12 =13 -11LCZero 0.31
Cup 15Jun 2025Stockfish dev-20250602 (11th)+6 =13 -3LCZero 0.31
Cup 16Jan 2026Stockfish dev-20260101 (12th)+7 =12 -3LCZero 0.33

TCEC Swiss

SwissDateStockfish VersionRunner-up
Swiss 3May–Jul 2022Stockfish dev16_20220521 (1st)LCZero 0.30
Swiss 4Jan–Feb 2023Stockfish dev-20230114 (2nd)LCZero 0.30 / KomodoDragon 3.2
Swiss 5Jun–Jul 2023Stockfish dev-20230614 (3rd)LCZero 0.31
Swiss 8Apr–Jun 2025Stockfish dev-20250513 (4th)LCZero 0.31
Swiss 9Nov–Dec 2025Stockfish dev-20251203 (5th)LCZero 0.33

TCEC FRC (Fischer Random Chess)

FRCDateStockfish VersionScoreRunner-up
FRC 1Oct–Nov 2019Stockfish 191107 (1st)+10 =10 -0AllieStein v0.5
FRC 2Nov 2020Stockfish 202011101829 (2nd)+8 =42 -0LCZero v0.26.3
FRC 4Dec 2021–Jan 2022Stockfish dev15_2021121915 (3rd)+13 =28 -9LCZero 0.29
FRC 5Jul 2022Stockfish dev16_20220705 (4th)+17 =20 -13LCZero 0.30
FRC 6May 2023Stockfish dev-20230507 (5th)+15 =23 -12LCZero 0.31

TCEC DFRC (Double Fischer Random Chess)

DFRCDateStockfish VersionScoreRunner-up
DFRC 1Jul–Aug 2022Stockfish dev16_202207131801 (1st)+18 =23 -9LCZero 0.30
DFRC 2May–Jun 2023Stockfish dev-20230528 (2nd)+10 =33 -7LCZero 0.31

TCEC FRD (Fischer Random Double)

FRDDateStockfish VersionScoreRunner-up
FRD 1Nov–Dec 2023Stockfish dev-20231116 (1st)+11 =29 -10LCZero 0.31
FRD 2Jun–Jul 2024Stockfish dev-20240612 (2nd)+20 =16 -14LCZero 0.31
FRD 3Feb 2025Stockfish dev-20250126 (3rd)+13 =25 -12LCZero 0.31
FRD 4Sep–Oct 2025Stockfish dev-20250913 (4th)+18 =18 -14LCZero 0.33
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