The Stockfish chess engine is deserved leader
The chess engine Stockfish is leader of TCEC Stage 2a. The 210213 version of Stockfish is at sole first position with 4,5/6 after 3 wins and 3 draws. It is half a point ahead of Rybka and Critter, and a full point ahead of Hiarcs.
TCEC Stage 2a is played now, with 8 engines in double round robin. The currently regarded as top engine, the rated 3193 ELO Houdini 3.0, is suffering in the early stages of the computer chess championship.
Houdini has collected just 2,5/6 and is trailing at 6th position. From the six games Houdini has only one victory against Spike 1.4 at the start. That was followed by draws with Hiarcs 14, Gaviota, and Stockfish. A heavy loss from Critter 1.6a in round 3 and a sweet revenge by Rybka in round 6 sent Houdini in the bottom half of the table.
Houdini will have the difficult task to come back to the first positions in the remaining eight rounds. The engine already made such a comeback at the Stage 1 eliminations, where it started with mediocre performance, but finished in style to claim shared first. As the renowned developed Miguel Ballicora noted in a recent interview, “The favorite is clearly Houdini, but I expect others to be ready to surprise it. However, in the superfinal, with so many games, it will be hard to beat. There are more chances to be knocked out in stage 3, when fewer games are played.”
Stage 1: Replay all games with analysis / Final standings stage 1
Stage 2a: Live games / Rules / Qualifiers / Official website
TCEC Stage 2a standings
| 1 | Stockfish | 4.5 |
| 2 | Rybka | 4 |
| 3 | Critter 1.6a | 4 |
| 4 | Hiarcs | 3.5 |
| 5 | Junior | 3 |
| 6 | Houdini | 2.5 |
| 7 | Spike | 1.5 |
| 8 | Gaviota | 1 |
