Computers are the future of chess. Almost everyone agrees on that.
But the statement doesnt go far enough. By and large, computers are also the present of chess.
With the question of man vs. machine long-ago settled over the chessboard, the field of computer chess is now a collaboration between some of the most dedicated chess teachers in the world (the developers), and the best students in the history of chess: the engines themselves.
Gobbling up every bit of chess knowledge given to them, computer chess engines are getting better at a faster rate. The machines have left humans to play among themselves as the computers probe further into the chess unknown.
Best Chess Computer Engines
They are playing higher levels of chess than anyone imagined, and sometimes even the best humans can scarcely understand the insanely nuanced maneuvers the computers play seemingly without effort. Behind the scenes, of course, the engines are busy calculating millions of variations, which -- added to their superior ability to judge resulting positions -- allows them to play chess more accurately than ever before.
Nowadays, there is no human player that can beat one of the top chess engines...
While any decent chess program could easily beat the world's top humans, there are vast differences in strength among the ranks of the engines.
Just as Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, Veselin Topalov, andHikaru Nakamura (et al.) rule the world of human chess, so too do the elite engines dominate computer chess.
Here are the top five strongest computer chess engines. The rating of each of them has been obtained from the Computer Chess Website.
The article was originally published on May 15 but it has been updated to show latest changes on the 5th of March 2018.
5. Gull 2.8b (Rating= 3214)
Gull is a relative newcomer on the elite computer chess scene. This free and open-source engine is helmed by Vadim Demichev and was inspired by two older chess programs, Ivanhoe and Strelka.
A gull is the symbol of the Gull Chess Engine, the 5th best chess engine in the world by rating.
Gull gained 11 rating points in the new CCRL 40/40 pure rating list(a method that allows only one version per engine family, removing distortion), earning it the number-five slot in the ranks of the known universes best chess players.
Fire is a free engine that used to be (but no longer is) open source.
With 3329 rating points, Fire is considered the 4th best chess engine.| Photo via Fire
In development since 2010, Fire is another fast riser in the world of computer chess. It gained 16 rating points in the CCRL pure list compared to its normal database rating, the most of any engine in the top 15.
Komodo, the leading commercial program, was the undisputed champ of 2014 before being briefly eclipsed by the new version of Stockfish this year. Its developers then released Komodo 9, which is about 50 rating points better than its predecessor.
The Komodo is the official symbol of the Komodo Chess Engine.
Heres what the popular Chess.com video author GM Roman Dzindzichashvili has to say about Komodo:
I am extremely impressed by Komodo's play. I watched and analyzed every game and it was absolutely flawless positional chess, the likes of which has never been seen before by an engine or human.
Houdini, a commercial engine, used to be the strongest in the world, and remains a very formidable chess program.
Official logo of the Houdini Chess Engine.| Photo via Houdini
According to its creators, the name Houdini was chosen because of the engine's positional style, its tenacity in difficult positions and its ability to defend stubbornly and escape with a draw sometimes by the narrowest of margins.
This article is about the top five computer engines, but really it's the top two and everything else. Thats how far Stockfish and Komodo are ahead of the rest of the field. The computer king title regularly changes hands between these two engines, easily the two strongest in chess history.The best thing about Stockfish is that it is completely free, open source, and cross-platform.
Official logo of the Stockfish Chess Engine. | Photovia Stockfish
Stockfish even won Chess.coms craziest game of 2014 award, earning the engine a nice mention in the Wall Street Journal.
Stockfish also emerged victorious in one of the most entertainingChess.com events ever, beating a "cyborg" Hikaru Nakamura, who played against Stockfish with the help of an older, weaker chess engine.
What do you think about computer chess? Let us know in the comments. Below, you will be able to find all the download repositories where you can get these chess engines.
Download Repositories:
See the original post:
The 5 Best Computer Chess Engines - Chess.com
- The Silicon Gambit: How AI is Reshaping the World's Oldest Game - Chess.com - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Gukesh wins Candidates: The boy raised without chess engines wholl challenge Ding Liren at World Championships - The Indian Express - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Stars of the future shine in chess's ancestral homeland - Washington Times - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- The 15 Best Episodes of Cowboy Bebop - MovieWeb - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Charge of the knight brigade: Indian teens storm global chess - IndiaTimes - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Knowing when to insist - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- World Cup: Pragg and Salimova win tiebreakers - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- What do F-16 and MiG-29 fighter jets do? - Times of Oman - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Xbox game releases August 21 to 27 - TrueAchievements - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Go! Guide Aug. 17 - The Republic - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- MinStrength: An Alternative to Performance Rating - ChessBase - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Mittens (chess engine) - Wikipedia - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- AlphaZero - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- 2022 U.S. Chess Championships, Round 3: Earning Respect! | US Chess.org - uschess.org - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Go! Guide Oct. 13 - The Republic - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Events, sales and more things happening Downriver The News Herald - Southgate News Herald - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Chess cheating drama: What are the different ways to cheat in chess? - The Indian Express - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Italian Grand Prix Today - CNET - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The Machines That Made 500 Years of Circumnavigation Possible - Popular Mechanics - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Belgian Grand Prix Today - CNET - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Kids want to grow, learn; are we planting seeds of knowledge? - Las Cruces Sun-News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- New: 3.h4 against the Kings Indian and Grnfeld - ChessBase India - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- A bright chess champ emerges from Thiruvallur - The New Indian Express - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Interviewing The Coach Of Olympiad Sensation Gukesh - Chess.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Virtual Psychiatry is Here to Stay - Psychiatric Times - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Whatever Happened to the Transhumanists? - Gizmodo - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Beyond Carlsen: the devaluation of the World Chess Championship - TheArticle - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 21 - The Republic - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Chennai Chess Olympiad and AI - Analytics India Magazine - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 23 - The Republic - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Was Basman right? Iconoclasm, ridicule and chess - TheArticle - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Is Today: How to Watch the Race Live - CNET - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Sentience is the wrong discussion to have on AI right now - TechTalks - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Headlines at 10:30 am on 20th June 2022 - The Indian Express - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- 5 Chess Brilliancies That Stockfish Hates - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Carlsen Wins, Leads, Hits A 2870 Live Rating - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- 21 things to do with kids in San Diego County in June - The San Diego Union-Tribune - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Is This Cooling Technology Company Ready To Heat Up? - Benzinga - Benzinga - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Calendar of events and activities throughout Downriver - Southgate News Herald - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Tilting Point partners with Polygon on Web3 games - VentureBeat - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Online booking agents have been behaving like kings - it's time to topple them - City A.M. - April 17th, 2022 [April 17th, 2022]
- Chess Games - Play Chess Games on CrazyGames - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- A tale of two universities and two engines - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Charity Cup: Anton wins three in a row to reach knockout - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Formula 1: How to Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix and F1 Racing in 2022 - CNET - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Praggnanandhaa, 16, becomes only third Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in stunning upset - ESPN - February 21st, 2022 [February 21st, 2022]
- Is Artificial Intelligence as Intelligent as We Think it is? - Analytics Insight - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Didnt Become a Hostage- Former World Chess Champion Calls Magnus Carlsen the Bridge Between Traditional and Modern Chess - EssentiallySports - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Can the academy rein in Big Tech? - Times Higher Education - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- FIDE World Women's Team Championship Final: Russia Wins Gold In Victory Over India - Chess.com - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Researchers warn that social media may be fundamentally at odds with science - TechCrunch - February 15th, 2022 [February 15th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men triumph! - Chessbase News - February 9th, 2022 [February 9th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men increase lead - Chessbase News - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Chairman of the board | Boris Starling - The Critic - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Using AI in Recruiting - Onrec - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Arena Download - Complete GUI for chess engines that will ... - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- A hundred years of exactitude: Jos Ral Capablanca - TheArticle - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- Intel Core i5-12400 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Face-Off: The Gaming Value Showdown - Tom's Hardware - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- software - Why dont chess engines use Node.js? - Chess ... - December 29th, 2021 [December 29th, 2021]
- Stockfish - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 27th, 2021 [December 27th, 2021]
- Top 10 Strongest Chess Engines In 2021 - Hercules Chess - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- The 10 Greatest Blitz Chess Games Of All Time - Chess.com - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- Ninja, the worlds top streamer, on how video games can make you smarter about money and investing - MarketWatch - December 17th, 2021 [December 17th, 2021]
- 8 Reasons To Play In The 2022 Daily Chess Championship - Chess.com - December 15th, 2021 [December 15th, 2021]
- World Chess Championship - the Arena - Chessbase News - December 7th, 2021 [December 7th, 2021]
- The World Chess Championship Opens With An Endless Knight-Rook Dance - FiveThirtyEight - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- Play chess: online and computer chess on real boards in the test - Market Research Telecast - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- 10 Strongest Free Chess Engines [all above 3000 ELO] at ... - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- Chessprogramming wiki - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Stockfish can crush you at chess even more efficiently in the 14.1 update - Neowin - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Grand Swiss: Shirov and Najer join Firouzja in the lead - Chessbase News - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable South East Asia - October 26th, 2021 [October 26th, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable - October 24th, 2021 [October 24th, 2021]
- Deep Blue - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- AlphaZero Crushes Stockfish In New 1,000-Game Match - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- Free UCI-Compatible Chess Programs for the Stockfish Engine - HobbyLark - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- CORRECTING and REPLACING RazerCon Is Back for Round II: Tune in for a Keynote By CEO Min-Liang Tan Filled With Exclusive New Announcements and Guest... - September 29th, 2021 [September 29th, 2021]
- Going back in time in La vie sans applis - The Concordian - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]
- The Road to 2030 in the Age of Intelligence - Huawei - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]
- India's kings and queens of chess - Jordan Times - August 26th, 2021 [August 26th, 2021]