Innovations in Top Chess Engine Championship Season 28
This is not a secret – computer chess is undergoing an explosive advancement. Just recently Stockfish crossed the 3700 ELO mark, while even 4KiB (4096 bytes) size engines are playing with strength 3100+ (see it to believe it)
Top Chess Engine Championship (TCEC), the world’s premier championship for computer chess, is set to launch its new season with the highly anticipated TCEC Swiss 8 tournament on May 16, 2025, at 19:00 CEST. Featuring over 44 of the world’s most advanced chess engines, this event is poised to surpass the record set by last season’s Swiss 7, cementing its status as the strongest chess championship ever. With a lineup of elite engines, cutting-edge hardware, and a global audience of chess enthusiasts, TCEC Swiss 8 promises to deliver a unique show 24/7 over the next months. Follow TCEC Swiss 8 live: Official website / TCEC Chess TV / Lichess / Chessdom live
Hardware boost for chess engines at TCEC aka Kittenware
With high confidence we can say that TCEC has the best hardware setup for chess ever, and you can enjoy it live during TCEC Season 28 and TCEC Swiss 8 thanks to the sponsorship of Kittenkaboodle.
Kanchess comments, “The brand new Kittenware truly belongs in TCEC as most serious top chess engine competition, and is an awesome donation! Can’t wait to see which engines will show how to use this monster hardware with two separate boxes more to their advantage and add some substantial elo” Aloril adds, “Best effort was truly done for both CPU and GPU engines by Kittenkaboodle.“
The GPU boost, benefiting NN engines is the following:
Current new hardware, sponsored by Kittenkaboodle: 8x RTX 5090 (32GB):
- Total memory: 256GB (32GB x 8).
- Total CUDA cores: ~174,080
- Total Tensor cores: ~5,440
- Total power consumption: ~3,600W (450W x 8)
Former hardware, sponsored by Noobpwnftw: 2x A100-PCIE-40GB:
- Total memory: 80GB (40GB x 2).
- Total CUDA cores: 13,824.
- Total Tensor cores: 864.
- Total power consumption: ~500W.
Traditional CPU engines will also enjoy a boost
Current new hardware, sponsored by Kittenkaboodle: AMD EPYC 9754 (2x):
- Type: Server-grade CPU, 4th Gen EPYC (Bergamo, Zen 4c, 5nm).
- Cores/Threads: 128 cores/256 threads per CPU, total 256 cores/512 threads.
- Clock Speed: 2.25 GHz base, 3.1 GHz boost (lower boost due to high core count).
- Cache: 256 MB L3 cache per CPU (512 MB total).
- Performance: ~180,000–200,000 PassMark score per CPU (estimated, ~360,000–400,000 total).
Former hardware, sponsored by Noobpwnftw: Intel Xeon 6230R (2x):
- Type: Server-grade CPU, 3rd Gen Scalable Xeon (Cascade Lake Refresh, 14nm).
- Cores/Threads: 26 cores/52 threads per CPU, total 52 cores/104 threads.
- Clock Speed: 2.1 GHz base, 4.0 GHz turbo.
- Cache: 35.75 MB L3 cache per CPU (71.5 MB total).
- Performance: ~40,000 PassMark score per CPU (estimated, ~80,000 total).
Participants and ELO records
In the three years period between Swiss 1 and Swiss 7, the average ELO of the top 10 participants has increased by 60 points. Now in under 12 months we see another increase of 60 points! In this TCEC Swiss 8 for the first time the chess world will see a 3700+ engine in action, in a top 10 field that exceeds 3621 average ELO!
Stockfish (Elo: 3728): The open-source juggernaut and reigning TCEC Grand Champion, Stockfish has dominated the last seasons, winning the Leagues, Freestyle, and Cup events. It has just set an unseen rating record and is coming for the only title it lacked last season – the Swiss
LCZero (Elo: 3693): The neural network-based engine, built on the principles of AlphaZero, is coming to TCEC Swiss as defending champion, while aiming to cross the 3700 elo mark during the event
Berserk (Elo: 3646): A rising star in the computer chess world, Berserk has climbed the rankings with its aggressive play and robust performance, making one of the dark horses in Swiss 8.
Obsidian (Elo: 3637): Authored by Gabriele Lombardo who is still U18, Obsidian aims to get minimum a medal at Swiss 8
Ceres (Elo: 3624): A newcomer to the elite ranks in the past season, Ceres has impressed with its performance and is expected to challenge the established giants.
KomodoDragon (Elo: 3615): A veteran engine with TCEC titles in Seasons 5, 7, and 8, KomodoDragon remains a formidable competitor, despite not being actively updated. Once part of the big 3, now KomodoDragon is trying to stay among the best.
Ethereal (Elo: 3613): A consistent performer, Ethereal brings a balanced approach to the board, capable of upsetting higher-rated opponents, while gaining strength every season
Caissa (Elo: 3591): A newer engine that has shown promise in recent seasons, Caissa is poised to make waves in the computer chess world
RubiChess (Elo: 3591): With a solid track record, RubiChess is a reliable contender that can take valuable points from the favorites
Viridithas (Elo: 3570): A lesser-known but rapidly improving engine, Viridithas adds unpredictability to the mix with its unique playing style
Stay tuned for the full list of participants.
More about the Top Chess Engine Championship
TCEC seasons are divided into multiple events, including the traditional Leagues, a knockout Cup, a Fischer Random Chess aka Freestyle tournament, and the Swiss tournament.
Since its inception in 2010, TCEC has been the premier platform for pitting the world’s top chess engines against one another in long time-control matches on high-end hardware. Originally known as the Thoresen Chess Engines Competition, TCEC was founded by Martin Thoresen and has been organized by Chessdom since Season 7. The tournament’s reputation as the “Unofficial World Computer Chess Championship” stems from its rigorous format, elite participant lineup, and commitment to showcasing the highest level of computer chess.