TCEC Cup 8, CCC Rapid 2021 : Semifinals Both Underway

The previous report on the two world class ongoing engine vs. engine competitions was TCEC Side Events; CCC 'Rapid 2021' Nearing Semifinal (February 2021). Following is a summary of that report.

TCEC: The site is running a series of bonus events mingled with test events. Next on the plans for upcoming events is '!Cup8'. • CCC: In the multi-stage 'Rapid 2021', the 10 engine 'NN vs Classic' is underway. Next stage: 6 engine 'Elite Round'.

Both of the 'Next' events are currently underway. What's the current status?

TCEC: In TCEC Cup 8, the 32 starting engines have been winnowed to four engines in the semifinal: Stockfish vs. KomodoDragon & LCZero vs. AllieStein. The final match will finish this week. For the results of the previous cup, see Stockfish Wins TCEC Cup 7; CCC GPUs Back (November 2020). The next event is scheduled to be FRC3, 'Fischer Random Chess 3 with the 16(+) Season 20 FRC engines'.

CCC: Six engines qualified from the 'NN vs Classic' stage to the 'Elite Round'. The following crosstable for 'NN vs Classic' shows that the two engines finishing 7th and 8th -- SlowChess & Ethereal -- qualified.

Why is this? The rules specify:-

Elite Round: Engines ranked #1 to #6 of the "NN vs Classic" event. One engine max from the same engine family.

Missing from the 'Elite Round' are Stockfish Classic (finished 3rd) and Komodo (6th). This must be because they are in the same family as Stockfish (1st) and Dragon (4th). In both cases the NNUE member of the family finished ahead of the non-NNUE member.

The 'Elite Round' should finish in a few days. The top three engines -- Stockfish, Lc0, & Dragon -- are well ahead of the bottom three. It is nearly certain that two of those top three will qualify into the 500 game final match.

[For further information from the various stakeholders in the engine-to-engine events, see the tab 'TCEC/CCC Links' at the top of this page. • NB: Leela = LC0 = LCzero]