TCEC Cup 9, CCC C960 Blitz Final : Both Underway

Every two weeks I look at the world's two major engine-vs-engine competitions, which just run and run and run some more. The title of the previous report, TCEC Testing Cup 9; CCC C960 Blitz Semifinal (October 2021), tells most of the story at that time. Let's add a few more details to the summary of that report:-

TCEC: The site is currently performing 'Cup 9 Testing'. I expect the tournament will be well underway by my next report in two weeks. Since the TCEC cup events proceed quickly, it might even be finished. • CCC: In the 'Chess960 Blitz Championship', Stockfish, Dragon, and Lc0 finished 1-2-3. Three more engines also qualified into the 'Chess960 Blitz Semifinals'.

Jumping ahead two weeks, here is the current status.

TCEC: The site's 'Cup 9' has reached the semifinal round, with Stockfish, ScorpioNN, KomodoDragon, and LCZero all qualifying for that stage. The Stockfish - ScorpioNN semifinal match started with a long sequence of draws. It's possible, even likely, that a single game will determine the winner.

CCC: In the 'Chess960 Blitz Semifinals', Stockfish finished a point ahead of Dragon as both engines qualified for the final match. Only one game of their 40-game minimatch was decisive, with Stockfish winning. Lc0 lost three games to each of the two engines, winning none. The other three engines were far behind. In the final match, Stockfish has a non-trivial lead over Dragon. Less than ten games have been decisive after hundreds of games played.

[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; Dragon = KomodoDragon]