TCEC S24 Sufi, CCC20 Rapid - Both Underway

The previous post in our fortnightly look at the two most important engine vs. engine competitions was TCEC S24 DivP Finishing; Stockfish Wins CCC20 Blitz Final (April 2023). Here's a summary of that post:-

TCEC: DivP is a few games away from its finish. Stockfish is a point ahead of LCZero, which has a big lead over KomodoDragon. For this season the organizers have organized the new 'DivP Playoff': 'The top four of DivP face each other to determine who goes to SuFi 24.' • CCC: Stockfish beat Lc0 by 293.0-207.0, making Stockfish the winner of the 'CCC20 Blitz Final'. The site is currently conducting another OpenBench event. Next: 'CCC20 Rapid Newcomers'.

TCEC: The previous post also noted some drama in determining the 'top four of DivP':-

Ethereal is currently in fourth place, a point ahead of Berserk. The two engines are scheduled to meet in one of the last games of DivP, so anything is possible.

Berserk won the game with the White pieces, achieving the same score as Ethereal and advancing to the 'DivP Playoff' on superior tiebreak. Stockfish won the playoff with an undefeated score; LCZero finished second to qualify into the S24 Superfinal (aka Sufi).

After 40 games in the 100-game Sufi, LCZero has a slim one point lead. At the same point in the S23 Sufi, with the same engines playing, Stockfish had a five point lead. Has there been a fundamental change in the relative strength of the two engines or is this a fluke? The event has another ten days to run.

CCC: The 15-engine OpenBench event, titled 'OpenBench Interlude #8 - All Hands', was won by Berserk, ahead of Ethereal and Rubi. The first stage of the 'CCC20 Rapid' event, renamed from 'Newcomers' to 'Entry League', was followed by 'Qualifier #1' and 'Qualifier #2'. All three stages had 12 engines, with the first two stages qualifying six engines into the following stage. Three engines will qualify from 'Qualifier #2' into the 12-engine 'Main' stage. 'Qualifier #2' is nearing the end of the second of its four rounds.

[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]