Komodo (chess)

Short description: UCI Chess Engine

Komodo

Original author(s)|

* Don Dailey
* Larry Kaufman

Developer(s)| Komodo Chess, Chess.com
Initial release| January 2010; 16 years ago (2010-01)
Stable release|

Komodo 14.1 / November 2, 2020; 5 years ago (2020-11-02)

Written in| C, C++
Operating system| Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android
Predecessor| Doch
Successor| Dragon
Type| Chess engine
License| Proprietary
Website| komodochess.com
Dragon by Komodo ChessDeveloper(s)| Komodo Chess, Chess.com

|

Initial release| November 9, 2020; 5 years ago (2020-11-09)
Stable release|

Dragon 3.2 / December 17, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-12-17)

Written in| C, C++
Operating system| Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android
Predecessor| Komodo
Type| Chess engine
License| Proprietary
Website| komodochess.com

Komodo and Dragon by Komodo Chess (also known as Dragon or Komodo Dragon) are UCI chess engines developed by Komodo Chess,[1] which is a part of Chess.com.[2] The engines were originally authored by Don Dailey and GM Larry Kaufman. Dragon is a commercial chess engine, but Komodo is free for non-commercial use.[3] Dragon is consistently ranked near the top of most major chess engine rating lists, along with Stockfish and Leela Chess Zero.[4][5][6][7][8]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Komodo
* 1.2 Dragon
* 2 Competition results
* 2.1 Komodo
* 2.1.1 Chess.com Computer Chess Championship
* 2.2 Dragon
* 2.2.1 Chess.com Computer Chess Championship
* 2.2.2 Top Chess Engine Championship
* 3 Notable games
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## History

### Komodo

Komodo logo

Komodo was derived from Don Dailey's former engine Doch in January 2010.[9] The first multiprocessor version of Komodo was released in June 2013 as Komodo 5.1 MP.[10] This version was a major rewrite and a port of Komodo to C++11. A single-processor version of Komodo (which won the CCT15 tournament in February earlier that year) was released as a stand-alone product shortly before the 5.1 MP release. This version, named Komodo CCT, was still based on the older C code, and was approximately 30 Elo stronger than the 5.1 MP version, as the latter was still undergoing massive code-cleanup work.[11]

With the release of Komodo 6 on October 4, 2013, Don Dailey announced that he was suffering from an acute form of leukaemia, and would no longer contribute to the future development of Komodo.[12] On October 8, Don made an announcement on the Talkchess forum that Mark Lefler would be joining the Komodo team and would continue its development.[13]

Komodo TCEC was released on December 4, 2013. This was the same version that had won TCEC Season 5, and was the last with input from Don Dailey, to whom it was dedicated.[14] Komodo 7 was released on May 21, 2014, adding Syzygy tablebase support.[15]

On May 24, 2018, Chess.com announced that it has acquired Komodo and that the Komodo team have joined Chess.com.[2] The Komodo team is now called Komodo Chess.[1]

On December 17, 2018, Komodo Chess released Komodo 12.3 MCTS, a version of the Komodo 12.3 engine that uses Monte Carlo tree search instead of alpha–beta pruning/minimax.[16]

The latest version, Komodo 14.1, was released on November 2, 2020.[17]

### Dragon

On November 9, 2020, Komodo Chess released Dragon by Komodo Chess 1.0, which features the use of efficiently updatable neural networks in its evaluation function. Dragon is derived from Komodo in the same way that Komodo was derived from Doch.[18][19] Dragon is also called Komodo Dragon in certain tournaments such as the Top Chess Engine Championship and the World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC) but not in the Chess.com Computer Chess Championship (CCC). A Chess.com staff member named Dmitry Pervov joined the Dragon development team to write the NNUE code for Dragon, and Dietrich Kappe joined the Dragon development team to help Larry Kaufman and Mark Lefter train Dragon's neural networks.[20]

The latest version, Dragon 3.2, was released on December 17, 2022.[21] On March 17, 2023, Larry Kaufman announced that he and Mark Lefter have stepped down from Dragon development and from ownership of Komodo Chess, and that Chess.com have taken full control of Komodo Chess. As of March 17, 2023, Dietrich Kappe is the only person responsible for the development of Dragon, but Chess.com are looking for more programmers to help with Dragon development.[22]

## Competition results

### Komodo

Komodo has played in the ICT 2010 in Leiden, and further in the CCT12 and CCT14. Komodo had its first tournament success in 1999, when it won the CCT15 with a score of 6½/7.[23] Komodo also fared very well in the TCEC competition, where in Season 4, it lost only eight out of its 53 games and managed to reach Stage 4 (Quarterfinals), against very strong competition which were running on eight cores (Komodo was running on a single processor).[24] In TCEC Season 5, it won the superfinal against Stockfish. It managed to reach the Superfinal in TCEC Season 6 again, but this time, it lost to Stockfish. Komodo regained the title in TCEC Season 7, defeating Stockfish in the superfinal. In TCEC Season 8, Komodo defeated Stockfish again in the superfinal.[25] Komodo won both the World Computer Chess Championship[26] and World Computer Software Championship[27] in 2016. Komodo once again won the World Computer Chess Championship[28] and World Blitz[29] in 2017. Komodo came third in TCEC Season 11 losing to Stockfish and Houdini, and came second in Season 12 losing to Stockfish.[30][31][32]

#### Chess.com Computer Chess Championship

Main Events  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

CCC 1  | 2018  | 15+5  | 4th  | [33]
CCC 2  | 2018  | 5+2  | 2nd | [34]
CCC 3  | 2019  | 30+5  | 3rd | [35]
CCC 4  | 2019  | 1+2  | 4th  | [36]
CCC 5  | 2019  | 10+5  | 4th  | [37]
CCC 6  | 2019  | 10+10  | 7th  | [38]
CCC 7  | 2019  | 5+2  | 6th  | [39]
CCC 8  | 2019  | 15+5  | 6th  | [40]
CCC 9  | 2019  | 5+2  | 5th  | [41]
CCC 10  | 2019  | 10+3  | 4th  | [42]
CCC 11  | 2019  | 30+5  | 4th  | [43]
CCC 12  | 2020  | 1+1  | 4th  | [44]
CCC 13  | 2020  | 10+5  | 4th  | [45]
CCC 14  | 2020  | 10+3  | 5th  | [46]
CCC Blitz 2020  | 2020  | 5+5  | 9th  | [47]
CCC Blitz 2021  | 2021  | 5+5  | 10th  | [48]
CCC Chess 960 Blitz  | 2021  | 5+5  | 9th  | [49]

### Dragon

#### Chess.com Computer Chess Championship

Main Events  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

CCC Blitz 2020  | 2020  | 5+5  | 3rd | [50]
CCC Rapid 2021  | 2021  | 15+3  | 3rd | [51]
CCC Blitz 2021  | 2021  | 5+5  | 3rd | [52]
CCC Chess 960 Blitz  | 2021  | 5+5  | 2nd | [53]
CCC 16: Rapid  | 2021  | 15+3  | 3rd | [54]
CCC 16: Bullet  | 2021  | 2+1  | 2nd | [55]
CCC 16: Blitz  | 2022  | 5+5  | 2nd | [56]
CCC 17: Rapid  | 2022  | 15+3  | 2nd | [57]
CCC 17: Bullet  | 2022  | 2+1  | 2nd | [58]
CCC 17: Blitz  | 2022  | 5+5  | 3rd | [59]
CCC 18: Rapid  | 2022  | 15+3  | 3rd | [60]
CCC 19: Blitz  | 2022  | 5+5  | 2nd | [61]
CCC 19: Rapid  | 2022  | 15+3  | 3rd | [62]
CCC 19: Bullet  | 2023  | 1+1  | 2nd | [63]
CCC 20: Blitz  | 2023  | 3+2  | 3rd | [64]
CCC 20: Rapid  | 2023  | 10+3  | 3rd | [65]
CCC 20: Bullet  | 2023  | 1+1  | 3rd | [66]
CCC 21: Blitz  | 2023  | 3+2  | 4th  | [67]
CCC 21: Rapid  | 2023  | 10+3  | 4th  | [68]

#### Top Chess Engine Championship

Main Events  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

Season 20  | 2020  | 60+7  | 3rd | [69]
Season 21  | 2021  | 90+9  | 3rd | [70]
Season 22  | 2022  | 120+12  | 2nd | [71]
Season 23  | 2022  | 60+6  | 3rd | [72]
Season 24  | 2023  | 60+6  | 3rd | [73]
Season 25  | 2023  | 60+6  | 3rd | [74]

Cup  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

Cup 8  | 2021  | 30+5  | 3rd | [75]
Cup 9  | 2021  | 30+5  | 3rd | [76]
Cup 10  | 2022  | 30+3  | 2nd | [77]
Cup 11  | 2023  | 30+3  | 3rd | [78]

Fischer random chess (FRC)  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

FRC 3  | 2021  | 30+5  | 1st | [79]
FRC 4  | 2022  | 30+5  | 3rd | [80]

Swiss  Event | Year | Time Controls | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

Swiss 1  | 2021  | 45+7  | 1st | [81]
Swiss 2  | 2022  | 45+7  | 1st | [82]
Swiss 3  | 2022  | 45+4.5  | 4th  | [83]
Swiss 4  | 2023  | 30+3  | 2nd | [84]

## Notable games

Script error: No such module "Chessboard".

* Komodo vs Hannibal, nTCEC - Stage 2b - Season 1, Round 4.1, ECO: A10, 1–0 Komodo sacrifices an exchange for positional gain.[85]
* Gull vs Komodo, nTCEC - Stage 3 - Season 2, Round 2.2, ECO: E10, 0–1 [85][86]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Frequently Asked Questions". https://komodochess.com/store/pages.php?cmsid=20.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Chess.com Acquires Komodo; Launches New 'Monte Carlo' Version Similar To AlphaZero". Chess.com. 2018-05-24. https://www.chess.com/news/view/chess-com-acquires-komodo-launches-new-monte-carlo-version-similar-to-alphazero.
3. ↑ "Available Versions of Komodo". https://komodochess.com/downloads.htm.
4. ↑ "CCRL 40/40 Rating List — All engines (best versions only)". computerchess.org.uk. Archived on October 2, 2011. Error: If you specify `|archivedate=`, you must also specify `|archiveurl=`. http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/4040.live/.
5. ↑ "IPON Rating List". inwoba.de. http://www.inwoba.de/bayes.html. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
6. ↑ "SWCR chess engine ratings list". amateurschach.de. http://www.amateurschach.de/. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
7. ↑ "CEGT Best Versions". husvankempen.de. http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn/40_40 Rating List/40_40 MPVersion/rangliste.html.
8. ↑ "CCRL 40/4 Rating List". CCRL. http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/404/. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
9. ↑ Dailey, Don. "Komodo 1.0 JA by Don Dailey available". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31903. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
10. ↑ Dailey, Don. "Komodo 5.1 MP has been released". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=521500&t=48316. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
11. ↑ Dailey, Don. "Komodo CCT". http://komodochess.com/komodoCCT-31a. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
12. ↑ Dailey, Don. "Komodo release". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=537479&t=49623. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
13. ↑ Dailey, Don. "Who is Don/Larry's new partner!?". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=537479&t=49623. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
14. ↑ Kaufman, Larry. "Komodo TCEC released.". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50324.
15. ↑ "Komodo 7". https://komodochess.com/Komodo7-38a.htm.
16. ↑ "Komodo 12 Chess Engine - Official Site". https://komodochess.com/Komodo12.htm.
17. ↑ "Komodo 14 Chess Engine". https://komodochess.com/Komodo14.htm. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
18. ↑ Sam Copeland (2020-11-10). "Komodo Releases Powerful New 'Dragon' Chess Engine". https://www.chess.com/news/view/komodo-releases-powerful-new-dragon-chess-engine. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
19. ↑ "Dragon Chess Engine - Official Site". https://komodochess.com/dragon.htm.
20. ↑ Larry Kaufman. "Dragon by Komodo Chess". https://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75748.
21. ↑ "Dragon Chess Engine - Official Site". https://komodochess.com/dragon-3.2.htm. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
22. ↑ Larry Kaufman. "KomodoChess and chess.com". https://talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=81715.
23. ↑ Skinner, Peter. "CCT15 - Results". http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47309. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
24. ↑ "Komodo - Performance". http://chess.martijngrimme.nl/engine.php?engine=Komodo. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
25. ↑ "TCEC - Top Chess Engine Championship - Archive Mode". http://tcec.chessdom.com/archive.php.
26. ↑ "WCCC2016". https://icga.leidenuniv.nl/?page_id=1676.
27. ↑ "WCSC 2016". https://icga.leidenuniv.nl/?page_id=1679.
28. ↑ "WCSC 2017". https://icga.leidenuniv.nl/?page_id=1990.
29. ↑ "World Bltz 2017". https://icga.leidenuniv.nl/?page_id=1994.
30. ↑ "TCEC Season 11 final standings – Chessdom". http://www.chessdom.com/tcec-season-11-final-standings/.
31. ↑ "Stockfish convincingly wins TCEC Season 11 – Chessdom". http://www.chessdom.com/stockfish-convincingly-wins-tcec-season-11/.
32. ↑ "TCEC Season 12 Superfinal 2018". https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/tcec-2018-season-12-superfinal.
33. ↑ "CCC 1". https://www.chess.com/news/view/stockfish-wins-computer-chess-championship-rapid-lc0-finishes-3rd-3887.
34. ↑ "CCC 2". https://www.chess.com/news/view/stockfish-wins-computer-chess-championship-blitz.
35. ↑ "CCC 3". https://www.chess.com/news/view/stockfish-wins-rapid-computer-championship-over-lc0-bullet-chess-next.
36. ↑ "CCC 4". https://www.chess.com/news/view/stockfish-wins-computer-chess-championship-bullet-escalation-next.
37. ↑ "CCC 5". https://cccfiles.chess.com/archive/tournament-17847.pgn.
38. ↑ "CCC 6". https://www.chess.com/news/view/stockfish-faces-lc0-in-computer-chess-championship-finals.
39. ↑ "CCC 7". https://www.chess.com/news/view/computer-chess-championship-playing-blitz-after-stockfish-defends-title.
40. ↑ "CCC 8". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-8-deep-dive.
41. ↑ "CCC 9 Semifinals". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-9-the-gauntlet-semifinals.
42. ↑ "CCC 10 Semifinals". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc10-semifinals.
43. ↑ "CCC 11 Semifinals". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc11-semifinals.
44. ↑ "CCC 12". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc1211-komodo-vs-scorpio.
45. ↑ "CCC 13 Semifinals". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc13-semifinals.
46. ↑ "CCC 14". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc1425-stoofvlees-vs-komodo.
47. ↑ "CCC Blitz Championship 2020". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-blitz-championship-2020.
48. ↑ "CCC Blitz Championship 2021". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-blitz-championship-2021.
49. ↑ "CCC Chess 960 Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-chess-960-blitz-championship.
50. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship Blitz 2020". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-blitz-championship-2020-semifinals.
51. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship Rapid 2021". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-rapid-2021-elite-round.
52. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship Blitz 2021". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-blitz-championship-2021-semifinals.
53. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship Chess 960 Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-chess-960-blitz-championship-finals.
54. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 16: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-16-rapid-semifinals.
55. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 16: Bullet". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-16-bullet-finals.
56. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 16: Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-16-blitz-finals.
57. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 17: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-17-rapid-finals.
58. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 17: Bullet". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-17-bullet-finals.
59. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 17: Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-17-blitz-challenger.
60. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 18: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-18-rapid-semifinals.
61. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 19: Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-19-blitz-finals.
62. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 19: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-19-rapid-challenger-match.
63. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 19: Bullet". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-19-bullet-finals.
64. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 20: Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-20-blitz-challenger-match.
65. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 20: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc-20-rapid-challenger-match.
66. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 20: Bullet". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc20-bullet-challenger-match.
67. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 21: Blitz". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc21-blitz-semifinals.
68. ↑ "Computer Chess Championship CCC 21: Rapid". https://www.chess.com/computer-chess-championship#event=ccc21-rapid-semifinals.
69. ↑ "TCEC Season 20 Premier Division". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=p&game=1&season=20.
70. ↑ "TCEC Season 21 Infrafinal". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=if&game=1&season=21.
71. ↑ "TCEC Season 22 Superfinal". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sf&game=1&season=22.
72. ↑ "TCEC Season 23 Infrafinal". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=if&game=1&season=23.
73. ↑ "TCEC Season 24 Division P Playoff". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=pp&game=1&season=24.
74. ↑ "TCEC Season 25 Division P Playoff". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=pp&game=1&season=25.
75. ↑ "TCEC Cup 8". https://tcec-chess.com/#game=1&round=fl&season=cup8.
76. ↑ "TCEC Cup 9". https://tcec-chess.com/#game=1&round=fl&season=cup9.
77. ↑ "TCEC Cup 10". https://tcec-chess.com/#game=1&round=fl&season=cup10.
78. ↑ "TCEC Cup 11". https://tcec-chess.com/#game=1&round=fl&season=cup11.
79. ↑ "TCEC FRC 3". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=frc3f&game=1&season=20.
80. ↑ "TCEC FRC 4". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=frc4fl&game=1&season=21.
81. ↑ "TCEC Swiss 1". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sw1&game=1&season=20.
82. ↑ "TCEC Swiss 2". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sw2&game=1&season=21.
83. ↑ "TCEC Swiss 3". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sw3&game=1&season=22.
84. ↑ "TCEC Swiss 4". https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sw4&game=1&season=24.
85. ↑ 85.0 85.1 "Interesting Games from Season 2". Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131025194033/http://www.tcec-chess.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=182. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
86. ↑ Chen, Franklin (24 October 2013). "The computer plays the exchange sacrifice". http://chessimprover.com/the-computer-plays-the-exchange-sacrifice/. Retrieved 26 October 2013.

## External links

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