11.09.2024
Stockfish 17: The New King of Chess Artificial Intelligence
Stockfish 17, the latest version of one of the most powerful chess engines, once again pushes the boundaries of artificial intelligence in the world of chess. For years, Stockfish has dominated the top positions in chess engine rankings, even surpassing algorithms used by giants like AlphaZero. Its success is no coincidence – Stockfish 17 is the result of collaboration between programmers, chess players, and advanced computational techniques that allow it to analyze billions of combinations in a fraction of a second. The new features and improvements introduced in this version solidify its status as a leader in the world of chess AI.
With the release of Stockfish 17, the chess world is presented with new possibilities and challenges. For players of all levels, from amateurs to grandmasters, this engine is an invaluable tool for both training and game analysis. Enhanced precision in evaluating positions, better time management, and the ability to predict even the most subtle moves make Stockfish 17 the new king of artificial intelligence in chess.
Source: https://stockfishchess.org/
On September 6, 2024, the official release of the most popular and strongest chess engine took place, and we are talking about Stockfish 17. The software is available for free on the creators' website. If you're interested in downloading the engine, click here.
From the official website, we can learn several important things about the new version of the engine. Creators discuss key aspects such as gameplay quality and the updates brought by the latest version. In tests against Stockfish 16, the new version shows an ELO increase of up to 46 points and wins 4.5 times more games than it loses. Moreover, Stockfish 17 finds more complex moves faster in difficult positions and can make optimal decisions quicker than its predecessor. It can also analyze games at least six times faster while maintaining better quality than the previous version. Thanks to its speed and accuracy in calculating variations, it has secured 1st place for the 9th consecutive time in the TCEC (Top Chess Engine Championship). Additionally, it claimed 1st place for the 24th time in bullet, blitz, and rapid tournaments, proving once again that it is the best chess engine. The engine has also been optimized to work better on lower-end devices. If you're interested in all the updates introduced in Stockfish 17, visit this page.On the talkchess.com forum, I found a post by one of the users who organized a chess engine tournament, where, unsurprisingly, Stockfish 17 emerged as the winner. Below is the table with the results achieved by each engine.
| Player | Rating | Points | Played | (%) | W | D | L | D (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.StockFish 17 | 3845 | 2234.0 | 3000 | 75.5 | 1500 | 1468 | 32 | 48.9 |
| 2.Berserk 13 | 3768 | 1944.5 | 3000 | 64.8 | 1130 | 1629 | 241 | 54.3 |
| 3.Obsidian 13 | 3722 | 1754.5 | 3000 | 58.5 | 894 | 1721 | 385 | 57.4 |
| 4.Caissa 1.20 | 3720 | 1744.0 | 3000 | 58.1 | 864 | 1760 | 376 | 58.7 |
| 5.Clover 8.0 | 3717 | 1729.5 | 3000 | 57.6 | 842 | 1775 | 383 | 59.2 |
| 6.PlentyChess 2.1.0 | 3692 | 1622.0 | 3000 | 54.1 | 747 | 1750 | 503 | 58.3 |
| 7.RubiChess | 3663 | 1497.5 | 3000 | 49.9 | 611 | 1773 | 616 | 59.1 |
| 8.Alexandria 7.0.0 | 3662 | 1491.0 | 3000 | 49.7 | 631 | 1720 | 649 | 57.3 |
| 9.Viridithas 14.0.1 | 3658 | 1473.0 | 3000 | 49.1 | 615 | 1716 | 669 | 57.2 |
Source: https://talkchess.com/viewtopic.php?t=84209&sid=9d02f90de4ae0eaa6400cc7a2b0f4035
As we can see above, Stockfish 17 completely dominates the other engines, with its losses not even reaching 40, compared to over 200 for some of its competitors. Below, I would like to present the results of Stockfish 17 based on the opponents it faced. From this table, we can infer that the toughest opponent Stockfish 17 had to face was Berserk 13.
| StockFish 17 Vs. | Games | W | D | L | (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berserk 13 | 200 | 70 | 121 | 9 | 65.3 |
| Obsidian 13 | 200 | 84 | 112 | 4 | 70.0 |
| Caissa 1.20 | 200 | 97 | 103 | 0 | 74.3 |
| Clover 8.0 | 200 | 81 | 113 | 6 | 68.8 |
| PlentyChess 2.1.0 | 200 | 93 | 106 | 1 | 73.0 |
| RubiChess | 200 | 105 | 95 | 0 | 76.3 |
| Alexandria 7.0.0 | 200 | 98 | 99 | 3 | 73.8 |
| Viridithas 14.0.1 | 200 | 102 | 95 | 3 | 74.8 |
Source: https://talkchess.com/viewtopic.php?t=84209&sid=9d02f90de4ae0eaa6400cc7a2b0f4035
I wanted to personally test Stockfish 17, so I decided to install it and play a game between Stockfish 16 and Stockfish 17. As expected, Stockfish 17 won, gradually gaining an advantage. I used the free program Arena Chess GUI to install the engine.
I would like to point out that Stockfish 17 performed exactly as the developers described. It certainly calculates variations faster and more accurately. I tried to give both engines the same amount of time to think to ensure a fair game, but the new Stockfish demonstrated its dominance over the older version.
Thank you very much for reading this article, and feel free to check out my previous posts.