Exactly one year later, we lived to see the release of the next main version of the Lc0 chess engine. This release is special, particularly for Mac users.
Lc0 chess engine logo, source: CPW
Leela Chess Zero (Lc0 for short) is a unique chess engine. It is an open source and free under the GPL 3 license.
Unlike "ordinary" engines, Lc0 is able to use the power of GPUs (graphics processing units), advanced MCTS algorithms and neural networks. The more powerful the GPU and the more advanced the neural network, the stronger Lc0 plays.
Until recently, the preferred platform was Nvidia GPUs, using which Lc0 achieved the best results - see below the CCRL ranking list - Lc0 ranks a high fourth.
Source: CCRL
With the release of Lc0 version 0.29.0, the Developers have begun support for advanced Mac computing units.
And the result is... astonishing !
On a MacBook Pro with an Apple Silicon M1 processor, Lc0 0.29.0 with a default network of 791556, after playing 1,000 games, achieved a ranking of 3403 Elo
373 Elo more than its previous version Lc0 v0.29.0-rc0 (714679) and
588 Elo more than Lc0 v0.28.2 (42850).
Source: MCERL (ongoing)
In 2022, such a spectacular increase in power on the Mac can boast no other TOP chess engine.
Heartfelt congratulations and thanks to the Lc0 Creators for such a successful leap forward :)
It is worth noting that Lc0 for Windows PCs and Nvidia GPUs has been in development for many years. And the long-awaited support of modern Macs appeared for the first time. All the more, a jump in the strength of the game by almost 400 Elo is so impressive! And what will happen in a few years? I'm already looking forward to the coming future.
I am very happy and respectful of the fact that more and more Creators are supporting modern Macs. It is very good for their users :)
And it's great news for the chess community, which is connected using in different devices :)
Lc0, in addition to being and stronger, can play beautiful chess. I already invite you to follow MCERL, where I publish games worth watching.
Download area
Android – Compiled by Lc0 Developers
Linux ARM & Intel – Compiled by Darius
Mac Apple Silicon & Intel – Compiled by Darius
Nets's for Lc0 0.29.0 – by Lc0 Developers
Windows – Compiled by Lc0 Developers