Torch

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Torch,
A chess engine announced by Chess.com in 2023, intended as own development for their online chess platform, which played before as Mystery Engine at CCCC. With a team consisting of developers and advisors from Chess.com, OpenBench and Komodo.

The team behind Torch is composed of Andrew Grant (author of Ethereal), Finn Eggers & Kim Kåhre (authors of Koivisto), Jay Honnold (author of Berserk), and Michael Whiteley & Dietrich Kappe (current authors of Dragon). The former authors of Dragon, Mark Lefler and Larry Kaufman, are advisors on this project. The development of Torch is supported by many open-source tools, including Pytorch-NNUE, Cutechess, and OpenBench. Torch developers have stated that the entire source code of Torch is original, with no code being used from any other engine.

Torch is a close source without public release as a standalone chess engine. Since October 18, 2023, it has been available on the chess.com platform in analysis mode and offers a faster lightweight and full-feature neural network. On March 20, 2024, Tourch 2 was released unofficially . On June 19, 2024, Andrew Grant announced the focus of future Torch development as Chess.com power tool instead of Elo strength.

Release Dates

2023

• Torch 1.0 - July 17, 2023
• Announcing Torch: New #2 Chess Engine on Chess.com, July 17, 2023.
• Enlighten Your Analysis With Torch, The New Top Engine Now Available On Chess.com on Chess.com, October 18, 2023

2024

• Torch 2.0 - March 20, 2024

Authors

• Andrew Grant
• Finn Eggers
• Kim Kåhre
• Jay Honnold
• Michael Whiteley
• Dietrich Kappe
• Mark Lefler
• Larry Kaufman

See also

• Chess.com
• Dragon by Komodo Chess
• OpenBench

Forum Posts

2020 ...

• Mystery chess engine by Dmitry Frosty, CCC, April 19, 2023
• Mystery engine at CCC by Sam Davis, CCC, May 22, 2023
• Mystery BEATS Dragon! by Dmitry Frosty, CCC, July 12, 2023
• Torch now on Chess.com! by Brian D. Smith, CCC, October 18, 2023
• Torch 2 is here by Stefan Pohl, CCC, March 20, 2024
• End of the Torch Experiement by Andrew Grant, CCC, June 18, 2024

Rating Lists

Torch in CCRL Blitz

References

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