Editing World Computer Chess Championship

{{Short description|Computer chess competition}}
'''World Computer Chess Championship''' ('''WCCC''') was an event held periodically from 1974 to 2024 where [[computer chess|computer]] [[chess engine]]s compete against each other. The event is organized by the ''International Computer Games Association'' (ICGA, until 2002 ICCA<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919144107/http://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/ICCA |title=chessprogramming.wikispaces.com - Organizations: ICCA |date=September 19, 2008 }}</ref>). It was often held in conjunction with the [[World Computer Speed Chess Championship]] and the [[Computer Olympiad]], a collection of computer tournaments for other board games. Instead of using engine protocols, the games are played on physical boards by human operators.

The WCCC was open to all types of computers including microprocessors, [[supercomputer]]s, [[cluster (computing)|clusters]], and dedicated chess hardware.

Due to the requirement to be present on-site, play on a physical board, and strict rules of originality, many strong programs refrain from participating in the ICGA events. As the conditions of the software championship can easily be emulated by anyone with a high-end PC, there are now privately conducted tournaments, such as [[Top Chess Engine Championship]], that have much broader attendance, as well as a larger number of games to reduce the influence of chance.

== Championship results ==
In 2007, the reigning champion [[Junior (chess program)|Junior]] declined to defend its title. <!-- see talk page for reference -->

For the 2009 edition, the rules were changed to limit platforms to commodity hardware supporting at most eight [[Multi-core|cores]],<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217144644/http://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/news_item.php?id=44 |title=ICGA - Clarification of the 8-cores rule for the WCCC |date=February 17, 2016 }}</ref> thereby excluding supercomputers and large clusters. However, this was reversed in the following year and a parallel [[World Computer Chess Championship#World Chess Software Championship|Software Championship]] was held instead; unlimited hardware is once again allowed in the championship proper.

{| class="wikitable"
!Event #
!Year
!Location
!Participants
!Winner
|-
|1
|1974
|[[Stockholm]]
|13
|[[Kaissa]]
|-
|2
|1977
|[[Toronto]]
|16
|[[Chess (Northwestern University)|Chess 4.6]]<ref name="jennings197801">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1978-01/1978_01_BYTE_03-01_The_Brains_of_Men_and_Machines#page/n107/mode/2up | title=The Second World Computer Chess Championships | work=BYTE | date=January 1978 | access-date=17 October 2013 | author=Jennings, Peter | author-link=Peter R Jennings | pages=108}}</ref>
|-
|3
|1980
|[[Linz]]
|18
|[[Belle (chess machine)|Belle]]
|-
|4
|1983
|[[New York City|New York]]
|22
|[[Cray Blitz]]
|-
|5
|1986
|[[Cologne]]
|22
|[[Cray Blitz]]
|-
|6
|1989
|[[Edmonton]]
|24
|[[Deep Thought (chess computer)|Deep Thought]]
|-
|7
|1992
|[[Madrid]]
|22
|[[ChessMachine]] ([[REBEL (chess)|Gideon]])
|-
|8
|1995
|[[Hong Kong]]
|24
|[[Fritz (chess)|Fritz]]
|-
|9
|1999
|[[Paderborn]]
|30
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
|10
|2002
|[[Maastricht]]
|18
|[[Junior (chess program)|Deep Junior]]
|-
|11
|2003
|[[Graz]]
|16
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
|12
|2004
|[[Bar-Ilan University]], [[Ramat Gan]]
|14
|[[Junior (chess program)|Deep Junior]]
|-
|13
|2005
|[[Reykjavík]]
|12
|[[Zappa (chess)|Zappa]]
|-
|14
|2006
|[[Torino]]
|18
|[[Junior (chess program)|Junior]]
|-
|15
|2007
|[[Amsterdam]]
|12
|[[Zappa (chess)|Zappa]]<ref group="wccc" name="rybka-disqualified">[[Rybka]] originally won the WCCC in 2007–2010, but was later [[Rybka#WCCC disqualification and banning|disqualified for plagiarising code in a controversial decision]].</ref>
|-
|16
|2008
|[[Beijing]]
|10
|[[HIARCS]]<ref group="wccc" name="rybka-disqualified"/>
|-
|17
|2009
|[[Pamplona]]
|10
|[[Junior (chess program)|Junior]], [[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]], [[Sjeng (chess)|Sjeng]]<ref group="wccc" name="rybka-disqualified"/>
|-
|18
|2010
|[[Kanazawa, Ishikawa|Kanazawa]]
|10
|[[Zappa (chess)|Rondo]], Thinker<ref group="wccc" name="rybka-disqualified"/>
|-
|19
|2011
|[[Tilburg]]
|9
|[[Junior (chess program)|Junior]]
|-
|20
|2013
|[[Yokohama]]
|6
|[[Junior (chess program)|Junior]]
|-
|21
|2015
|[[Leiden]]
|9
|[[Jonny (chess)|Jonny]]
|-
|22
|2016
|[[Leiden]]
|6
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|-
|23
|2017
|[[Leiden]]
|4
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|-
|24
|2018
|[[Stockholm]]
|8
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|-
|25
|2019
|[[Macau]]
|6
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|-
|26{{efn|In 2020 and 2021 there were no events due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].}}
|2022
|[[Vienna]]
|5
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo Dragon]], [[Leela Chess Zero]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icga.org/?page_id=3542|title=ICGA - WCCC 2022}}</ref>
|-
|27
|2023
|[[Valencia]]
|4
|Stoofvlees<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~jonathan/WCCC2023/WCCC/wccc.html|title=WCCC 2023 Valencia}}</ref>
|-
|28
|2024
|[[Santiago de Compostela]]
|9
|Jonny, Stoofvlees, Raptor
|}

<references group="wccc"/>

==World Chess Software Championship==
From 2010 a new tournament was introduced and held at the same location and during the same period as the World Computer Chess Championship. The rules for the '''World Chess Software Championship'''  ('''WCSC''') state that competing programs must run on machines with identical hardware specifications. Time control is game in 45 minutes with 15 second increment.<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140615061042/http://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/World+Chess+Software+Championship |title=chessprogramming.wikispaces.com - WCCC Announcement |date=June 15, 2014 }}</ref><ref>[http://hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2683&sid=bac3b22ee9b7cfff9f9f0a8d553d3b08 HIARCS.net - announcement of new tournament]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
!Event #
!Year
!Location
!Participants
!Winner
!Hardware
|-
|1
|2010
|[[Kanazawa, Ishikawa|Kanazawa]]
|9
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|Intel quad core Xeon 2.66&nbsp;GHz, 8MB Hash<ref>[http://chesscentral.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/shredder-wins-2010-world-computer-chess-software-championship/ ChessCentral report on 2010 World Chess Software Championship]</ref>
|-
|2
|2011
|[[Tilburg]]
|5
|[[HIARCS]]
|Intel Core2 Duo, 1.7&nbsp;GHz, 2MB Hash 
|-
|3
|2013
|[[Yokohama]]
|6
|[[HIARCS]]
|Intel quad core i7, 2.7&nbsp;GHz, 16MB Hash
|-
|4
|2015
|[[Leiden]]
|8
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]] 
|Intel quad core i7, 2.7&nbsp;GHz, 16MB Hash<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icga.org/?page_id=1413|title=ICGA - WCSC 2015}}</ref>
|-
|5
|2016
|[[Leiden]]
|7
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|Intel quad core i7, 3.4&nbsp;GHz, 16MB Hash <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icga.org/?page_id=1679|title=ICGA - WCSC 2016}}</ref>
|-
|6
|2017
|[[Leiden]]
|7
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|Intel quad core i7, 3.4&nbsp;GHz, 16MB Hash
|-
|7
|2018
|[[Stockholm]]
|9
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|Intel quad core i7, 1.8&nbsp;GHz, 16MB Hash
|-
|8
|2019
|[[Macau]]
|6
|[[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]]
|Intel Pentium Silver N5000, 4 GB RAM
|-
|9{{efn|In 2020 and 2021 there were no events due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].}}
|2022
|[[Vienna]]
|6
|[[Fritz (chess)|Ginkgo]]
|[[subnotebook]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icga.org/?page_id=3539|title=ICGA - WCSC 2022}}</ref>
|-
|10
|2023
|[[Valencia]]
|4
|[[Fritz (chess)|Fritz]]
|AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, NVIDIA GT710<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=82293&start=30|title=Talkchess - WCCC 2023?}}</ref>
|-
|11
|2024
|[[Santiago de Compostela]]
|9
|Rofchade
|Intel i5-14400 with 16GB RAM
|}

== World Microcomputer Chess Championship==

From 1980 to 2001, the ICCA/ICGA organized a separate cycle of championships limited to programs running on [[microprocessor]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/competition.php?id=2 |title=ICGA - World Microcomputer Chess Championship 1980 - 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622104123/https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/competition.php?id=2 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 }}</ref> In the first three championships, the winners were dedicated chess computers, and then in 1984, Richard Lang's Psion program shared first place, running on an [[IBM PC]] under [[MS-DOS]].

At the 14th WMCCC in Jakarta, the [[Israel]]i team [[Junior (chess program)|Junior]] was denied entry to [[Indonesia]] and some other teams dropped out in protest.

The 16th WMCCC was the same as the 9th WCCC above.

{| class="wikitable"
!Event #
!Year
!Location
!Participants
!Winner
|-
|1
|1980
|[[London]]
|12
|Fidelity Chess Challenger
|-
|2
|1981
|[[Travemünde]]
|8
|Fidelity X
|-
|3
|1983
|[[Budapest]]
|15
|Fidelity Elite A/S
|-
|4
|1984
|[[Glasgow]]
|12
|Fidelity Elite X, [[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]], Princhess X, Psion
|-
|5
|1985
|[[Amsterdam]]
|6 / 5
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]] / Nona
|-
|6
|1986
|[[Dallas]]
|6
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]]
|-
|7
|1987
|[[Rome]]
|2 / 7
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]] / Psion
|-
|8
|1988
|[[Almería]]
|2 / 7
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]]
|-
|9
|1989
|[[Portorož]]
|9
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]]
|-
|10
|1990
|[[Lyon]]
|12
|[[Mephisto (chess computer)|Mephisto]]
|-
|11
|1991
|[[Vancouver, Canada]]
|15
|[[ChessMachine]] ([[REBEL (chess)|Gideon]])
|-
|12
|1993
|[[Munich]]
|28
|[[HIARCS]]
|-
|13
|1995
|[[Paderborn]], [[Germany]]
|33
|[[MChess Pro]] 5.0
|-
|14
|1996
|[[Jakarta]]
|27
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
|15
|1997
|[[Paris]]
|34
|[[Junior (chess program)|Junior]]
|-
|16
|1999
|[[Paderborn]], [[Germany]]
|30
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
|17
|2000
|[[London]]
|14
|[[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
|18
|2001
|[[Maastricht]]
|18
|[[Junior (chess program)|Deep Junior]]
|}

==See also==
* [[ICGA Journal]] - Academic journal published by the ICGA
* [[Chess engine]]
* [[Computer chess]]
* [[Computer Olympiad]]
* [[World Computer Speed Chess Championship]]
* [[North American Computer Chess Championship]]
* [[Chess.com#Chess.com Computer Chess Championship|Chess.com Computer Chess Championship]]
* [[Top Chess Engine Championship]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://icga.org/ Official website of the International Computer Games Association (ICGA)]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=209 ICGA - Kanazawa - 18th WCCC 2010]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=192 ICGA - Pamplona - 17th WCCC 2009]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=178 ICGA - Beijing - 16th WCCC 2008]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=173 ICGA - Amsterdam - 15th WCCC 2007]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=16 ICGA - Torino - 14th WCCC 2006]
*[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/tournament.php?id=21 ICGA - Reykjavik - 13th WCCC 2005]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406212336/http://www.chess.at/turniere/turniere2003/chess003/ |title=Austrian Chess Federation - WCCC 2003 at Graz |date=April 06, 2004 }}

{{Chess international championships}}
{{Chess|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:World championships in chess|Computer]]
[[Category:Computer chess competitions]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1974]]