Disclaimer: the download files for dragon 3 have been updated to dragon 3.1. The dragon 3 download may still be called dragon 3.zip, but it will contain the dragon 3.1 files. (There should also be a disclaimer.txt file in the folder explaining this; The name will be fixed in time.) If you have already purchased Dragon 3, you do not need to purchase Dragon 3.1.
Introducing Dragon 3.1 by Komodo Chess
Mastermind GM Larry Kaufman will introduce Dragon 3.1 by Komodo Chess.
April 26, 2022
[July 29, 2022]
We have released Dragon 3.1 at komodochess.com, which today won the World Computer Chess Championship after a
tiebreak match with Lc0. Dragon uses NNUE (Neural Network Updated Efficiently) technology, originally developed for the game of
shogi. Komodo has a great deal of chess knowledge in its evaluation. Training an NNUE network based on this evaluation was both
an advantage and a challenge, requiring experimentation with architectures and data generation of billions of positions. The
reinforcement learning phase for Dragon is in its infancy, but is already showing great promise.
Dragon 3.1 is a huge strength improvement over Dragon 2, roughly 85 elo at blitz on eight threads and 115 elo on one (using normal
openings), about 140 elo in MCTS mode, and 160 elo when playing Fischerandom (chess960). It is a significant improvement over Dragon
2.6.1, about 25 elo on one thread blitz, about 30 elo in MCTS mode. The gains over Komodo 14.1, the last pre-dragon release
(Nov 2020), are in the 300 to 400 Elo range on one thread, depending on mode and game type, all at CCRL blitz time control
(2' + 1"). The improvement over Dragon 2 is due to a larger, "smarter", and better-trained net, to deeper search due to search
enhancements, and to parameter tuning. The improvement from Komodo to Dragon is due to the embedded neural network providing much
more accurate evaluation and also in some sense gaining an extra ply or so of search by seeing some tactics that a normal eval
can not see. Our testing also shows that Dragon is especially strong in Fischerandom (960) chess, which was confirmed when Dragon
won the TCEC FRC 2021 championship. Dragon also won the 2021 TCEC Swiss and Swiss2 championships (normal chess). We believe that
Dragon will play in a more human-like style than standard Komodo since it relies on learning what actually works in games rather
than just on pre-assigned values for eval terms.
The Skill levels have been replaced by Elo values, made much more human-like, and are now intended to correspond to human Fide
ratings in Rapid chess, so for example an 1800 FIDE rated player should be closely matched with UCI Elo 1800 at 15' + 10". In
the grandmaster range this was confirmed by test games between Elo = 2600 setting and Grandmaster Alex Lenderman. Also the
MultiPV play of standard mode is dramatically improved from the initial dragon release, on top of the actual strength gain.
Other features added since Komodo 13 include Armageddon mode, MCTS Optimism, Personalities, and Auto-Skill. Standard mode is
usually the stronger mode objectively, while MCTS mode is usually better at setting problems for human opponents as it does not
assume perfect defense, especially with more than a few seconds to consider, and is also stronger than standard mode when looking
at several lines of play at once (MultiPV).
Dragon 3.1 fixes some issues in Dragon 3 (rare time losses in standard mode and crashes in MCTS mode), adds a new feature Skill Time
(adjustible minimum time per move when using the LimitStrength (Elo) option), and with a new net and search improvements is around
10 to 20 elo stronger depending on type of book used and time control.
What is the 'one year subscription'?
This option is for chess players who need the strongest possible engine. We release updates to Dragon three to five times per year. The subscription is basically Dragon plus these 3-5 updates for a discount.
Note: this product is available for immediate download after purchase. Log in to My Account to download.
Compatable GUIs
- Chessbase
- Fritz
- Aquarium
- Chess Assistant
- Hiarcs Chess Explorer
- Shredder (Classic)
- Arena
- Tarrash
System requirements
Minimum: 64-bit processor, Pentium 4 F-series, 1024 MB ram
Recommended: Processor with AVX2 strongly recommended (most computers since 2013 have this). No need for GPU.
Operating system: Windows, Linux, Mac OSX 10.7 or higher (Android version available only from Google).
Note: the program does not include a 'chessboard'. See Installation instructions.
Description
Komodo/Dragon is three-time TCEC champion, the most prestigious online computer chess event, and has also won several CCT events and several World Championships.
Features
- Evaluation developed by a Grandmaster
- Multi-core support (up to 256 cores)
Note to people who purchased Dragon 2 or a later version on komodochess.com: Thanks for your continued support. You get a 20% discount.
The discount is applied during checkout by clicking the discount button.