Answers.Body: <p>People use Stockfish because:</p>
  <ol>
  <li>It's free.</li>
  <li>It's the strongest engine. See <a href="http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/4040/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CCRL</a> for rating list and the fact that Stockfish has been crushing every other engine in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chess_Engine_Championship#TCEC_Seasons" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Top Chess Engine Championship</a>.</li>
  </ol>
  <p>However: if you're at the level where you don't care about making the best move but rather the move that takes your opponent out of their comfort zone (i.e., you are in the upper echelons of chess skill), then engine strength matters less than the diversity of moves that the engine might suggest. In that case having a wide variety of engines is good, and Stockfish becomes one of many possible tools at your disposal.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-07-07T12:18:03.817Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-07-07T12:18:03.817Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Allure
Body: <p>I personally use Komodo most of the time, but lots of people use stockfish. What are the differences between engines and what do they help you improve on better compared to other engines.</p>
  <p>Tl;DR Where do Stockfish and Komodo excel in?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-07-07T17:13:56.390Z
Comments.Text: This is not a discussion site. We ask specific questions to which there are definite answers. Your question does not fit.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-07-07T18:39:39.773Z
Comments.Text: @Brian Towers Why? Where can I read what belongs on this website and what doesn’t?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Matthew
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-07-07T19:28:40.287Z
Comments.Text: There is a Help Tour here - https://chess.stackexchange.com/tour and more comprehensive help here - https://chess.stackexchange.com/help.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-07-07T19:52:16.250Z
Comments.Text: IMO (and maybe only my opinion), this question has potential. Maybe the community would like the question better if it was narrowed down to something about the strengths and weaknesses of Stockfish vs the strengths & weaknesses of Komodo. Maybe a 3rd engine would fit, but - as the link in Allure's answer shows - there are literally hundreds of engines, and that's too much to discuss in this forum.
Comments.UserDisplayName: GreenMatt
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-07-08T00:31:04.507Z
Comments.Text: Before Stockfish had NNUE, people used Leela Zero because its board evaluation was (supposedly) more human-like in positional play. I'm not sure about now.
Comments.UserDisplayName: qwr
Tags: <engines><learning><stockfish>
Title: What are the strengths of different Chess Engines?
ThreadText: # What are the strengths of different Chess Engines?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-07)
  
  I personally use Komodo most of the time, but lots of people use stockfish. What are the differences between engines and what do they help you improve on better compared to other engines.
  
  Tl;DR Where do Stockfish and Komodo excel in?
  
  **Tags:** engines, learning, stockfish
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: This is not a discussion site. We ask specific questions to which there are definite answers. Your question does not fit.  
  > **username_2**: @username_1 Why? Where can I read what belongs on this website and what doesn’t?  
  > **username_1**: There is a Help Tour here - https://chess.stackexchange.com/tour and more comprehensive help here - https://chess.stackexchange.com/help.  
  > **username_3**: IMO (and maybe only my opinion), this question has potential. Maybe the community would like the question better if it was narrowed down to something about the strengths and weaknesses of Stockfish vs the strengths & weaknesses of Komodo. Maybe a 3rd engine would fit, but - as the link in username_5's answer shows - there are literally hundreds of engines, and that's too much to discuss in this forum.  
  > **username_4**: Before Stockfish had NNUE, people used Leela Zero because its board evaluation was (supposedly) more human-like in positional play. I'm not sure about now.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2023-07-07. Score: 2
  
  People use Stockfish because:
  
  1. It's free.
  2. It's the strongest engine. See [CCRL](http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/4040/) for rating list and the fact that Stockfish has been crushing every other engine in the [Top Chess Engine Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chess_Engine_Championship#TCEC_Seasons).
  
  However: if you're at the level where you don't care about making the best move but rather the move that takes your opponent out of their comfort zone (i.e., you are in the upper echelons of chess skill), then engine strength matters less than the diversity of moves that the engine might suggest. In that case having a wide variety of engines is good, and Stockfish becomes one of many possible tools at your disposal.
  
  
  ---
  
  