Using powerful engines on a laptop is often inefficient: the machine overheats, the battery level melts like snow in the sun, and performance struggles to keep up. ChessBase has revolutionized this experience with the Engine Clouda solution that gives you phenomenal computing power without overloading your device or breaking the bank on expensive hardware.
With theEngine CloudWith the Engine Cloud, there’s no need to strain your infrastructure or portfolio. All calculations are delegated to high-performance external computers, available on demand. Your device remains silent, saves energy, and you avoid costly investments in high-end components. At the same time, you benefit from the latest technologies, thanks to the power of the cloud.
Whether you want rent computing power or even suggest yours, theEngine Cloud adapts to your needs. You can run several engines in parallel for complex analyses, all in just a few clicks.
In this article, we introduce you to two of our partner suppliers who make their engines available in the cloud, offering you unrivalled flexibility and performance:
Ranch Computing
Founded in Paris in 2006, RANCH Computing has rapidly established itself as a major player in high-performance cloud rendering services, specializing in 3D projects exploiting both CPUs (processors) and GPUs (graphics processing units). The company uses high-performance computers in the cloud to run complex 3D calculations, efficiently distributing computing tasks between processors and graphics cards to optimize performance and considerably reduce processing times.
Thanks to this expertise, RANCH Computing offers innovative solutions for 3D professionals, combining power, flexibility and efficiency.
Overview of Ranch Computing’s server room.
“We offer the most advanced hardware solutions for sale and rental,” explains Jean-Philippe Louguethead of the support team at RANCH Computing. Applying his company’s technological expertise to the field of chess was an obvious choice, as several members of the team are passionate about the game. In fact, one of the co-founders made history by creating Chess Wizarda pioneering program at the time, which was one of the world’s first non-commercial software programs. In February 1999, this “electronic assistant” beat a Grand Master at the Aubervilliers International Tournament (near Paris), achieving an impressive performance of 2656 Elo, a considerable feat at the time. The organizers, both amazed and disconcerted, decided to ban chess programs from competitions with human participants. Chess Wizard then consolidated its reputation by winning three titles at the French Computer Chess Championship (FCCC), becoming an essential reference.
Today, backed by this unique expertise in computing power, RANCH Computing offers high-performance engines at unbeatable prices, pushing back the boundaries of analysis and providing cutting-edge tools for players of all levels.
February 1999 at the Aubervilliers tournament: Chess Wizard with programmer Frédéric Louguet (co-founder of Ranch Computing) against GM Hichem Hamdouchi.
Data
Configuration AMD EPYC Turin Dual CPU (384 cores / 768 threads) equipped with 1.5 TB RAM is a true computational beast. With Stockfish 17this machine reaches about 320 million nodes per second (MN/s)and in my tests, it even exceeded 400 MN/s. This impressive performance places this configuration among the most powerful for chess analysis.
Rechenschieber
“I discovered chess while looking for tasks for my computers, which I build myself. You can never have too much computing power in computer chess,” says Lukas Cimiotti. This computer expert and member of the Rybka is a well-known figure in the chess community. He appears under the pseudonym Rechenschieber (“calculator”) on GitHuban online platform dedicated to software development. He is known for having designed a super-powerful computer cluster specialized in chess analysis. This Lukas ClusterThis multi-processor cluster played a key role in the development of the Rybka 4.
However, modern chess engines, such as StockfishThese new technologies are pushing computers to their limits, requiring optimum cooling of CPUs and voltage converters to maintain stable performance. A major turning point occurred about five years ago in the field of processors. Until then, computers equipped with two CPUs Intel Xeon were the norm. Then came the third-generation AMD Threadripper CPUswith up to 64 cores, far surpassing the Xeons that had dominated until then. At the same time, the second-generation AMD EPYC has appeared, although its initial cost was prohibitive.
“My best computers now use Fourth-generation EPYCwith 64 or 96 cores per CPU”, explains Cimiotti. Today, the fifth generation is beginning to emerge on the market, and early tests suggest a further improvement in chess performance, pushing back even further the limits of what technology can achieve in chess.
Impressions of Cimiotti’s engine room:
Conclusion
Engine Cloud offers unrivalled flexibility, especially at those decisive moments in the game when in-depth, precise analysis is required. Even with just a laptop, you can access the combined power of several high-performance machines with a single click, transforming your device into a veritable analysis powerhouse.
ChessBase Engine Cloudthanks to its extensive network of engine suppliers, is a cutting-edge tool that democratizes access to the most advanced computing power. Whether you’re an occasional player or an enthusiast, this solution enables you to harness high-level computing resources to refine your strategy and improve your game, without requiring any special technical skills.
Engine testing
Ranch Computing launches an exceptional offer with a 50% on its rental rates for the month of March. All the computers in their catalog also benefit from a halving of their usual prices. This is the ideal opportunity to explore and test a high-end machine at a very attractive cost. Take this opportunity to discover exceptional computing power without compromise!
Overview of motor suppliers – sorted by speed (MN/s).
How do I rent a motor in the cloud?
Would you like to know more about ChessBase Engine Cloud? Here’s a tutorial.
