KomodoTUNER: Automated Chess Engine Evaluation Tuning Framework
Automated UCI chess engine parameter tuning framework for optimizing positional evaluation weight vectors and search heuristics, engineered by Christopher Lazok.
Komodo Tuner & Picker
A specialized configuration wizard and tuner for the Komodo Chess Engine. This tool was specifically designed to streamline the "Monte Carlo Tree Search" (MCTS) workflow and was built to complement the Repertoire Generator project.
🧠 About the Engine & Tuner
The Komodo Chess Engine (originally authored by Don Dailey and GM Larry Kaufman) is now owned by Chess.com.
While many modern engines struggle with MCTS implementation, Larry Kaufman's work on Komodo remains the gold standard for providing a truly powerful, "human-like" Monte Carlo search without the typical configuration headaches.
I have attempted: Rybka, Toga, Fruit, Rebel IV, Gambit Fruit, Various NNUE Engines, LC0, CERES (a rabbit hole of Cudnn Nvida Dev), MONTE - The intended MCTS Komodo Successor (another rabbit, shockingly its a rust build with abismul speed, performance, and crashes).
I may create a 'Universal Tuner' for these engines later. However; the purpose of this project was to generate a modern 'Reperitoire'; Or to capture 'engine response likeness' my Rerperitoire tool does just that, and will work on 95% of UCI engine builds.
But the Komodo engine, has a Custom UCI. And I had to then build a Custom reperitoire generator tool just for Komodo.
Therefore; I decided why stop there and created this engine tuner just for the komodo engine.
Presets & Research
The settings and presets within this tuner are not just random defaults. They are the result of:
- Historical Analysis: Deep evaluation of Larry Kaufman’s public discussions and engine development insights over the years.
- Hardware Validation: Extensive self-tournament play across various hardware architectures and specifications to ensure optimal resource allocation (RAM/Threads).
- Standard Compliance: Rigorous research into UCI protocols and Computer Chess Engine development best practices.
🚀 Installation & Usage
Windows Users
The easiest way to run the Tuner is to download the KomodoPicker.exe from the Releases section.
- Requirements: You must have Python installed. We recommend the version available on the Windows Store.
- No Install: Simply launch the
.exeand follow the wizard.
Linux Users
Linux users are encouraged to run the provided binary or compile from source to match their specific distribution's glibc version.
🛠️ Developer & Build Info
If you wish to compile the source code yourself, ensure you have the following requirements:
Requirements / Repository Dependencies
- Python 3.10+
- PyQt6
- PyInstaller
Build Command
To create the standalone "Silent" executable (no console window), use the following command:
Open Terminal :
py -m PyInstaller --onefile --noconsole --collect-all PyQt6 --name "KomodoTuner" komodoPicker.py