People in the TCEC chat definitely seem to agree with the interpretation that only the top two will go to the final. It's kind of down to the wire now: current

People in the TCEC chat definitely seem to agree with the interpretation that only the top two will go to the final. It's kind of down to the wire now: currently Komodo and Houdini lead Stockfish by exactly one point, while Komodo is playing Houdini in the final game for both of them. Stockfish has exactly one game remaining (against Fire). In order to reach the final, Stockfish needs to win its game against Fire, and also Komodo and Houdini need not to draw. Then Stockfish would be tied with whichever of Komodo and Houdini loses the current game, and I guess there would be a tiebreaker prior to the final. If Komodo and Houdini draw now, they're both guaranteed to face each other in the final. People in the TCEC chat are pointing out that if they were human players, they would face a strong incentive to deliberately play for a draw or to accept one if one were offered. But presumably the software has no idea of this!