diff --git a/configs/ismcts/default.yaml b/configs/ismcts/default.yaml
index 798bdbf..a6b20bf 100644
--- a/configs/ismcts/default.yaml
+++ b/configs/ismcts/default.yaml
@@ -22,14 +22,14 @@ network:
   activation: relu
 mcts:
   n_simulations: 50
-  c_puct: 3.0
+  c_puct: 5.0
   max_depth: 200
   parallel_simulations: 64
   virtual_loss_value: 5.0
   eval_n_simulations: 16
   rollout_policy: heuristic_balanced
   root_dirichlet_alpha: 0.3
-  root_dirichlet_epsilon: 0.25
+  root_dirichlet_epsilon: 0.4
 temperature:
   training: 1.0
   eval: 0.0
diff --git a/scripts/autonomous_cycle_eval.sh b/scripts/autonomous_cycle_eval.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..31c2e9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/autonomous_cycle_eval.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Autonomous cycle eval helper.
+# Usage: ./autonomous_cycle_eval.sh <run-prefix> [extra eval args...]
+# Finds latest run matching prefix, runs eval --ckpt latest.pt with 30 games,
+# and reports: timeouts, natural-end wins per opponent.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+PREFIX="${1:-}"
+shift || true
+
+if [ -z "$PREFIX" ]; then
+    echo "usage: $0 <run-prefix> [extra eval args...]"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+RUN=$(ls -td runs/*${PREFIX}* 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+if [ -z "$RUN" ]; then
+    echo "no run matching ${PREFIX}" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+CKPT="$RUN/latest.pt"
+if [ ! -f "$CKPT" ]; then
+    echo "no checkpoint at $CKPT" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "=== eval $CKPT ==="
+uv run lost-cities-ismcts eval --ckpt "$CKPT" --games 30 --verbose "$@" 2>&1