diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 7a25098..2c08f71 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -40,11 +40,15 @@ int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
     Position::InitHashNumbers();
 #if defined(PURE_HCE)
     Hce::init();
+#else
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    Evaluator::initEval(); // nothing embedded: wait for setoption name EvalFile
 #else
     if (!Evaluator::initEval()) {
         std::cout << "Fatal error: unable to load default network" << std::endl;
         return 1;
     }
+#endif
 #endif
 
     std::unique_ptr<Search> searcher(new Search);
diff --git a/src/nnue.cpp b/src/nnue.cpp
index 083df25..b91bf3f 100644
--- a/src/nnue.cpp
+++ b/src/nnue.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 #if !defined(PURE_HCE)
 #include "incbin/incbin.h"
 
-#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
+#if !defined(_MSC_VER) && !defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
 INCBIN(EmbeddedNNUE, EVALFILE);
 #endif // _MSC_VER
 
@@ -85,7 +85,10 @@ EVAL Evaluator::evaluate(Position & pos) {
 #if !defined(PURE_HCE)
 bool Evaluator::initEval()
 {
-#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    // no embedded network: it is loaded with setoption name EvalFile
+    return false;
+#elif !defined(_MSC_VER)
     class MemoryBuffer : public std::basic_streambuf<char> {
         public: MemoryBuffer(char* p, size_t n) { setg(p, p, p + n); setp(p, p + n); }
     };
@@ -96,7 +99,9 @@ bool Evaluator::initEval()
     std::ifstream stream("network_file", std::ios::binary);
 #endif
 
+#if !defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
     return initEval(stream);
+#endif
 }
 
 /*static */bool Evaluator::initEval(std::istream & stream) {
@@ -130,6 +135,30 @@ bool Evaluator::initEval()
     return stream.good() && stream.peek() == std::ios::traits_type::eof();
 }
 
+/*static */bool Evaluator::hasNetwork()
+{
+    return m_transformer && m_networks.size() == LAYERED_NETWORKS;
+}
+
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+/*static */bool Evaluator::setEvalFile(const std::string & evalFile)
+{
+    if (!evalFile.empty() && evalFile != "<empty>") {
+        std::ifstream stream(evalFile, std::ios::binary);
+
+        if (stream && initEval(stream)) {
+            std::cout << "info string network " << evalFile << " loaded" << std::endl;
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    m_transformer.reset();
+    m_networks.clear();
+    ++s_networkGeneration;
+    std::cout << "info string ERROR: unable to load network " << evalFile << ", no network loaded" << std::endl;
+    return false;
+}
+#else
 /*static */bool Evaluator::setEvalFile(const std::string & evalFile)
 {
     if (evalFile.empty() || evalFile == "<empty>") {
@@ -149,6 +178,7 @@ bool Evaluator::initEval()
     std::cout << "info string unable to load network " << evalFile << ", default network restored" << std::endl;
     return false;
 }
+#endif // IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET
 
 int Evaluator::NnueEvaluate(Position & pos) {
 
diff --git a/src/nnue.h b/src/nnue.h
index bcade6b..5c5f9cb 100644
--- a/src/nnue.h
+++ b/src/nnue.h
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ public:
     static bool initEval();
     static bool initEval(std::istream & stream);
     static bool setEvalFile(const std::string & evalFile);
+    static bool hasNetwork();
     EVAL evaluate(Position & pos);
     EVAL evaluateRaw(Position & pos);
     static EVAL fromRaw(EVAL raw, int fifty);
diff --git a/src/uci.cpp b/src/uci.cpp
index 805aa3c..fbb8e32 100644
--- a/src/uci.cpp
+++ b/src/uci.cpp
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ int Uci::handleCommands()
             onEval();
         else if (startsWith(cmd, "gen"))
             onGenerate(split(cmd));
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+        else if (std::cin) {
+            if (!cmd.empty())
+                std::cout << "info string unknown command " << cmd << std::endl;
+        }
+#endif
         else {
             std::cout << "Unknown command. Good bye." << std::endl;
             onQuit(); // important to exit when stdin is gone to prevent issues in OpenBench
@@ -150,6 +156,9 @@ void Uci::onUci()
         " max "		<< MAX_LEVEL << std::endl;
 
     std::cout << "option name UCI_Chess960 type check default false" << std::endl;
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    std::cout << "option name EvalFile type string default <empty>" << std::endl;
+#endif
 
     std::cout << "uciok" << std::endl;
 }
@@ -179,6 +188,14 @@ void Uci::onGo(commandParams params)
 
     assert(params[0] == "go");
 
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    if (!Evaluator::hasNetwork()) {
+        std::cout << "info string ERROR: no network loaded, send setoption name EvalFile value <path>" << std::endl;
+        std::cout << "bestmove 0000" << std::endl;
+        return;
+    }
+#endif
+
     TTable::instance().increaseAge();
     m_searcher.startPrincipalSearch(time, params[1] == "ponder");
 }
@@ -200,6 +217,12 @@ void Uci::onPonderHit()
 
 void Uci::onEval()
 {
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    if (!Evaluator::hasNetwork()) {
+        std::cout << "info string ERROR: no network loaded" << std::endl;
+        return;
+    }
+#endif
     std::unique_ptr<Evaluator> evaluator(new Evaluator);
     std::cout << "eval: " << evaluator->evaluate(m_searcher.m_position) << std::endl;
 }
@@ -223,6 +246,12 @@ int Uci::onBench(const char * depth, const char * evalFile)
         return 1;
     }
 #endif
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    if (!Evaluator::hasNetwork()) {
+        std::cout << "Fatal error: no network, usage: bench <depth> <network file>" << std::endl;
+        return 1;
+    }
+#endif
 
     auto & time = Time::instance();
 
@@ -356,6 +385,14 @@ void Uci::onSetOption(commandParams params)
 #endif
     else if (name == "Ponder")
         ; // nothing to do, we are stateless here
+#if defined(IGEL_EXTERNAL_NET)
+    else if (name == "EvalFile") {
+        std::string path = value;
+        for (size_t i = 5; i < params.size(); ++i)
+            path += " " + params[i];
+        Evaluator::setEvalFile(path);
+    }
+#endif
     else if (name == "UCI_Chess960")
         g_uci_chess960 = (value == "true" || value == "True" || value == "TRUE" || value == "1");
     else