Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!news.mathworks.com!udel!news.sprintlink.net!news.us.net!usenet From: pribut@us.net (Stephen M. Pribut) Newsgroups: rec.games.chess.misc,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: rec.games.chess.misc FAQ [3/4] Followup-To: poster Date: 29 Jun 1995 20:54:31 GMT Organization: US Net Lines: 770 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Expires: 1995/07/15 Message-ID: <3sv3u7$qtu@news.us.net> Reply-To: pribut@us.net NNTP-Posting-Host: endbd.laurel.us.net Content-Type: Text/Plain Summary: FAQ of the rec.games.chess Computer Software Keywords: chess FAQ Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.games.chess.misc:341 rec.answers:12947 news.answers:47338 Last-Modified: 1995/06/026 Archive-Name: games/chess/part3 Chess FAQ rec.games.chess.misc FAQ part 3/4 See part 1 for information on how to obtain this document. Publicly available material [19] Material Available via Anonymous FTP Commercially available playing or material [20] Chess-Playing Computers [21] Chess-Playing Software [22] Database Software ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: [19] Material Available via Anonymous FTP FTP is a way of copying files between networked computers. Information on it is available via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in the file /pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-sources. If you do not know how to use anonymous FTP or do not have access to it, you can retrieve the file by sending an e-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" as the body of the message. (Send a message containing "help" for general information on the server.) Or, see the posting titled "How to find sources (READ THIS BEFORE POSTING)" in the news groups comp.sources.wanted or news.answers. Information on what the various compression extensions mean (like ".Z") and what utilities are available to deal with them can be found in the comp.compression FAQ list (see the posting in comp.compression or news.answers titled "comp.compression Frequently Asked Questions," or get /pub/usenet/news.answers/compression-faq/* from rtfm.mit.edu). Miscellaneous. A general repository for chess-related material is somewhat associated with the Internet Chess Server (ICS). Currently, the 'ICS FTP host' is caissa.onenet.net. Material is in the pub/chess directory. New material may be placed in pub/chess/uploads. Many freeware chess programs for different platforms, including graphical ICS (see [17]) clients, are available (e.g., for MS-DOS, MacOS, AmigaOS, NeXT, and UNIX vt100 or X Windows interfaces). Scores of various matches and other groups of games as well. Follows is an outline of some of the available directories on ICS: pub/chess: general chess directory pub/chess/PGN: Portable Game Notation directory pub/chess/PGN/Standard: ASCII version of the PGN Standard pub/chess/PGN/Standard.TOC: Table of Contents for above pub/chess/PGN/Events: directory of directories of events by year pub/chess/PGN/Players: directory with many PGN games by player pub/chess/Tests: directory with many chess program test positions pub/chess/Tests/Manifest: description of EPD test files pub/chess/TB: endgame tablebases pub/chess/TB/README-TB: tablebase decyphering documentation pub/chess/TB/tbt.c: ANSI C tablebase test harness pub/chess/PGN/Tools: PGN tools and utilities directory pub/chess/Unix/SAN.tar.gz: Standard Algebraic Notation source kit Chaos. A chess tournament pairing program (Swiss pairing as well as Round Robin), GNU General Public License, runs on the Commodore-Amiga, available from AmiNet mirrors (e.g., wuarchive.wustl.edu), under /pub/aminet/game/think. GNU chess. Gnuchess is a freely available chess-playing software program. Gnuchess 4.0 can be FTP'ed from prep.ai.mit.edu, export.lcs.mit.edu, and probably other sites. It can be compiled for X Windows (with XBoard, below), SunView, curses, IBM PC character set, or ASCII interfaces. Included in the package are the utilities gnuan (analysis program), game (PostScript printout), postprint (prints hashfile), checkgame (checks a game listing for illegal moves), and checkbook (checks the opening book for illegal moves). It has been posted to gnu.chess. Chess Assistant ftp site in Russia: Games in chess assistant format: FTP access on site : ldis.cs.msu.su or 158.250.10.196 User : Anonymous MainDir : /PROJECTS/FTP/CA-DATA/OUTGOING LaTex chess macros. Piet Tutelaers' (rcpt@rwc.urc.tue.nl) chess LaTex package (version 1.2) may be FTP'ed from sol.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.5); please restrict access to weekends or evenings. A server can answer e-mail requests (put "send HELP" as the message to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl). Get TEX/chess12.*. See [23]. Notation. Notation is a chess game score preprocessor written by Henry Thomas (hthomas@irisa.fr). It reads chess games, either in full algebraic or shortened notation (i.e., Nf1-g3 or f1g3 or Ng3) and is able to output the games and/or the board at any move, in ASCII, PostScript, TeX, or nroff. It also can generate output for the gnuan and XBoard programs. It is multi-lingual for piece identification; understanding French, English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, etc. The program also handles variations and symbolized comments. It works fine on UNIX (Sun SPARCstation and Sun-3). It uses standard C, and function declarations are done in both K&R-C and ANSI-C. It won't be difficult to compile for MS-DOS with MSC. Sources have been posted to comp.sources.misc. You can also get them from Mr. Thomas by e-mail. They may be FTP'ed from wuarchive.wustl.edu, in /usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume28/notation/*.Z (European users use garbo.uwasa.fi). Chess notation tool kit. The Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN) Kit chess programming C source tool kit is designed to help chess software efforts by providing common routines for move notation I/O, move generation, move execution, and various useful position manipulation services. There are substantial additions to the previous version which include a standard position notation scheme along with some benchmarking tests. A main program is included which gives sample calls for the various routines. Simple I/O functions are also provided. A clever programmer needs only to add a search and an evaluation function to produce a working chessplaying program. A programmer who already has the source to a chessplaying program may improve it further by including tool kit routines as needed for standardization. The author of this package is Steven J. Edwards (sje@mv.mv.com). The SAN Kit may be retrieved from the 'ICS FTP host'as: ftp://ics.onenet.net/pub/chess/Unix/SAN.tar.gz. XBoard. XBoard is an X11/R4-based user interface for GNU Chess or ICS. As an interface to GNU Chess, XBoard lets you play a game against the machine, set up arbitrary positions, force variations, or watch a game between two machines. As an interface to the ICS, XBoard lets you play against other ICS users or observe games they are playing. You can also use XBoard as a chessboard to review or analyze games. It will read a game file or allow you to play through a variation manually. This is useful for keeping track of email postal games, browsing games off the net, or reviewing GNU Chess and ICS games you have saved. Beginning with version 2.0, Tim Mann has taken over development of XBoard. The program can be FTP'ed from the 'ICS FTP host.' ------------------------------ Subject: [20] Chess-Playing Computers & Software There are numerous dedicated chess-playing computers available commercially, as well as chess-playing software for various personal computers. Prices vary from perhaps $10,000 for the most expensive dedicated computer to perhaps $30 for the cheapest software (see [20]). The differences are basically how strong the machine (or software) plays, and the other features it has to offer (e.g., for dedicated machines: size of board, wood/plastic, autosensory or "push the pieces," etc.). When purchasing a chess computer or software, it is best to buy something which plays at least 300 points above your rating. The Swedish list ratings are ELO ratings. ELO ratings may be lower than USCF ratings by 50 to 250 points. The 2431 rating of "Genius" is estimated to be approximately the equivalent of 2650 USCF rating. A computer may assist in your learning in many ways. One of the best uses is to auto-analyze your own games. Find out where you have erred and what better lines were available. You may also set up positions that are of interest or play out lines against the computer. If you are working on a specific opening, you may play a vairiety of continuations against the computer. Both middle game and endgame practice are also useful. Set up positions that are in the instructional books you are reading. Playing against the computer is excellent practise. Most people recommend setting up a board, rather than just keeping the position on screen. Unless of course you are cramming for the ICS. The level of play now attainable on your personal computer has reached that of being able to win against master level and above players. Even world champion super-GM Garry Kasparov has lost to more than one chess software program which would be available to anyone. (Fritz and Genius in speed play) Recently on ICC a GM lost 4 to 5 five minute blitz games in a row to Chess Genius playing on a Pentium. He tried to win using tactics rather than postional strategy. These were casual games, to be sure, but, none the less, computer chess has come a long way since David Levy, in 1968, made a bet that a computer could not, within 10 years win a match against him. In 1975, David Levy was able to undertake, and come out well ahead, in a simultaneous exhibition against 12 chess computers. I don't think any GM would enjoy doing that now. In several books David Levy and Raymond Keene detail their strategy to win against computer opponents. They suggest avoiding tactics, concentrating instead on postiional advantages and using long term strategy to slowly build an advantage. Some of their suggestions include: allowing your computer opponent to castle first, then castle on the opposite wing and launch a pawn storm. Software programs typically use a wide band width brute force search, combined with an in depth search for tactically active lines. Sources of information on computer chess may be found in: _The Computer Chess Gazette_, Box 2841, Laguna Hills, CA 92654. 714-770-8532. Focuses on computer chess. _Computer Chess Reports_ published quarterly by ICD Corp., 21 Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station, NY 11746. Phone 800-645-4710. Subscriptions are $12/year. Focuses on computer chess, and rates dedicated chess-playing computers and software. The main contributor is IM Larry Kaufman. _Chess Skill in Man and Machine; Editor Peter Frey. Springer-Verlag. 1983. _How to Beat your Chess Computer_. Ray Keene and David Levy. Batsford Chess Library. 1991. Here's the latest SSDF-rating list from Sweden. The SSSDf are using new autotesting equipment. The 2.400+ rating achieved by Chess Genius 3.0 (Pentium 90) is the highest rating ever achieved by any program in SSDF's history! (approx. 2.650 USCF!) The following list was supplied by Mads Brevik, computer science student at Kongsberg College of Engineering.(mads2bacchus.kih.no) \ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SSDF RATING LIST 1995-03-03 41803 games played by 136 computers Rating + - Games Won Oppo ------ --- --- ----- --- ---- 1 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2440 53 -48 221 71% 2279 2 MChess Pro 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2418 62 -57 150 65% 2306 3 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2362 35 -33 448 66% 2244 4 MChess Pro 4.0 486/50-66 MHz 2352 36 -34 417 64% 2249 5 Mephisto Genius 2.0 486/50-66 MHz 2344 31 -30 561 63% 2248 6 Rebel 6.0 486/50-66 MHz 2324 31 -30 559 63% 2233 7 Hiarcs 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2319 41 -41 289 53% 2299 8 WChess 486/50-66 MHz 2313 50 -49 200 51% 2308 9 Chess Machine 30-32 MHz Schroder 3.1 2308 33 -31 508 69% 2167 10 Ch.Machine 30 MHz King 2.0 aggr/R30 off 2307 24 -23 984 69% 2169 11 Chessmaster 4000 486/50-66 MHz 2299 37 -35 408 68% 2170 12 MChess Pro 3.5 486/50-66 MHz 2293 30 -29 574 60% 2221 13 Chess Genius 1.0 486/50-66 MHz 2284 31 -30 540 62% 2198 14 Mephisto Gideon Pro 486/50-66 MHz 2279 37 -35 393 63% 2182 15 MChess Pro 3.12 486/50-66 MHz 2274 37 -34 427 71% 2121 16 Fritz 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2260 32 -31 491 60% 2188 17 Chess Genius 1.0 486/33 MHz 2242 39 -39 321 53% 2220 18 Berlin Pro 68 020 24 MHz 2240 39 -38 340 62% 2155 19 Kallisto 1.82-1.83 486/50-66 MHz 2236 29 -28 595 53% 2214 20 Mephisto Vancouver 68030 36 MHz 2234 37 -34 451 73% 2058 21 MChess Pro 3.12 486/33 MHz 2233 50 -48 208 60% 2159 22 Mephisto RISC 1 MB ARM 2 14 MHz 2210 24 -24 870 63% 2117 23 Kasparov SPARC 20 MHz 2209 31 -30 534 57% 2158 24 Hiarcs Master 2.0 486/33 MHz 2208 46 -46 229 51% 2199 25 Saitek RISC 2500 ARM2 14 MHz 128K 2198 24 -23 902 60% 2124 26 Chess Machine Schrder 512K ARM2 16MHz 2197 27 -26 699 62% 2112 27 Chess Machine The King 512K ARM2 16MHz 2180 33 -32 461 57% 2134 28 Mephisto Vancouver 68020 12 MHz 2164 25 -24 904 70% 2016 29 Socrates 3.0 486/33 MHz 2149 49 -50 203 47% 2170 30 Fritz 2.0 486/33 MHz 2145 33 -33 447 50% 2148 31 Mephisto Berlin 68 000 12 MHz 2124 26 -25 773 60% 2049 32 Fidelity Elite 68030 32 MHz (vers.9) 2122 40 -37 372 73% 1952 33 Mephisto Vancouver 68000 12 MHz 2103 23 -23 931 57% 2050 34 Novag Sapphire H8 10 MHz 2087 32 -31 521 63% 1992 35 Hiarcs Master 1.0 486/33 MHz 2074 48 -48 214 48% 2090 36 Fritz 1.0 486/33 MHz 2043 48 -47 215 55% 2010 37 Nimzo 2.2.1 486/33 MHz 2037 46 -47 229 42% 2092 38 Zarkov 3.0 486/25-33 MHz 2034 46 -48 232 39% 2113 39 Rex Chess 2.3 386/25-33 MHz 2030 65 -62 126 59% 1965 40 Kasparov Brute Force H8 10 MHz 2020 25 -25 772 51% 2013 41 Novag Diablo 68000 16 MHz 2007 22 -22 1016 43% 2056 42 Fidelity Mach III 68000 16 MHz 1994 14 -14 2399 52% 1980 43 Complete Chess System 486/33 MHz 1986 47 -47 221 47% 2008 44 Mephisto MM 5 6502 5 MHz 1981 20 -20 1215 49% 1986 45 Mephisto Polgar 6502 5 MHz 1972 17 -17 1693 42% 2032 46 Kasparov President/GK-2100 H8 10 MHz 1962 37 -37 349 51% 1951 47 Mephisto Milano 6502 5 MHz 1961 26 -26 740 42% 2017 48 Mephisto Amsterdam 68000 12 MHz 1925 22 -22 1020 58% 1871 49 Kasparov GK-2000 H8 10 MHz 1896 29 -29 593 42% 1952 50 Mephisto Modena 6502 4 MHz 1893 29 -29 575 43% 1942 51 Psion Atari 68000 8 MHz 1882 18 -18 1487 44% 1928 52 Novag Ruby H8 10 MHz 1878 30 -30 545 42% 1933 53 Conchess Plymate Victoria 6502 5.5 MHz 1868 26 -27 701 40% 1941 54 Saitek Turboking II 6502 5 MHz 1867 23 -24 923 38% 1954 1 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2440 Geniu3 486/66 1.5-3.5 MCPr40 486/66 10.5-9.5 Geniu2 486/66 15-11 Rebel6 486/66 12.5-7.5 Hiarc3 486/66 2.5-2.5 CM30 Schr 3.1 7-2 CM30 King 2.0 15-5 CM4000 486/66 2.5-1.5 MCPr35 486/66 12.5-8.5 ChGen1 486/66 17.5-4.5 Fritz3 486/66 17-3 Kallis 486/66 17.5-2.5 RISC 2500 6.5-1.5 Chess M Schro 1-0 Sapphire 19.5-0.5 2 MChess Pro 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2418 Geniu3 486/66 11-9 Geniu2 486/66 12.5-7.5 Rebel6 486/66 16-8 Hiarc3 486/66 14-8 CM30 King 2.0 1.5-1.5 MCPr35 486/66 13-7 Fritz3 486/66 18-9 Kallis 486/66 12-2 3 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2362 Genius 3 P90 3.5-1.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 9-11 MCPr40 486/66 12.5-9.5 Geniu2 486/66 11.5-8.5 Rebel6 486/66 20.5-13.5 Hiarc3 486/66 9.5-10.5 WChess 486/66 11.5-8.5 CM30 King 2.0 11.5-8.5 CM4000 486/66 13.5-6.5 MCPr35 486/66 11.5-8.5 ChGen1 486/66 12-9 ChGen1 486/33 12.5-7.5 Berlin Pro 8-3 Kallis 486/66 12-8 Meph. RISC 20-5 SPARC 20 MHz 4-2 RISC 2500 13-7 Chess M Schro 15-5 Lyon 68020 13.5-6.5 Fritz2 486/33 18.5-1.5 Lyon 68000 19.5-4.5 Vancou. 68000 15-5 Polgar 5 MHz 19-1 4 MChess Pro 4.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2352 Genius 3 P90 9.5-10.5 Geniu3 486/66 9.5-12.5 Geniu2 486/66 10-10 Rebel6 486/66 14.5-13.5 Hiarc3 486/66 11-9 WChess 486/66 11-9 CM30 King 2.0 10.5-9.5 CM4000 486/66 11.5-8.5 MCPr35 486/66 13-9 ChGen1 486/66 13-7 Gideon 486/66 14.5-5.5 Fritz3 486/66 7-6 ChGen1 486/33 14-6 Berlin Pro 14-6 Kallis 486/66 16.5-3.5 Meph. RISC 5.5-1.5 Lyon 68020 14.5-6.5 Fritz2 486/33 16-4 Berlin 68 000 15-5 Lyon 68000 3-3 Brute Force 15-2 Diablo 68000 18-2 Polgar 5 MHz 1-0 5 Mephisto Genius 2.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2344 Genius 3 P90 11-15 MCPro 4.0 P90 7.5-12.5 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 10-10 Rebel6 486/66 13.5-6.5 Hiarc3 486/66 10.5-9.5 WChess 486/66 11-9 CM30 Schr 3.1 14-6 CM30 King 2.0 20-22 CM4000 486/66 9-8 MCPr35 486/66 10-10 ChGen1 486/66 11.5-8.5 Gideon 486/66 5.5-7.5 MCPr31 486/66 5.5-2.5 Fritz3 486/66 1-0 Portor. 68030 2.5-2.5 Kallis 486/66 16-10 Meph. RISC 14.5-5.5 SPARC 20 MHz 15.5-4.5 Hiarc2 486/33 13-7 RISC 2500 21-10 Chess M Schro 20-4 Chess M. King 18-4 Lyon 68020 14.5-5.5 Socr 3 486/33 8.5-2.5 M Chess 386 3-1 Berlin 68 000 16-4 Vancou. 68000 16-4 Diablo 68000 18-2 Mach III 9-1 Zark26 386/25 1-0 6 Rebel 6.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2324 Genius 3 P90 7.5-12.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 8-16 Geniu3 486/66 13.5-20.5 MCPr40 486/66 13.5-14.5 Geniu2 486/66 6.5-13.5 Hiarc3 486/66 11.5-8.5 WChess 486/66 12-8 CM30 King 2.0 7.5-8.5 MCPr35 486/66 13.5-6.5 ChGen1 486/66 11-9 Fritz3 486/66 11.5-10.5 ChGen1 486/33 10.5-9.5 Berlin Pro 12-8 Kallis 486/66 14-9 MCPr31 486/33 7.5-2.5 Meph. RISC 14-6 SPARC 20 MHz 9-11 Hiarc2 486/33 5.5-4.5 RISC 2500 16.5-3.5 Chess M Schro 7-3 Chess M. King 7-3 Lyon 68020 15-5 Socr 3 486/33 9-1 Fritz2 486/33 15-5 Berlin 68 000 17-3 Vancou. 68000 17-3 Almeria 68020 4-0 Fritz1 486/33 9.5-0.5 Diablo 68000 18.5-1.5 CCS 486/33 9-1 Polgar 5 MHz 17-1 7 Hiarcs 3.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2319 Genius 3 P90 2.5-2.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 8-14 Geniu3 486/66 10.5-9.5 MCPr40 486/66 9-11 Geniu2 486/66 9.5-10.5 Rebel6 486/66 8.5-11.5 WChess 486/66 9.5-10.5 CM30 Schr 3.1 1-2 CM30 King 2.0 11.5-8.5 CM4000 486/66 10-6 MCPr35 486/66 11-9 ChGen1 486/66 7-10 Fritz3 486/66 16.5-10.5 ChGen1 486/33 8.5-5.5 Kallis 486/66 10.5-9.5 Chess M Schro 2-0 Fritz2 486/33 15-5 Berlin 68 000 2-1 8 WChess 486/50-66 MHz, 2313 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 9-11 Geniu2 486/66 9-11 Rebel6 486/66 8-12 Hiarc3 486/66 10.5-9.5 CM30 King 2.0 9.5-10.5 MCPr35 486/66 10-10 ChGen1 486/66 9.5-10.5 Fritz3 486/66 13.5-6.5 Kallis 486/66 14-6 9 Chess Machine 30-32 MHz Schrder 3.1, 2308 Genius 3 P90 2-7 Geniu2 486/66 6-14 Hiarc3 486/66 2-1 CM30 King 2.0 8.5-11.5 CM4000 486/66 9-11 MCPr35 486/66 10.5-9.5 ChGen1 486/66 14-7 Gideon 486/66 14.5-5.5 MCPr31 486/66 14-15 ChGen1 486/33 11-9 Kallis 486/66 13-7 Vancou. 68030 7.5-3.5 MCPr31 486/33 3-1 Meph. RISC 13.5-6.5 SPARC 20 MHz 13.5-6.5 Hiarc2 486/33 1.5-1.5 RISC 2500 12.5-7.5 Chess M. King 0.5-0.5 Vancou. 68020 12-8 Socr 3 486/33 6-0 Fritz2 486/33 16.5-3.5 Vancou. 68000 18.5-1.5 Hiarc1 486/33 2.5-1.5 Nimzo 486/33 15.5-4.5 Zark30 486/33 18.5-1.5 Brute Force 18.5-1.5 Diablo 68000 15-2 Mach III 17-3 Meph. MM 5 18-2 Polgar 5 MHz 19-1 Meph. Milano 17.5-2.5 10 Ch.Machine 30 MHz King 2.0 aggr/R30 off, 2307 Genius 3 P90 5-15 MCPro 4.0 P90 1.5-1.5 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 9.5-10.5 Geniu2 486/66 22-20 Rebel6 486/66 8.5-7.5 Hiarc3 486/66 8.5-11.5 WChess 486/66 10.5-9.5 CM30 Schr 3.1 11.5-8.5 CM4000 486/66 9.5-10.5 Genius 68 030 19-13 MCPr35 486/66 12-8 ChGen1 486/66 14-6 Gideon 486/66 13-7 MCPr31 486/66 12.5-7.5 Lyon 68030 9.5-10.5 Fritz3 486/66 11.5-8.5 ChGen1 486/33 13.5-6.5 Berlin Pro 11-9 MCPr31 486/33 11-9 Meph. RISC 13.5-6.5 SPARC 20 MHz 12-8 Hiarc2 486/33 13.5-6.5 RISC 2500 7.5-2.5 Vancou. 68020 11.5-8.5 Socr 3 486/33 16-4 Fritz2 486/33 14.5-5.5 Lyon 68000 70-21 Vancou. 68000 14-6 Hiarc1 486/33 17-3 Mach IV 68020 62-18 Nimzo 486/33 18-2 Zark30 486/33 13-7 Roma 68020 18.5-1.5 Brute Force 17-3 Diablo 68000 17.5-3.5 Mach III 19.5-0.5 CCS 486/33 15.5-1.5 Meph. MM 5 2-0 Polgar 5 MHz 18-2 Meph. Milano 18.5-1.5 Super Exp. C 45-5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The list was posted with the following request: "The Swedish Rating list may be quoted in other magazines, but we insist that this will be done in a correct way! We expect, that not only the rating figures, but also the number of games and the margin of error will be quoted. This list is primarily made for the members of the Swedish Chess Computer Association. The details of the testwork are described in our Swedish magazine PLY, where you for instance can find the names of the tester for every single result! Note that all games are played on the tournament level - 40/2 hrs. " There are a number of non-commercial chess-playing machines, the strongest and most famous of which is "Deep Thought." Deep Thought was built and programmed by graduate students Feng-Hsiung Hsu, Thomas Anantharaman, Murray Campbell, Peter Jansen, Mike Browne, and Andreas Nowatzyk at Carnegie Mellon University, and who are now working (some of them, anyway) for IBM. The current version of Deep Thought has beaten several GM's and many IM's. It has a USCF rating of about 2520. (The Oct. 1990 issue of _Scientific American_ goes into more detail on Deep Thought.) Another Carnegie Mellon product, "Hitech," was developed by former World Correspondence Champion Dr. Hans Berliner and sports a USCF rating just over 2400. ------------------------------ Subject: [21] Chess-Playing Software The strength of chess-playing software is highly dependent on the hardware it runs on (all software discussed is for MS-DOS; programs available for MacOS are noted). Here is a method to approximate the strength differences for the same software running on different hardware (source: _Computer Chess Reports_). Computer Chess Reports now analyzes its software on a 486/66 or 486/50. The 486 machines are expected to have a 256K cache, 386 a 64K cache and 386 sx no cache. Please note, most new, stronger programs require a 386 or faster to run. The following table to adjust ratings, appeared in the Volume 5, number 1 issue and was compiled by IM Larry Kaufman: Processor Adjustment Pentium 90 MHz +65 Pentium 66 +50 Pentium 60 +40 486 DX 50(DX2-66) 0 486 DX4 100 MHz +20 486 DX2 50 MHz -25 486 DX/SX 33 -35 486 DX/SX 25 -60 486 SX 20 -80 386 DX 40 -80 386 DX 33 -95 386 DX 25 -120 386 SX 25 -140 386 SX 20 -160 386 SX 16 -180 286 16 MHz -180 286 12 MHz -205 286 10 MHz -245 286 8 MHz -265 8088 10 MHz -320 8088 8 MHz -340 8088 4.77 MHz -385 Processor "Chess MIP's" 8088 Speed in MHz divided by 19 80286, 1 wait state Speed in MHz divided by 8 80286, 0 wait states Speed in MHz divided by 6 80386, no cache memory Speed in MHz divided by 6 80386 with cache Speed in MHz divided by 4.7 80486 Speed in MHz divided by 2.3 (Note that math coprocessors--used before the 486--don't change the speed, since chess programs don't use floating point arithmetic at all.) Now, if a program has a given rating on a 1 (Chess) MIP machine, this is how to adjust the rating for other MIP's (interpolate between points): MIP: 0.25 0.5 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 24 32 48 64 Adj.: -180 -87 0 47 80 124 154 195 223 261 287 323 347 379 402 For example, a program running on a 10 MHz 8088 (0.5 MIP's and -87 points) will be about 272 USCF rating points weaker than the same program running on a 33 MHz 80386 (no cache: 5.5 MIP's and +185 points). Ratings are estimates only. Computer Chess Reports, Computer Chess News sheets from England and the "Ply" list from Sweden are sources of information. PC programs are rated on an i486 PC running at 33MHz. See the Volume 3, Number 2 issue of _Computer Chess Reports_ for more details. Chess Genius 3.0: by Richard Lang. 386 Assembler language. Requires 386 or faster. copy protected 3 installs. Can read Chesssbase data. EPD files. Displays opening names. Moves can be displayed in figurine notation. Autoload user opening books depending on move chosen. Can process EPD file and add evaluations and analysis lines to each position. In August 94, Genius 3 beat Kasparov in a 2 game match - the first Computer ever to defeat a player of his status in a serious non-blitz match (25 minutes per game). It also beat GM Nikolic in the same tournament, achieving a 2795 ELO rating for its performance in that tournament, running on a 100Mhz Pentium computer. Hiarcs 3.0. 386 or faster. EGA, VGA, XGA. 640 K Ram. copy protected. 3 installs. Runs from hard disk or floppy. Processes EPD/FEN files. Can import/export PGN notation. Languages: English, German, French, Spanish. Compatable with Chess 232 board. Endgame knowledge includes: mate with bishop and knight, exact king and pawn knowledge. king and queen vs. king and pawn on 7th rank, wrong color bishop and rook pawn endings. Opposite color bishop endings. M-Chess Pro 4.0 ~2520 by Marty Hirsch, San Rafael, California. 386 or faster. Dos 5 or higher. 640 Kb RAM. VGA. 3 meg hard disk space. Copy protected. 3 installs. Interface for external Auto-sensory ChessBoard (Chess 232). According to Computer Chess Reports was expected to have an improved endgame and evaluation function. Improved database capacity. Supports pgn databases, up to 250,000 games per file. 150,000 EPD positions per file. Opening book 350,000 moves. Transpostions are noted. MChess Pro ~2480 by Marty Hirsch, San Rafael, California Runs on a 286 with 640K, but a 386 with 12 Meg is recommended (10 are used for hash tables). Opening book is 7x as large as amateur version and is programable. Improved graphics. DM 250 MChess 1.1 - 1.72 2400 by Marty Hirsch DM 180 Zarkov 2.6 2350 by John Stanback / Interfacing to the chess database software Bookup. Supersedes Zarkov 2.5 (USCF 2280) by John Stanback. Best analyzation features. DM 135 ChessChampion 2175 2340 by Chris Whittington Program uses Shannon B strategy, not brute force like all the others. Supersedes ChessPlayer by Chris Whittington. DM 115 KnightStalker II ~2300 by Frans Morsch / ChessBase Interfacing to the chess database software ChessBase. Program can be used as background-evaluator while working with ChessBase 4.0. It can read ChessBase libraries. DM 178 Supersedes KnightStalker I (USCF 2260, DM 99) by ChessBase. Grandmaster Chess 2300 by John Stanback / Capstone Mass market version of Zarkov 2.55 with pull-down menus and fancier graphics (2d and 3d board), but is missing some of Zarkov2.6's features such as generating multiple candidate moves when analyzing games, annotations, generating PCX or WPG chess diagrams, interfacing to Bookup7 etc. DM 110 Rexchess 2.30 2290 by Larry Kaufman DM 99. Will be superseded by TitanChess by Larry Kaufman, which is expected to come out Dec 92. - Heuristic Alpha by Larry Kaufman Written for 8086er and 80286er in C. Selled to Electronic Arts. Expected to come out spring 93. - Sokrates by Larry Kaufman Written for 80386er and 80486er in Assembler. Hasn't found any publisher up to now. Psion 2 2290 by Richard Lang / Psion Ltd. Supersedes Psion 1 (USCF 2140) by Psion Ltd. Program of Mephisto Amsterdam, recompiled for IBM PC. CheckCheck by Wolfgang Delmare / Digital Concepts German but completely self-explaining (mouse/buttons/icons). Full version contains complete database of four-piece-finishings. That needs 16 Mb on the hard disk. DM 99 without database or DM 168 for full version. VGA only Chessmaster 4000 (2304 ELO) by Software Toolworks No copy protection. No limited number of installs. Auto annotation. CD ROM version for windows available. Approximately $40. Incredibly good cost to game quality ratio! CD Rom Version has larger library of annotated games and Karpov (voice) discussing several of his games - you can here him moving pieces in the background. Approximately $40. Incredibly good cost to game quality ratio! Chessmaster 5000 is expected around August, 1995. Features expected include a link to Bookup for analysis and ChessAssistant via epd files. The game quality is expected to improve - but a rating of 2304 will beat most of us anyway. If you think you are beating chessmaster 4000 easily and have only recently started to play - check the level and time you are allowing for thought and make sure deep thinking is on. You may reach the CM5000 team at: cjustiniano@mindscape.com. Sargon V ~2100? by Dan and Kathy Spracklen / Activision DM 115. Supersedes Sargon IV by Spinnaker. Colossus Chess X 2090 DM 50 BattleChess by Interplay Very weak program with the most entertaining graphics. DM 50 A windows version of BattleChess is marketed as well for DM 110. Little trap: BattleChess II isn't a chess but a chinese chess program. Available for MacOS: Chessmaster 3000 & 2100, Sargon IV (V due soon), BattleChess and CheckMate. Available for the Amiga: Chessmaster 2000 and 2100, Sargon III and IV, Chessplayer 2150 and Chess Champion 2175, BattleChess and CheckMate, ChessMate, The Art of Chess, Colossus Chess and the ChessMachine. Gnuchess is a freely available chess-playing software program (see [18]). Its strength varies widely based on the machine for which it's compiled. Subject: [22] Database Software Chess databases store games and information about games, and can manipulate and recall that information in a variety of ways. The "big four" of chess databases are Chess Assistant, ChessBase, NICBase, and Bookup. You can purchase data disks for each of these databases. NICBase and ChessBase are game-oriented,Chess Assistant is position or tree oriented and Bookup is opening-oriented. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. A good (but dated) review of these programs was written by Eric Schiller and appeared in the Sept. 1990 _Chess Life_. A more current review was written for the APCT, and Jon Edwards has volunteered his e-mail address for information: jedwards@phoenix.princeton.edu. At this time, I believe each of these programs can interface with Fritz, Zarkov, HIARCS, and Chess Genius. A saved postion can even be retrieved by ChessMaster 4000. A saved postion (epd format) can even be retrieved by ChessMaster 4000. The next version of ChessMaste 5000 is expected to be able to have a closer integration with the database software. Reviews will be incorporated and expanded here as I more fully evaluate the programs. Chessbase for Windows Chess Assistant now have an expanded review and improved coverage. Deja Vu, Bookup, Nicbase and others will follow, as available. Sincere thanks to both ICS and ChessBase USA for making their programs available for evaluation. Bookup from Inc. 2763 Kensington Place West, Columbus, Ohio 43202 1-800-949-5445 toll free 614-263-7219 outside the United States 614-262-9788 fax Or drop a note for more information to: bookup@bronze.coil.com Version 8.5 is now available for $149. Version 2.5.1 for MacOS costs $99. Online demo is available at caissa.onenet.net. This demo may read any version 8 database and includes a subset of the e4 openings (non-Ruy). Definitely look at the demo and sample data on ICS. Opening study books are also available. Books on disk include The Scheveningen Sicilian, London System, Samisch Seminar, Open Game, Classical Ruy, Smith-Morra, and the Closed Game. Books on disk are priced from $25- $29 The opening books are directed at a varied audience from club player to that which would be suitable for a grandmaster's opening repertoire. Annotations are geared to the level at which the specific book is directed. Hundreds of books-on-disk are available commercially from companies such as Chessworks Unlimited 1-800-700-1242 (chesswks@netcom.com) and http://www.hooked.net/users/chesswks/cwu.html. Chessworks Unlimited has demos of their products at: ftp.netcom.com/pub/ch/chesswks. DixonData (614-890-4140) is another supplier of compatable educational material. ChessAssistant 1.4 (MS-DOS); $195. Free conversion utilities for PGN, NICBase, ChessBase formats. Free functional demo available. The demo works on up to 250 games. Get the demo! This functional demo will give you an idea of the power of this program. It is available directly from ICS, Seattle, Washington and is also found online at caissa.onenet.net. The online name is capgn.exe. (550,000k+of selfextracting file). International Chess Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 19457 Seattle, WA 98109 1-800-26-CHESS or 206-448-1066. 5,000 games included in basic. One of the outstanding features is the "tree", from which all of the paths leading into and out of a particular board position are displayed. The percentages wins for white, draws, wins for black are displayed for each move , and the same statistics may be toggled on for that particular board position. Header and position searches. Easy easy to use, the interface and menu is quite intuitive. When entering your own games, a move guessing algorithm is used by CA and is extremely helpful. May be linked to Zarkov, Chess Genius, Fritz or HIARCS for analyis assistance. 1995 subscription 12,000 games sent every 2 months $150. 350,000 games on CDROM $250. This is truely an amazingly large number of games. Annotated Game Collections: include CA-Light Ruy Lopez (Spanish), Sicilian Chelyabinsk (...e5, Lasker/Pelikan), King's Indian Averbakh, Sicilian Rossolimo - $15 each. Toll free support is available 5 days per week. The Web Page of I.C.E. is available at: "http://pegasus.grandmaster.bc.ca" . ChessBase 4.0 (MS-DOS only); basic $295, deluxe $395, super mega - $595. upgrade from 2.2 $75. ChessBase ACCESS $39.95. ChessBase USA, P.O. Box 133, Hagerstown, MD 21741. 301-733-7541 (orders only: 800-524-3527); fax 301-797-6269. USCF prices: 3.0 $279, ACCESS $37.95. ChessBase 4.0 is out; upgrade from 3.0 is $60-70, Depending on manual. $5 demo disk. ChessBase for Windows (Windows 3.1); $295 basic. deluxe $395. Currently there is a special available with the basic ChessBase for Windows: 200,000 games are included at no extra charge. Upgrade from CB 4.0 for DOS is $80. Analysis module $60. ChessBase USA, P.O. Box 133, Hagerstown, MD 21741. 301-733-7541 (orders only: 800-524-3527); fax 301-797-6269. No demo is available at this time. Hopefully one will be made soon so the curious may view the revolutionary features of this program. This is the only chess database program currently available to run directly in Microsoft Windows. Note that Windows requires a fast computer. I would recommend a 486 50DX at a minumum, but those with more tolerance for waiting than I could use a slower machine. The quick start manual recommends a minimum of a 486-33, although it will run on a 386. VGA graphics are viewable at 640 x 480 although the manual recommends 800 x 600. (Maybe they have a 17" monitor!). It is an exceptional program and makes full use of the features of windows. Multiple games may be viewed simultaneously, each one may be miniaturized so that 6 or more games may be visible, each with independent controls. The same game may be viewed at different stages. It is easy to edit or add alternate lines and comments, annotations or "?", "!", etc to any game in your database. Just begin using your mouse to enter the moves or click on the appropriate icon to add comments. You do not have to switch to any other submenu area. This is an incredible convenience and an amazing time saver. The game may then be saved either in the original database or an alternate or "training" database. Several games may be combined. If you are studying a particular opening and want to combine 4 or 5 games that exemplify this opening, you may combine them together as alternate lines of each other. Highlight the games, press the enter key and the games will be combined together. ECO type viewing of the lines is available one mouse click away. Searching and sorting on a variety of fields is available. Classification by ECO is one Control-C away. Besides the oridinary position search a feature called "find novelty" features a modified position search which will find games that are similar to the game that you are viewing or have just entered. It will search the currently open database. The printing and publishing features are exceptional, and like other truetype windows printing programs, extremely easy to use. If your windows has already been configured for your printer there is no set up necessary. At this time it comes with a "quick start manual" which is adequate to get you going. An undocumented feature is Alternate-F1, which sets an internal toggle to floats a bubble over the icons telling what each does as your mouse passes over it. ChessBase magazine includes approximately 1,000 games every second month, 25% - 50% annotated, along with a section on tactics, endgames, dramatic master errors and an opening study. These may be added to your database choices within CBW. $115. (CBM Express $225 includes CB Magazine and monthly disks totalling 16,000 games per year). Chess Genius: Written in 386 assembler.$149 for Genius 3, or $75 for the Genius 2 to 3 upgrade. This price includes airmail registered delivery from PC Solutions. Local currentcy: 90 pounds + 2.50 pounds Post & Packing - (first class or airmail registered delivery) There is an automatic info service for Chess Genius - just email:- genius-info@centron.com and you will get an info sheet back. Having just been set up, it is primarily an advert-sheet at this time, but it will be expanded to include general new & interesting stuff as time goes on. Also contact pc.solutions@phoenix.centron.com for direct questions. Deja Vu Chess Library (Chessworks Unlimited at 1-800-700-1242, or via fax (415) 712-0720 or via Internet (chesswks@hooked.net or Chessworks@aol.com. $349.00 list price.)

Chessworks homepage.

Deja Vu Chess Library is a CD-rom containing over 350,000 chess games in a FoxPro-based database, including a powerful search engine. It can be used as a standalone research database or in conjunction with most popular playing and chess processing programs. Data is accessible from ChessBase, Chess Assistant, Nicbase, Bookup and others. Macintosh and Windows versions are available. Since this is in a Foxpro based database, Foxpro or Visual Basic or Microsoft Access may also be used to develop your own program or set up features you would like to use. A new version is expected by the end of summer, a discounted upgrade to the new version will be available. Yearly CD database upgrades are expected to be available at less than $100 per year. National Master Eric Schiller designed the database project, which was implemented by John Crayton of J.H. Crayton & Associates. The games supplied on the CD are not annotated. Games can be annotated, if they are on your hard disk rather than the CD, by inserting comments wherever you wish. All fields are editable, including the game itself, which is stored in a Fox Pro memo field. A broad range of games from early excursions by Greco to events of June 1994. Most of the games are from professional chess events, included also are correspondence play (over 17,000) and 10% of the collection is from Open and amateur events. This allows for a diverse database which includes extensive examples of Gambit and unusual line play that is not as frequently seen in GM vs. GM collections. Deja Vu itself will Search by player, event, year, result, number of moves, specific sequences of moves, openings (both ECO codes and by name) and any combination of these (including Boolean searches). Virtually any program that accepts ASCII or PGN import, including ChessBase, Chess Assistant, NICbase, Zarkov, Hiarchs, Kasparov's Gambit, Chessmaster, Chess Genius 3, Gazebo, Bookup. Some programs require a conversion utility for PGN import. Chessworks Unlimited supplies a converter for ChessBase. Exportable data can be produced in the following formats: ASCII, PGN, Kasparov's Gambit, Figurine notation (USCF standard), Bookup and FoxPro/dBase. A CD-rom player, 3 Megs of available hard disk space, and 4 Megs of RAM, with Macintosh or Windows operating systems. You do not require FoxPro, since a runtime version is part of the Deja Vu application. Deja Vu is a game collection, and intended to be used with other programs, not compete with them. The unique aspect of Deja Vu is that the games can be used with almost any program. You can even import them directly into Microsoft Word, Excel or Access. It is a true Windows/Mac program, with copy and paste functions via the clipboard. It does not have at this time have position search/compare features, built-in replay options, or other advanced chess playing functions. It is not copyprotected. A demo is available, which has only the import feature disabled at: ftp.netcom.com in the directory ftp/pub/chesswks/DejaVuDemo NICBase 3.0 (MS-DOS or Atari ST: $195 with 5,000 games; $595 with 50,000 games) & NICTools ($125) from Chess Combination, Inc. P.O. Box 2423 Noble Station, Bridgeport CT 06608-0423. Phone 203-367-1555 or 800-354-4083; fax 203-380-1703; e-mail 70244.1532@compuserve.com (Albert Henderson). Free catalog and sample of _New in Chess_. NICBase 3 demo disk free to users of CompuServe and the Internet. NICBase 3 was reviewed in _Chess Horizons_ Jul/Aug 1992, Canadian _En Passant_ Apr 1992, _California Chess Journal_ Feb/Mar 1992, and USAT _Chess Perspectives_ Nov 1991. Smart Chess, available from 4M Data Systems, Inc. 800-125-3555 162 W. Washington St. Hagerstown, MD 21740 Macintosh Software ------------------------------ Disclaimer and Copyright Notice The FAQ is compiled and posted by Stephen Pribut at pribut@us.net. Some answers given may reflect personal biases of the author and the chess FAQ listing's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements of, nor commercials for, the manufacturer. Where cost information is stated this is based on "street" information, and is in no way binding on the seller. Unless otherwise stated, prices, addresses, and telephone numbers are in United States' terms. The answers contained herein pertain to discussions on the rec.games.chess.misc news group, and are by no means exhaustive. "The rgcm FAQ" is copyrighted 1995. Before reprinting a FAQ article for monetary gain (or major portions of one), please obtain permission from the author of the article. The chess FAQ list owes its existence to the contributors on the net, and as such it belongs to the readers of rec.games.chess. Copies may be made freely, as long as they are distributed at no charge, and the disclaimer and the copyright notice are included. ------------ Stephen M. Pribut pribut@us.net