Subject: rec.games.chess.misc FAQ [3/4]
Date: 27 Mar 1998 13:29:12 GMT
From: pribut@clark.net
Organization: none
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess.misc,rec.answers,news.answers
Followup-To: poster
Archive-Name: games/chess/part3
Chess FAQ
rec.games.chess.misc FAQ part 3/4
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[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
"ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/news.answers/finding-sources" 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 from
"ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/compression-faq" rtfm.mit.edu
in the file /pub/usenet/news.answers/compression-faq.
Miscellaneous. A general repository for chess-related material is somewhat
associated with the Internet Chess Server (ICS). Currently, the 'ICS FTP
host' is "ftp://ics.onenet.net/pub/chess" ics.onenet.net
or via the web: "http://caissa.onenet.net/chess/" 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.
An outline of some of the available directories on ICS follows:
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:
"ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu" prep.ai.mit.edu
"ftp://export.lcs.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.
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
("mailto:mail-server@cs.ruu.nl"mail-server@cs.ruu.nl ).
Get TEX/chess12.*. See [23].
Notation. Notation is a chess game score preprocessor written by Henry
Thomas("mailto:hthomas@irisa.fr"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
("ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume28/notation/*.Z
" wuarchive.wustl.edu )
(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
("mailto:sje@mv.mv.com"sje@mv.mv.com ).
The SAN Kit may be retrieved from the
"ftp://ics.onenet.net/pub/chess/Unix/SAN.tar.gz" ICS FTP host .
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
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. Here are the estimated
USCF ratings for some of the more popular dedicated chess computers.
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.
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.
Following is a more recent listing of the Swedish list:
THE SSDF RATING LIST November 1995
Here's a recent 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 1995-11-26
46104 games played by 146 computers
Rating + - Games Won
Oppo
------ --- --- ----- ---
----
1 MChess Pro 5.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2458 45 -42 284 67%
2332
2 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2436 33 -31 498 66%
2318
3 Rebel 7.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2416 36 -34 416 63%
2325
4 Rebel 6.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2413 39 -38 340 61%
2334
5 Hiarcs 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2409 38 -37 357 62%
2325
6 MChess Pro 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2381 36 -36 376 56%
2338
7 Rebel 7.0 486/50-66 MHz 2371 43 -41 288 62%
2282
8 Fritz 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2370 35 -34 419 58%
2311
9 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2366 27 -26 750 65%
2255
10 R30 v. 2.5 2357 79 -64 131 80%
2122
11 Mephisto Genius 2.0 486/50-66 MHz 2343 26 -25 757 60%
2272
12 WChess 1.06 Pentium 90 MHz 2327 36 -36 380 47%
2350
13 MChess Pro 4.0 486/50-66 MHz 2324 27 -27 666 57%
2278
14 Hiarcs 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2311 28 -28 626 55%
2273
15 Rebel 6.0 486/50-66 MHz 2310 26 -26 724 58%
2254
16 Chess Machine 30-32 MHz Schroder 3.1 2306 32 -30 546 68%
2175
17 Meph Genius 68 030 33 MHz 2302 53 -52 179 56%
2257
17 WChess 1.03 486/50-66 MHz 2302 30 -30 538 49%
2312
19 Ch.Machine 30 MHz King 2.0 aggr/R30 off 2301 22 -22 1070 67%
2173
20 Chessmaster 4000 486/50-66 MHz 2295 34 -33 462 66%
2175
21 Chess Genius 1.0 486/50-66 MHz 2291 26 -26 736 57%
2241
22 MChess Pro 3.5 486/50-66 MHz 2280 26 -26 731 56%
2236
23 Mephisto Gideon Pro 486/50-66 MHz 2275 35 -34 421 62%
2187
24 MChess Pro 3.12 486/50-66 MHz 2268 36 -34 438 69%
2125
25 Fritz 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2265 26 -25 747 56%
2225
26 Chess Genius 1.0 486/33 MHz 2252 33 -33 443 51%
2244
27 Mephisto Vancouver 68030 36 MHz 2234 37 -34 451 73%
2059
28 MChess Pro 3.12 486/33 MHz 2231 50 -48 208 60%
2157
29 Kallisto 1.82-1.83 486/50-66 MHz 2227 26 -26 742 48%
2244
30 Berlin Pro 68 020 24 MHz 2218 28 -27 676 63%
2123
31 Kasparov SPARC 20 MHz 2213 28 -27 639 55%
2174
32 Mephisto RISC 1 MB ARM 2 14 MHz 2206 23 -22 978 60%
2133
33 Hiarcs Master 2.0 486/33 MHz 2205 46 -46 229 51%
2196
34 Saitek RISC 2500 ARM2 14 MHz 128K 2196 23 -23 935 59%
2132
34 Chess Machine Schroder 512K ARM2 16MHz 2196 27 -26 703 62%
2112
36 Chess Machine The King 512K ARM2 16MHz 2179 32 -32 472 56%
2139
37 Mephisto Montreux ARM 14 MHz 512K 2174 51 -46 238 72%
2007
38 Mephisto Vancouver 68020 12 MHz 2163 24 -23 935 68%
2027
39 Socrates 3.0 486/33 MHz 2145 49 -50 203 47%
2166
40 Fritz 2.0 486/33 MHz 2138 30 -31 527 45%
2172
41 Fidelity Elite 68030 32 MHz (vers.9) 2121 40 -37 372 73%
1952
41 Mephisto Berlin 68 000 12 MHz 2121 25 -25 805 59%
2059
43 Mephisto Vancouver 68000 12 MHz 2104 23 -22 971 57%
2056
44 Novag Sapphire H8 10 MHz 2088 25 -25 787 52%
2071
45 Hiarcs Master 1.0 486/33 MHz 2073 48 -48 214 48%
2089
46 Fritz 1.0 486/33 MHz 2042 48 -47 215 55%
2009
47 Nimzo 2.2.1 486/33 MHz 2036 46 -47 229 42%
2091
48 Zarkov 3.0 486/25-33 MHz 2032 46 -48 232 39%
2111
49 Rex Chess 2.3 386/25-33 MHz 2029 65 -62 126 59%
1964
50 Kasparov Brute Force H8 10 MHz 2019 24 -24 860 47%
2044
51 Novag Diablo 68000 16 MHz 2008 21 -22 1080 41%
2072
52 Fidelity Mach III 68000 16 MHz 1994 14 -14 2404 52%
1980
53 Complete Chess System 486/33 MHz 1986 47 -47 221 47%
2008
54 Mephisto MM 5 6502 5 MHz 1981 20 -20 1264 49%
1985
55 Kasparov President/GK-2100 H8 10 MHz 1975 29 -30 558 47%
1997
56 Mephisto Polgar 6502 5 MHz 1971 17 -17 1693 42%
2031
57 Mephisto Milano 6502 5 MHz 1966 24 -25 820 42%
2026
58 Mephisto Amsterdam 68000 12 MHz 1926 22 -22 1020 58%
1872
59 Kasparov GK-2000 H8 10 MHz 1897 29 -29 593 42%
1953
60 Mephisto Modena 6502 4 MHz 1896 28 -29 615 41%
1959
61 Psion Atari 68000 8 MHz 1882 18 -18 1487 44%
1928
62 Novag Ruby H8 10 MHz 1878 30 -30 545 42%
1934
63 Saitek Turboking II 6502 5 MHz 1868 23 -23 963 37%
1964
63 Conchess Plymate Victoria 6502 5.5 MHz 1868 26 -27 701 40%
1941
* - Newcomer
1 MChess Pro 5.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2458
Genius 3 P90 13-7 Rebel 6.0 P90 16-4 Hiarcs 3 P90
11.5-1.5
MCPro 4.0 P90 5-7 Rebel7 486/66 9-8 Geniu3 486/66
11.5-8.5
Geniu2 486/66 15-5 WChess P90 6-14 MCPr40 486/66 12-8
Rebel6 486/66 16-4 Genius 68 030 6.5-2.5 WChess 486/66
14.5-5.5
CM30 King 2.0 4-2 ChGen1 486/66 22-8 MCPr35 486/66 3-1
Fritz3 486/66 1-1 Kallis 486/66 16.5-3.5 SPARC 20 MHz
4.5-2.5
Meph. RISC 1-0 Chess M. King 3-0
2 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2436
MCPro 5.0 P90 7-13 Rebel 7.0 P90 10.5-9.5 Rebel 6.0 P90
9-11
Hiarcs 3 P90 14.5-5.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 13.5-6.5 MCPro5 486/66
2.5-7.5
Rebel7 486/66 13-7 Fritz 3.0 P90 14.5-5.5 Geniu3 486/66
9-11
R30 v. 2.5 1.5-1.5 Geniu2 486/66 15-11 WChess P90 14-6
MCPr40 486/66 10.5-9.5 Hiarc3 486/66 11-9 Rebel6 486/66
12.5-7.5
CM30 Schr 3.1 7.5-2.5 Genius 68 030 13.5-6.5 WChess 486/66
15.5-4.5
CM30 King 2.0 15-5 CM4000 486/66 2.5-1.5 ChGen1 486/66
17.5-4.5
MCPr35 486/66 12.5-8.5 Fritz3 486/66 17-3 Lyon 68030
15.5-4.5
Kallis 486/66 17.5-2.5 Meph. RISC 2-0 RISC 2500 15-4
Chess M Schro 1-0 Sapphire 19.5-0.5
3 Rebel 7.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2416
Genius 3 P90 9.5-10.5 Rebel 6.0 P90 6.5-4.5 Hiarcs 3 P90
10.5-9.5
MCPro 4.0 P90 10.5-9.5 Rebel7 486/66 14.5-7.5 Fritz 3.0 P90 12-8
Geniu3 486/66 21.5-18.5 Geniu2 486/66 11-9 WChess P90
10.5-9.5
MCPr40 486/66 30.5-9.5 Hiarc3 486/66 9.5-10.5 Rebel6 486/66 16-7
Genius 68 030 12.5-7.5 WChess 486/66 15.5-4.5 CM30 King 2.0 3-1
ChGen1 486/66 14-8 MCPr35 486/66 9-4 Fritz3 486/66
13.5-8.5
Lyon 68030 1-1 Kallis 486/66 14.5-5.5 Chess M. King
4.5-1.5
Vancou. 68020 3-1 Sapphire 7-0
4 Rebel 6.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2413
MCPro 5.0 P90 4-16 Genius 3 P90 11-9 Rebel 7.0 P90
4.5-6.5
Hiarcs 3 P90 9-11 MCPro 4.0 P90 10.5-9.5 Fritz 3.0 P90
13.5-6.5
Geniu3 486/66 10.5-9.5 Geniu2 486/66 12-8 WChess P90
12.5-7.5
MCPr40 486/66 14-6 Hiarc3 486/66 13.5-6.5 Rebel6 486/66 16-4
WChess 486/66 9-11 ChGen1 486/66 12-8 MCPr35 486/66 16-4
Fritz3 486/66 13.5-6.5 Kallis 486/66 18-2 Vancou. 68020 4-1
Sapphire 4-0
5 Hiarcs 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2409
MCPro 5.0 P90 1.5-11.5 Genius 3 P90 5.5-14.5 Rebel 7.0 P90
9.5-10.5
Rebel 6.0 P90 11-9 MCPro 4.0 P90 13.5-6.5 Fritz 3.0 P90
12.5-7.5
Geniu3 486/66 8-12 Geniu2 486/66 10-10 WChess P90 17-3
MCPr40 486/66 16-4 Hiarc3 486/66 12.5-7.5 Rebel6 486/66 15-5
WChess 486/66 12.5-7.5 ChGen1 486/66 13-8 MCPr35 486/66 12-8
Fritz3 486/66 14-8 Kallis 486/66 17-3 RISC 2500 2-0
Sapphire 18-1
6 MChess Pro 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2381
MCPro 5.0 P90 7-5 Genius 3 P90 6.5-13.5 Rebel 7.0 P90
9.5-10.5
Rebel 6.0 P90 9.5-10.5 Hiarcs 3 P90 6.5-13.5 Rebel7 486/66
3-13
Fritz 3.0 P90 8.5-11.5 Geniu3 486/66 11-9 Geniu2 486/66
12.5-7.5
WChess P90 12-8 MCPr40 486/66 12-8 Hiarc3 486/66 14-8
Rebel6 486/66 16-8 WChess 486/66 14-6 CM30 King 2.0
7.5-5.5
ChGen1 486/66 11-9 MCPr35 486/66 13-7 Fritz3 486/66 18-9
Kallis 486/66 17-3 Chess M. King 2-0
7 Rebel 7.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2371
MCPro 5.0 P90 8-9 Genius 3 P90 7-13 Rebel 7.0 P90
7.5-14.5
MCPro 4.0 P90 13-3 Fritz 3.0 P90 6-4 Geniu3 486/66
8.5-11.5
Geniu2 486/66 9-11 WChess P90 10-10 MCPr40 486/66 14-6
Hiarc3 486/66 13-7 WChess 486/66 0.5-0.5 ChGen1 486/33
10.5-9.5
Berlin Pro 1-1 SPARC 20 MHz 3-1 Fritz2 486/33
16.5-3.5
Berlin 68 000 9.5-1.5 Sapphire 1-0 Mach IV 68020 19-1
Brute Force 4-0 Diablo 68000 18.5-1.5
8 Fritz 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2370
Genius 3 P90 5.5-14.5 Rebel 7.0 P90 8-12 Rebel 6.0 P90
6.5-13.5
Hiarcs 3 P90 7.5-12.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 11.5-8.5 Rebel7 486/66 4-6
Geniu3 486/66 11-11 Geniu2 486/66 10-10 WChess P90
10.5-9.5
MCPr40 486/66 12-8 Hiarc3 486/66 14.5-5.5 Rebel6 486/66
19.5-15.5
WChess 486/66 12.5-7.5 CM30 King 2.0 6.5-2.5 ChGen1 486/66
7.5-12.5
MCPr35 486/66 14.5-5.5 Fritz3 486/66 15.5-4.5 Kallis 486/66 16-4
Meph. RISC 15.5-4.5 Vancou. 68020 14.5-5.5 Lyon 68020 18-2
Sapphire 3-0
9 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2366
MCPro 5.0 P90 8.5-11.5 Genius 3 P90 11-9 Rebel 7.0 P90
18.5-21.5
Rebel 6.0 P90 9.5-10.5 Hiarcs 3 P90 12-8 MCPro 4.0 P90
9-11
Rebel7 486/66 11.5-8.5 Fritz 3.0 P90 11-11 Geniu2 486/66
11.5-8.5
WChess P90 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 12.5-9.5 Hiarc3 486/66
9.5-10.5
Rebel6 486/66 20.5-13.5 WChess 486/66 11.5-8.5 CM30 King 2.0
11.5-8.5
CM4000 486/66 13.5-6.5 ChGen1 486/66 12-9 MCPr35 486/66
11.5-8.5
Fritz3 486/66 16.5-3.5 ChGen1 486/33 12.5-7.5 Kallis 486/66 12-8
Berlin Pro 12.5-7.5 SPARC 20 MHz 13.5-6.5 Meph. RISC 20-5
RISC 2500 13-7 Chess M Schro 15-5 Montreaux
1.5-0.5
Lyon 68020 13.5-6.5 Fritz2 486/33 18.5-1.5 Berlin 68 000 3-0
Lyon 68000 19.5-4.5 Vancou. 68000 15-5 Sapphire 17-3
Mach IV 68020 13.5-3.5 Brute Force 20-0 Diablo 68000 20-0
Polgar 5 MHz 19-1
10 R30 v. 2.5, 2357
Genius 3 P90 1.5-1.5 Berlin Pro 24.5-12.5 RISC 2500
14.5-5.5
Sapphire 19.5-2.5 Mach IV 68020 17-3 Meph. MM 5 9-0
President 18.5-1.5
The list was posted with the following request: "
'The Swedish Ratinglist 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_).
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).
CCR Ratings List PC Program Ratings
ChessMachine Madrid King 2.0 2558
ChessMachine Madrid Schroder 3.0 2498
Chess Genius 2494
MChess Professional 2460
ChessMachine Schroder ARM2 2420
ChessMachine King ARM2 2399
Socrates 2392
Fritz 2.0 2360
Zarkov 3.0 2350
Psion 2 2318
Zarkov 2.5 & 2.6 2312
Grandmaster 2297
Rexchess 2.3 2283
Sargon 5 2278
Alpha 2274
Fritz 1/Knightstalker 2237
Chessmaster 3000 2201
Chess Champion 2175
Psion 1 2121
Colossus x 2070
Chessmaster 2100 2057
Final Chesscard 1894
Ratings are the average of autotest at 30" to 1' per move, Computer
Chess News Sheet from England and the "Ply" list from Sweden. 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.
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
Rebel 8 ~ by Ed Schroeder
Optimized for 386, 486 and Pentium.
DM 199 $150 550,00 Opening Moves. PGN import. 1000 game database. Simul
feature. For latest information: http://www.xs4all.nl/~rebchess/
Rebel Decade ~2200 by Ed Shroeder
Available for free on the net at:
"http://www.xs4all.nl/~rebchess/" http://www.xs4all.nl/~rebchess/
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
("mailto:mscape@aol.com"mscape@aol.com ).
No copy protection. No limited number of installs. Auto annotation.
CD ROM version for windows available. 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 now available. It seems to work fine with the
exception of pgn handling which is virtually unuseable.
You may reach the ChessMaster 5000 team at: cjustiniano@mindscape.com.
Chessmaster 3000 2170 by Software Toolworks
Excellent graphics. DM 99
A windows version of Chessmaster 3000 is marketed as well for DM 119.
A CD ROM version can be bought for DM 145.
Supersedes Chessmaster 2100 (USCF 2070) by Software Toolworks.
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.
SmartChess, available from R&D (Chess) Publishing. 800-425-3555
2679 State Highway 70, Manasquan, NJ 08736 Macintosh Software
Contact: Paul Hodges("mailto:hodges@smartchess.com">hodges@smartchess.com
)
http://www.smartchess.com/chess/ - SmartChess Web
Also make sure to check out:
"http://www.cybercity.hko.net/newyork/mhousho/index.html"Macintosh Chess
FAQ Homepage
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: [21] 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 as is Bookup.
While
Bookup is primarily known for studying openings it really is also useful
for endings, as may be noted by Chuck Schulien's endgame books. You can
also enter middle game tactics for study.
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 (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.
Bookup from Bookup, 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
(bookup@coil.com)
The complete "20 Questions" including screenshots
can be found on the website at http://www.coil.com/~bookup/
Online demos are also on the website.
BOOKUP Version 1.5.2 for Windows 3.1/Win95 for $199
Version 2.5.2 for MacOS costs $99.
Online demos are also online.
The demo may read any version 8 database and includes a
subset of the e4 openings. Definitely look at the demo and sample
data on ICS. Opening study books, are also available. Endgame studies
too! Make your own studies for tactics! 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.
Bookup can be used to rapidly study openings. All of the information
and notes regarding a specific position is stored with the
position itself. This is helpful if a position is reached via
transposition. A new book can be created rapidly by either entering
the moves by hand or even faster by selecting and exporting in PGN
format a series of games from a Chess Assistant or Chessbase database.
PGN games are easily imported to create a branching positionaly based
tree. The informtion regarding game results and players is retained.
Bookup for Windows can be used with other windows programs. At this time
only Deja Vu and Chessbase work well within Windows. Chessbase combined
with Fritz is a nice way to check out your books and come up with additional
lines. Ultimately plans are for Bookup for Windows to contain an integrated
chess machine. Unlike the DOS viewer, available for free, the
Windows viewer costs $29. I recommend the full product!
While Bookup initially gained its reputation for opening study, it
is also useful for many more aspects of chess. FM Chuck Schulien has
written a Bookup book called "100 Essential Endings" which contains
7,000 positions. This follows his "King & Pawn" set of endgame studies.
The "Rubinstein Collection" is FM Chuck Schulien's more advanced analysis
of Akiba Rubinstein's instructive endings. Bookup may also be used for
middle game study. Entering positions from your favorite middlegame
or tactics book will be helpful. You can than set Bookup to training
and test your ability to handle these positions.
Bookup can also be integrated with several chess computer programs. These
programs all utilize the EPD format. More information on the expanding
list of chess computers can be obtained directly from Bookup. This is
useful to generate an analysis of the postions in your specific book.
Hundreds of books-on-disk are available commercially from companies
such as Chessworks Unlimited(1-800-700-1242 ( info@chessworks.com) and
"http://www.chessworks.com"Chessworks homepage .
Chessworks Unlimited has demos of their products at:
ftp.chessworks.com and via their homepage. 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
2,000 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. (longer review of CA coming
shortly).
The Web Page of I.C.E. is available at:
"http://pegasus.grandmaster.bc.ca" I.C.E. Homepage
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
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. There
are often specials available with the basic ChessBase for Windows:
200,000 games are included at no extra charge.
"http://www.xculture.de/sport/chessbase" Chessbase Homepage
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. A demo is available in 2
parts.
ChessBase Demo Now Available
"ftp://ftp.pitt.edu/group/chess/CB/cbdemo1.zip" ChessBase Windows - 1/2
"ftp://ftp.pitt.edu/group/chess/CB/cbdemo2.zip" ChessBase Windows - 2/2
Get the demo to see 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).
Deja Vu Chess Library (Chessworks Unlimited at 1-800-700-1242, or via fax
(415) 712-0720 or via Internet
(info@chessworks.com or Chessworks@aol.com. $349.00 list price.)
"http://www.chessworks.com"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
The TASC System-TascBase
Tasc has a fine looking and interesting program available. The complete
information may be seen at their web site along with information on
a variety of their products.
"http://www.tasc.nl/"The Tasc ChessSystem -
"http://www.tasc.nl/demoprograms.html"Demos of Chessica, Tascbase, Tasc
Chess Tutor -
Clubmate
Clubmate is database software for Windows. ClubMate provides a huge range of
powerful features at a low price.Whether you want to record your own
triumphs and disasters,
study openings, or collect thousands of games by masters, ClubMate gives
you ease of use, clear
presentation. speed of data retrieval, and excellent technical support. And
if
that's not enough, ClubMate has a free upgrade policy. Clubmate was
formerly freeware, then
shareware and now costs approximately $64. A functional demo is available
at their home page.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/clubmate - Clubmate - Database
Software
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: "mailto:70244.1532@compuserve.com"
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
Subject: [22] Utility Software
Eric Churchill's Chess Recorder, a (PC) Windows program that records chess
moves, suitable for keeping track of postal games, will be uploaded to GEnie
and submitted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc. (It even keeps a log of when the
moves were entered, which could be used to keep track of postal time
limits.)
You can enter annotations and other comments and they appear in a separate
window when the corresponding move is displayed. The program will print out
the moves of the game (with annotations). $15 shareware fee. Graphics are
quite good--looks OK even on monochrome systems. The colors of the pieces
on
color systems are 'interesting.' It can now flip colors to put Black on
bottom.
Swis-Sys, a $70 Swiss System pairing program, is available from Thad Suits
(the author), 2125 1st Ave North, Great Falls, MT, 59401. 406-453-6160.
Chaos, another pairing program (Swiss pairing as well as Round Robin), GNU
General Public License, runs on the Commodore-Amiga, available from Aminet
mirrors "ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/think"
wuarchiv.wustl.edu .
For other software utilities see [18].
----------------------
The FAQ is compiled and posted by Stephen Pribut at pribut@clark.net.
This FAQ has been created by the combined efforts of numerous readers of
rec.games.chess.misc.
"The rgcm FAQ" is copyrighted 1996. Before reprinting a FAQ article
for monetary gain (or major portions of one), please obtain
permission from the author of the article.