Author: Shaun Graham
Date: 22:25:25 08/19/98
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> >Five Chess Engines. >(A special review by Jeremy Silman) >More and more players are buying chess computers, and more and more chess >engines are available to the public. In the past, chess "boxes" like the >Kasparov series, Boris Handroid, and endless others were all the rage. Today, >with millions of families owning powerful PCs, a simple CD takes care of one’s >chess "need" in a simple, inexpensive yet highly effective manner. > >What engines are best? This is the question I’ll be examining as I look at five >of the most popular bits of software. Be warned! I am a computer idiot. Half the >time I won’t know what I’m doing, and the other half will have me thinking I’m >in control, though I probably will be off-base there too! > >However, I do know what I enjoy, I know chess, and I know a good deal when I see >one; so heed my advice or toss it in the dustbin. In either case, prepare >yourself for ultimate annihilation by all of the engines about to be discussed! > >CHESSMASTER 5500: For only $35.00, this is a superb buy. This software offers >you soothing music while you play, pictures of famous players and sets during >setup (to get you in the mood), and a host of options involving strength, style, >time settings, and the list goes on and on. > >For whatever reason, I did experience some bugs. I couldn’t make it give off a >sound while moving, though I went into the appropriate box and clicked on all >the proper bells and whistles. Because of this, it was in stealth mode, and I >often sat there for several seconds before noticing that it actually did >something! At one point things got even worse. I’d make a move that got out of >book and the machine would just think and think, even though it was a >five-minute game. I’d command it to move and it would ignore me. I tweaked all >its other commands and they worked fine (so it wasn’t frozen). But the blasted >thing just kept thinking. Finally, I gave up and ended its miserable existence. If he gave up how does he know how strong it is, further Cmaster would eat him alive at blitz(on a fast computer of course P266 or better). Silman is a relatively weak IM. > >As I said earlier (given that the experienced bugs were peculiar to my system or >were due to some form of stupidity on my part), Chessmaster 5500 is a giveaway >for the price. It’s slick looking (though things are a bit cluttered and the >board may give its owner a claustrophobic feel), strong (though not as strong as >the other machines that I’ll be discussing!) and well designed. If you’re a >Class A player or below, why get anything else? This program should offer you >humiliating defeats for years and years to come. > >FRITZ 5: The makers of this software have declared that Fritz is stronger than >most (or all?) of the other programs. Perhaps it does well when playing other >machines, but it’s clear to me that, in human vs. machine games, Fritz is a bit >weaker (and in some cases considerably weaker) than some of the other choices. >Nevertheless, I would not want to be without my Fritz! No one would want to be without their fritz! :) > >Fritz 5 boasts the cleanest interface of any engine, and one of the nicest >boards. Easy on the eye, all of its bells and whistles are simple to access. The >feature I like the best is it’s analytic spread, which enables you to analyze a >line and have it automatically placed on a spreadsheet. Chess symbols (equal, >White is slight better, winning, unclear, stuff like that) can be added at the >push of a button, and sidelines blend in seamlessly with the main features of >your work to form an instant book of your ideas! > >Playing in a very tactical fashion, Fritz 5 tends to think it’s winning as soon >as it gets a material edge; it has almost no feel for positional pawn or >Exchange sacrifices. Nevertheless, it plays blitz at a 2500 clip, and if you’re >not paying attention (even if you are rated 2500) it can thrash you unmercifully >game after game after game. If you're not paying attention? Silman is not a 2500 blitz player > >At about $100.00, it’s considerably more expensive than Chessmaster 5500, but >personally I have no interest in owning Chessmaster while Fritz has a permanent >place in my software collection. > >CHESS GENIUS 5: This program is the other mainstay of my collection. It’s design >is perfectly adequate (though not as nice as Fritz’s), but its main plus is its >positional skills, which are far better than Fritz 5. In fact, after analyzing a >complicated Exchange sacrifice for several days, I noticed that Fritz always >thought the sac was unsound, while Genius saw and appreciated the positional >ideas behind the sacrifice. For the blitz fanatics, Genius is clearly the >stronger of the two. I can beat Fritz regularly if I really concentrate, but >Genius is an incredibly tough nut to crack. I'm starting to wonder about genius's strength at blitz, i can't beat it, but i drew it 3 times in a row at 5 minutes last week on a p166mmx. All other programs make it much more difficult to get a draw IMHO. > >This is another $100.00 bit of software, but it’s well worth owning if you like >to use a computer for analysis. In fact, Fritz and Genius complement each other >well, and I recommend that titled players pick up both programs. > >REBEL 9: Rebel (also in same price category as Fritz and Genius) is highly >respected by quite a few strong players. Cyrus Lakdawala, one of the best blitz >players in the country, says that he tends to wipe out Fritz and Genius, but >can’t win a game from Rebel (he says it rips him tactically and he isn’t able to >avoid those kinds of positions; something he’s able to do against the other >programs). In June 1997, Rebel beat Grandmaster Yusupov in a match 10 ½ - 6 ½.. >Clearly, this is one mean machine! > >Rebel has all sorts of functions, but I more or less ignored them since I was >mainly interested in its strength. Its interface, which is pretty easy to use, >is rather ugly (far less appealing than either Genius or Fritz). Why not give >the poor thing a face-lift? > >Over all, I’m happy to own Rebel. It’s nice to know it’s there when you >experience one of those "I want to get humiliated at all costs" moments. > >M-CHESS PRO 7.0: M-Chess is now up to version 7.1, so I can’t be sure how much >of a difference that fraction can make. The version I have, though, is strong, >though I don’t consider it as good as Rebel (and I would guess that Genius may >be a bit better too, though this might turn out to be a figment of my >imagination). The interface is clumsy and the pieces are not to my liking. > >To be fair, I haven’t had a lot of practice with M-Chess, just because of that >unpleasant interface. However, Seirawan told me how Grandmaster Larry >Christiansen once played a series of blitz games with this program and "saw his >whole life flash before his eyes." In other words, M-Chess bit the Grandmaster >and wouldn’t let go! > >M-Chess actually has quite a list of amazing results: In the 10th AEGON event at >the Hague (May 1995), M-Chess 5.0 beat Christiansen and Z. Polgar and finished >with a performance rating of 2652! Other M-Chess victims over the years (and >this was an old version!) are Grandmasters Rohde, Shabalov, Cifuentes and Wolff. > >In my mind, the big news is M-Chess Pro’s 7.1 new price: only $49.95. This makes >it competitive with Chessmaster 5500. Chessmaster looks better and is easier to >use, M-Chess is much stronger. > >AN HONEST PERSPECTIVE: > >In general, numbers can be created that make any one of the top machines appear >to be the highest rated. One article had Genius as #1, another claimed that >Nimzo had taken that spot. Other surveys claim that Rebel is top dog, and the >debate goes on and on. The one thing that can be verified is that there are six >programs that lead the pack: Rebel, Hiarcs, Nimzo, M-Chess, Genius and Shredder. > >As I stated earlier, as far as cost goes, M-Chess and Chessmaster are best buys. >Non-masters don’t really need to pay much attention to this fight over computing >power: Chessmaster will beat them like dogs for the rest of their lives. If you >don’t care about Chessmaster’s more attractive (and user friendly) interface, >then M-Chess offers you a bigger bang for your buck with a rating in excess of >2500 (Chessmaster 5500 is probably in the 2300 category). > 2300 category? yeah pigs fly too. >Rebel is making lots of noise around the world, and could well be the strongest >program available at this time (if you’re a "bigger is better" kind of person). >It’s flaw is an ugly interface. > >By far the most attractive programs are Genius and Fritz. Fritz has the best >design of any engine I’ve seen, while Genius is stronger. > >If you have experience with these engines (or others that I’ve failed to >mention), please write me at: jsilman@earthlink.net and I’ll post all or part of >your letter if I feel it adds a useful new perspective on the questions: Which >chess engine is the best buy? And which chess engine is the strongest?
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