Author: Christopher R. Dorr
Date: 06:43:37 08/06/01
I recently downloaded Chess Genius for the Pocket PC, and registered it. Fantastic program! Just wanted to share a bit about it for those who might be interested. I've only had a chance to play it a few games. I played it a 7 game, G/10 blitz match over the weekend (PGN at end of post), and it beat me 4 wins to 1, with 2 draws. I am USCF rated 2100+, and ICC blitz rated 2150+, so that extrapolates to a rating for Genius in the range of 2250-2300. It proibably will come down a bit, but it does seem to be USCF NM strength, at least at faster time controls. It is by far the best of the programs available for the Pocket PC (Windows CE 3.x). I am running it on a HP Jornada 548, which has a 133 MHz Hitachi processor. I am assuming it would be a fair bit stronger on the iPaq, which runs at 206 MHz. While the games below are not steller (on my part), they do give a decent indication of how Genius plays in a variety of positions. Overall, the program has a very nice, 'human' style of play. It seems to 'like' complexity, several times refusing to trade queens against me. It makes few 'computer' moves, although it did trade into a clearly lost K+P ending at one point for no good reason. Even at the 1 second per move level (whcih is what the unregistered version is limited to), it finds some nice tactics; I'm not sure how Mr. Lang handles extensions, but it does seem to extend well beyond the ply depth listed in the PV. The interface is also the best I have yet seen for this platform. It features the blue-and-white color scheme of the old Genius for DOS (and I assume Windows) versions, with a simple and sttractive piece set. The board seems relatively small at first, but is as large as possible wile allowing the information line and the other necessary functions to be visable. The information line shows a fairly normal PV, depth, and evaluation, immediately below the board. All features are made available via a well-designed menu structure. It is a small program, taking less than 250k on my machine. Genius reads and saves PGN files, analyses games (although I couldn't find how to get it to save the analysis), and has a wide variety of 'Game in X' and 'Move per second' levels, as well as handicap levels. One thing that surprised me was that I didn't see any abnormal battery drain on my Jornada, even after playing it for several hours. I had heard that playing chess programs on the Palm affected battery life, but I haven't seen that yet on this platform. Overall, this seems to be a very good program. I am extremely happy that a master-level program is finally available for Pocket PC Platform. Mr. Lang did an exceptional job, and if you have a Pocket PC, you owe it to yourself to try it. It's located at www.chessgenius.com . Chris --------Games Follow-------------- [Event "12:50 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Genius"] [Black "Christopher Dorr"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 d5 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Bf4 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 c6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. h3 Rc8 13. Qa4 a6 14. Qb3 b5 15. a4 b4 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nd1 a5 18. Qd3 Qb6 19. Ne3 Ba6 20. Qd2 Rc7 21. Bxd5 Rd8 22. Bg2 Rxd4 23. Qe1 Rcd7 24. Rc1 Rd2 25. Rc6 Qa7 26. Nc4 Bxc4 27. Rxc4 Rxb2 28. Qc1 Rbd2 29. Rc2 Qd4 30. e3 Qd6 31. Rxd2 Qxd2 32. Qc4 Qd6 33. Qg4+ Kh8 34. Qh5 Bf8 35. Qxa5 b3 36. Qb5 Qd3 37. Qxd3 Rxd3 38. Rb1 Ba3 39. a5 b2 40. a6 Bc5 41. Rxb2 Ra3 42. Bf1 Ra5 43. Kg2 Kg7 44. Rb7 e5 45. Bc4 f5 46. Rxf7+ Kg6 47. Rc7 f4 48. Bd3+ Kg5 49. Rf7 fxe3 50. h4+ Kh5 51. Rxh7+ Kg4 52. f3+ 1-0 [Event "1:03 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Christopher Dorr"] [Black "Genius"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 Be7 6. f4 O-O 7. Nf3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Be3 Nb6 10. Ng3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nc4 12. Bxc4 dxc4 13. O-O Qd5 14. Qc2 Nb4 15. Qd1 Rd8 16. a3 Nd3 17. Qd2 Qb5 18. Rab1 b6 19. Ne1 Bb7 20. Nxd3 cxd3 21. Rfd1 Qd5 22. Rbc1 Rac8 23. Nf1 Qb3 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Qxd3 Qxb2 26. Rd2 Qxa3 27. Qxa3 Bxa3 28. Ra2 Rc3 29. Bd2 Rd3 30. Be3 b5 31. Kf2 Be4 32. Ng3 Bxg2 33. Kxg2 Rxe3 34. Rc2 Rd3 35. Rc8+ Bf8 36. Ne4 Rxd4 37. Nd6 b4 38. Kf3 Rd3+ 39. Ke4 Rd2 40. Rb8 a5 41. Ra8 f5+ 42. Ke3 Rxh2 43. Rxa5 Rh3+ 44. Kd4 Rf3 0-1 [Event "1:16 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Genius"] [Black "Christopher Dorr"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. h3 c6 7. O-O Qc7 8. Ng5 h6 9. Nf3 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Be3 Be6 12. Qc1 Kh7 13. Bc5 Rd8 14. Rd1 Na6 15. Bxa6 bxa6 16. Qe3 Rab8 17. b3 Bf8 18. Bxa7 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Rxd8 Qxd8 21. Nxe5 Qc7 22. Bb6 Qxe5 23. Bd4 Qa5 24. Bxf6 Bb4 25. Na4 Bd2 26. Qc5 Qc7 27. Qf8 1-0 [Event "4:54 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Genius"] [Black "Christopher Dorr"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. d4 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 c6 7. Qb3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Qb6 9. O-O Qxb3 10. Bxb3 Nbd7 11. Rac1 Nb6 12. Ng5 h6 13. Nge4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Kh7 15. Be5 Bf5 16. Nc5 Bc8 17. Rfd1 Nd7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Nd3 Rd8 20. g3 Nf6 21. Kg2 Bf5 22. Nc5 Rab8 23. Bc4 Ne4 24. Nxe4 Bxe4+ 25. f3 Bd5 26. Bxd5 Rxd5 27. f4 Rbd8 28. b4 a6 29. Rc5 Kf6 30. Rdc1 e6 31. Kf3 Ke7 32. a4 R8d7 33. g4 f6 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 35. Rc5 Kd6 36. h4 b6 37. Rc4 f5 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. Rc1 c5 40. dxc5+ bxc5 41. bxc5+ Rxc5 42. Rg1 Rc4 43. h5 Rxa4 44. Rg6 Ra1 45. Rxh6 a5 46. Rg6 Rh1 47. Rg5 a4 48. Kg2 Rh4 49. Kg3 Rh1 50. Kg2 Rh4 51. Kg3 Rh1 52. Kg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "5:19 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Christopher Dorr"] [Black "Genius"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. dxc6 Nxc6 5. Nf3 e5 6. d3 Bg4 7. Be2 Bc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Qb6 10. Bxc5 Qxc5 11. Nc3 Rfd8 12. h3 Bf5 13. a3 Nd4 14. b4 Qd6 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Nb5 Qb6 17. Nc3 Qd4 18. Nb5 Qb6 19. Nc3 Qd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6:01 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Genius"] [Black "Christopher Dorr"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nf3 d5 6. e5 Qd8 7. Bd3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Bb5 a6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. O-O Be7 12. Qc2 O-O 13. Re1 Qb6 14. Re3 cxd4 15. cxd4 c5 16. Rb3 Qa7 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. Na3 Bd7 19. Rc1 Rfc8 20. Rc3 Bb4 21. Rxc8+ Rxc8 22. Qd1 Bc5 23. Rc2 Bxa3 24. bxa3 Rxc2 25. Qxc2 Qb6 26. g3 Qc6 27. Qxc6 Bxc6 28. Nd4 Bb5 29. Nxb5 axb5 30. h4 Kf8 31. Kf1 Ke7 32. Ke2 Kd7 33. g4 Kc6 34. Kd3 Kc5 35. h5 d4 36. f3 Kd5 37. f4 Kc5 38. g5 Kd5 39. gxh6 gxh6 40. a4 bxa4 41. a3 Kc5 42. Kd2 Kc4 43. Kc2 d3+ 44. Kd2 Kd4 45. Kd1 Ke3 46. Ke1 Kxf4 47. Kd2 Ke4 48. Kd1 Kxe5 49. Kd2 Ke4 50. Kc3 Ke3 51. Kb4 d2 52. Kxa4 d1=Q+ 53. Kb4 f5 54. a4 f4 55. a5 f3 56. Kc5 f2 57. a6 f1=Q 58. a7 Qfd3 59. a8=Q Q1c2+ 60. Kb6 Qdb3+ 61. Ka5 Qca2+ 0-1 [Event "9:56 PM 8/5/01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2001.08.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Christopher Dorr"] [Black "Genius"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Nf6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. O-O c5 10. Ne5 Nc6 11. Rf3 Qc7 12. Rh3 Rfc8 13. g4 h6 14. g5 hxg5 15. fxg5 Bxe5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Qc2 Ne8 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Nf3 Qd6 20. Bd2 Rc6 21. Rf1 Rd8 22. Be1 c4 23. Bg3 Nxf3+ 24. Rxf3 e5 25. Qf5 Qg6 26. Bxe5 Kg8 27. Bd4 a6 28. Rh4 Qxf5 29. Rxf5 Re6 30. Rhf4 Rd7 31. h4 g6 32. Re5 Rdd6 33. Kg2 Rxe5 34. Bxe5 Re6 35. Bd4 Nd6 36. Rf2 Nf5 37. Kg1 Nxh4 38. Rh2 Nf3+ 0-1
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