Author: Ian Osgood
Date: 14:00:16 08/30/01
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On August 28, 2001 at 02:36:37, Jouni Uski wrote: >There is a lot stir on these programs for handheld computers. Specially >from Chessbase info You get impression that there is a revolution. Really? >Already 5 years ago there was Novag Saphire with over 2000 rating, So are these >handhelds' softwares really significantly stronger? > >Jouni In my testing, ChessGenius for the Palm is somewhat weaker than the Novag Sapphire II. This is more noticable as the time control increases (Genius is actually stronger at 1 or 2-seconds per move). The Sapphire II has hash tables and Palm Genius does not. In my limited testing so far, ChessGenius for the PocketPC running on a 206 MHz iPAQ is slightly stronger than the Sapphire II. Again, it is more pronounced at faster time controls. This version of ChessGenius does have (small) hash tables, but cannot think on the opponent's time. Note that these were not shutout losses: the match percentages were about 60-40% in each case with each side being able to pull off victories. Kittinger's program has aged well. The Sapphire II also has a larger book than either version of ChessGenius, which was a decisive advantage in several of the games. As other's have noted, the friendly UI allowed by a PDA's touchscreen outweighs the lack of strength for most people. And PDA programs can only improve, whereas the Sapphire II program is locked to its 1993 version. (There were rumors that Novag was working on the Star Sapphire, based on the Palm hardware and form factor, but then they went bankrupt.) Ian
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