Author: John Marountas
Date: 01:52:22 05/20/02
THE DIGITAL CHESS NETWORK NEWSLETTER
UPDATE YOUR ENGINES !
- Issue #03 - WEEK May 13 - May 19, 2002
English Edition
By John Marountas
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Digital Chess Network Newsletter
http://www.digichess.gr/
Copyright (c) 2001-2002 Marountas John
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About This Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!!!! THIS NEWSLETTER IS FREE OF CHARGE !!!!
Weekly published. Dedicated to inform you about the latest updates
from the authors and alert you for new submissions!
Copyright (c) 2001-2002 Marountas John. All Rights Reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ Updated Engines......................1
o LambChop [18.05.2002].............>>
o Baron [17.05.2002]................>>
o wbQueen [17.05.2002]..............>>
o GreKo [17.05.2002]................>>
o NoonianChess [17.05.2002]........>>
o Lightning [17.05.2002]............>>
o Delfi [16.05.2002]................>>
o wbQueen [15.05.2002]..............>>
o Goliath [13.05.2002]..............>>
o EnginMax [13.05.2002].............>>
o Gaviota [13.05.2002]..............>>
o NoonianChess [12.05.2002]........>>
o Wilhelm [12.05.2002]..............>>
o Movei [12.05.2002]................>>
+ New Engines..........................2
o T-Rex [14.05.2002]................>>
+ Newsletter Useful Info...............3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-1- Updated Engines -1-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many thanks to LEO DIJKSMAN (EMAIL: leo.dijksman@hccnet.nl ,
URL : http://home.hccnet.nl/leo.dijksman/) for allowing me to publish his
list on
this Newsletter . You can always found the original list at :
http://home.hccnet.nl/leo.dijksman/Total.html
Total number of Winboard engines : 143
Number of Free Winboard Engines : 137
Below is a list of all WB engines sorted by country sum :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Country Total Free Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Germany 26 24 FREE: Aristarch, BabyChess, BigLion, Bringer,
Comet, EnginMax, Ghost,
Grizzly, Gromit 2.2, Gromit 3.x, GullyDeckel,
Hagrid, Holmes, List,
Little Goliath, OliThink, Quark, Resp, SdBC,
SoS, The Lightning,
Yace,Zephir,Amy.
COMMERCIAL: Patzer, Shredder v3.0.
2. USA 21 21 FREE : Arasan, Bace, Betsy, BigBook, Chad's
Chess, ChessRikus, Crafty,
DChess,DeepTrouble, EXchess, Gerbil, GnuChess
4.x, GnuChess 5.x, Horizon,
Jester, Kace, NoonianChess, SSEChess, Storm,
Tristram ,TSCP.
3. Italy 16 16 FREE: Aldebaran, BremboCE, Delfi, Esc, Golem,
Fortress (Italy/Switzerland),
Gargamella, LadyGambit, LaMoSca, LarsenVB,
Leila, LordKing, Pentagon,
Raffaela, Tamerlane , The Duke.
4. France 9 8 FREE: AnMon, Dragon, Knightx, La Dame
Blanche, Pharaon (former ZChess),
The Crazy Bishop, T-Rex , Nejmet.
COMMERCIAL: Capture.
Netherlands 9 8 FREE: Ant, 31337 (also Celes), CPP1, Morphy,
MSCP, Tao, The Baron ,WBQueen.
COMMERCIAL: TheKing (ChessMaster).
6. England 7 7 FREE: Beowulf, ColChess, Francesca (MAD),
GreenLightChess, Monarch,
New Rival ,TikovChess.
7. Sweden 5 5 FREE: Embracer, MFChess, Mint, StAndersen ,
Terra.
8. Canada 4 4 FREE: Faile, King of Kings, Monik , Pierre.
9. Denmark 4 3 FREE: Chezzz, Frenzee (former ChessCraft) ,
Yawce.
COMMERCIAL:Gandalf.
10. Spain 3 3 FREE: Averno, Muriel (former KDLChess,
Spain/USA), Pepito.
Finland 3 3 FREE: Nero, Ozwald , Requiem.
Hungary 3 3 FREE: Asterisk, Crux ,Trynyty.
Russia 3 3 FREE: GreKo, SmarThink , Ufim.
Australia 3 3 FREE: Awesome, KnigthCap , SmallPotato.
14. Greece 2 2 FREE: Pyotr , Skaki.
Switzerland 2 2 FREE: Chessterfield , Cilian.
Belgium 2 2 FREE: Bionic , Sjeng.
Belarus 2 2 FREE: Mustang , WildCat.
Singapore 2 2 FREE: MrChess (former DrChess) , SnailChess.
Czech 2 2 FREE: Phalanx , Sachy.
Israel 2 2 FREE: Genesis , Movei.
21. Austria 2 1 FREE: InmiChess.
COMMERCIAL: WBNimzo.
22. New Zealand 1 1 FREE: LambChop.
COMMERCIAL: LambChop.
Ukraine 1 1 FREE: Bestia.
Chile 1 1 FREE: Amyan.
Argentina 1 1 FREE: Gaviota.
Poland 1 1 FREE: Butcher (Rzeznik).
Romania 1 1 FREE: Freyr.
Norway 1 1 FREE: Polar Chess.
Portugal 1 1 FREE: Replicant.
South Africa 1 1 FREE: Blikskottel.
Brazil 1 1 FREE: Damas.
-> 18.05.2002 <- :: LambChop by Peter McKenzie ::
Author : "Here is LambChop version 10.88, released here 18 May 2002.
This version
was originally part of a commercial offering from
Gambitsoft, but as that
company seems to have gone belly-up I decided to make the
software
freely available. "
DOWNLOAD site :
http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~peter/chop_download.htm
-> 17.05.2002 <- :: Baron by Richard Pijl ::
Author : " Hi, Baron 0.31 is released. Changes:
- Double Nullmove
- Piece Mobility evaluation
- Hanging Piece evaluation
- Reactivated (less) lazy evaluation
- Increased king safety knowledge
- Corrected pawn evaluation bug
- Close baron.ini after reading it
- Use more time when dropping out of book
- Reduce time spent when failing high bigtime
- Added odd-bishop ending knowledge
- Removed printing the board during execution of test
- Compiled with Intel compiler (instead of Borland)
It is available at the Baron's Lair Bye,Richard."
DOWNLOAD site : http://home.wish.net/~pijltjes
-> 17.05.2002 <- :: wbQueen by Leen Ammeraal ::
Author : " WBQueen 2.28 is available from my website below.
As some users reported, the UCI implementation
in wbQueen 2.27 was faulty.
Thanks to some very helpful comments from Alex Schmidt,
and some others, I was able to correct this.
I also made some minor changes in the handling
of the hashtable, in the evaluation function
and in the time control, but I am not sure that
this made the engine significantly stronger.
There is probably very little difference in
strength between the versions 2.27 and 2.28."
DOWNLOAD site : http://home.wxs.nl/~ammeraal/
-> 17.05.2002 <- :: GreKo by Vladimir Medvedev ::
Author : " Hello, World! I have fixed serious bug in time management
function
for blitz control like "40 1 0" in ver. 0.41. I have also
began to implement
hashing (thanks to all people who answered my questions in
this forum and by
email!). First steps are made in ver. 0.42. Best regards,VRM"
DOWNLOAD site :
http://www.geocities.com/win_pooh_ru/chess/greko_e.html
DOWNLOAD site : http://bearlodge.webservis.ru/chess/greko_e.html
-> 17.05.2002 <- :: NoonianChess by Charles Roberson ::
Author : " A PentiumPro Binary of Version 3.2.06 is at the web site
for Linux.
If anybody wants a Linux Pentium/Celeron let me know.
The difference between 3.2c and 3.2.06 is some extra
knowledge for pawns
in the endgame and kingsafety mods. Also, it is 2x faster
on deep searches
than 3.2c. Charles "
DOWNLOAD site :
http://home.attbi.com/~noonian/GameTheory/NCdownload.html
-> 17.05.2002 <- :: Lightning by Marius K ::
Author : " I repaired some problems in lightning with arena.
->lightning 2.0.4= same as 2.0.2 but runnable under arena.
ciao Marius "
DOWNLOAD site : http://hubbethebauch.bei.t-online.de/
-> 16.05.2002 <- :: Delfi by Fabio Cavicchio ::
Author : " Hello, a brand new version of Delfi is available.
I want to thank Lars Hallerstrom, Leo Dijksman and Vine
Smith for their
long time games played with Delfi: almost all the bad moves
caused by
positional errors have been corrected (the static
evaluation have
been doubled in complexity (!)).
This version will parteciapate at the Italian Championship
next week.
Kindest regards, Fabio Cavicchio "
DOWNLOAD site : http://www.msbsoftware.it/delfi/
-> 15.05.2002 <- :: wbQueen by Leen Ammeraal ::
Author : " Thanks to Carlos Pesce, there is now an improved
openings book for (wb)Queen available on my
website."
DOWNLOAD site : http://home.wxs.nl/~ammeraal/
-> 13.05.2002 <- :: Little Goliath by Michael Borgstadt ::
Author : " Little Goliath 2000 v3.6 is available !
New in version 3.6:
Some bugfixes (positional scoring and pawn-hashtable
management).
Much better time management, especially at blitz levels.
Stronger engine (+ 30 ELO at blitz level, compared with
3.5c).
Some new adjustable parameters:
- Nullmove_(R): nullmove depth (2-5, default "automatic")
- Extensions: range -4 .. 4 (default = 0)
- Forward_Pruning: range 0 .. 5 (default = 0)
- Style "risky" works much better now "
DOWNLOAD site : http://www.goliath-chess.de/
-> 13.05.2002 <- :: EnginMax by Engin Aston ::
Author : " EnginMax v4.20 bug fixed available! The opening book under
Arena
was not worked, this fixed. "
DOWNLOAD site : http://us.engin.bei.t-online.de/
-> 13.05.2002 <- :: Gaviota by Miguel A. Ballicora ::
Author : " This version has two main changes compared to 0.31, which
is playing
on the Leo's tournament. The bug where in some rare
situations could not
see a mate in one and played a mate in two has been fixed
(it was
discussed in this forum few days ago). Also, the time
management has
been modified (improved?). Lot of things to be done yet,
but at least I
did some modifications that needed to be done. Note that
version 0.31 has
not been released. There is no much sense in releasing it
now.
Compared to version 0.30 only minor changes has been done
everywhere but
nothing huge. However, it might play slightly different
since the code
that determine when to trade pieces has been clearly
improved. If it is
stronger, it might be 20 elo points or something
insignificant like that
(unless the time management is _really_ improved, which I
do not know).
Important thing: command has everything you might want to
know to create
a book or to execute an epdtest.
For advance users (probably I am the only one :-):
You can include a text file (script) that will execute a
series of commands
in batch. It will be executed at Gaviota's start up. The
name of this script file
can be controled with the command script_file in gav.ini
(see gav.ini example)
In this script file you can add anything that you find with
the help command
in console mode. Basically, gaviota is "cheated" and thinks
that the input come
from that file. Particularly important for this are the
commands "wait" and
"nowait" (see help). The idea is that it is possible to
execute an epdtest,
analyze a position to a fixed depth, later do something
else etc. It is also
important for profiling etc. Regards, Miguel "
DOWNLOAD site : http://www.msu.edu/~ballicor/gav/
-> 13.05.2002 <- :: NoonianChess by Charles Roberson ::
Author : " NoonianChess 3.2.06 is out for MS platform and Pentium Pro
or better
processors. If you have a processor that you want
supported, just email
me.
As usual, run the benchmark (nc3206.exe -bench -fd 8) and
send me the
results. I am in the market for a new machine and would
like to see what
runs my program the fastest.
What's new:
- Lots of work on bug fixes to pawn analysis
- more endgame and middlegame knowledge
- work in tuning move ordering
- tuning of extensions
- added functionality pertaining to testsuites ... "
DOWNLOAD site :
http://home.attbi.com/~noonian/GameTheory/NCdownload.html
-> 12.05.2002 <- :: Wilhelm by Rafael Andrist ::
Author : " I put the new version of Wilhelm (v. 1.33) on my webpage.
The engine itself wasn't changed much, but the interesting
things are anyway the
possibilities to analyse the Endgame Databases.
To the already existing EGTB analysis features from the
previous version, the
following things were added:
- Up to six relative piece dependencies are possible (before
only absolute and
only 1 relative)
- EGTB manager: gives you a quick and easy overview of the
installed EGTB and
offers an integrity check of the files (based on the
MD5-sum algorithm)
- Visualisation of mate distances of EGTB analyses as a
diagram
The program is available both in English and German, but the
setup routine is
German only which shouldn't be problem since it's a standard
setup precedure.
There is also a user manual in pdf available. Have fun
analysing endgames!
Rafael B. Andrist "
DOWNLOAD site : http://www.geocities.com/rba_schach2000/
-> 12.05.2002 <- :: movei by Uri Blass ::
Author : " You can change the size of the hash tables and the speed of
the program's moves
by changing the numbers in moveisizehashandslow.txt
The second number is responsible to changing the speed.The
default value is 1.
If you choose 5 the program believes that it has less time so
it plays 5 times
faster.It is not hard thing to do but it is not trivial
because dividing the time that
it gets from winboard by 5 is not going to solve the problem
because in that
case it may play 5 times faster in the first moves but not
later.-Uri "
DOWNLOAD site : http://www.amateurschach.de/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
********************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-2- New Engines -2-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-> 14.05.2002 <- :: T-Rex by Christophe Drieu ::
Author : " Download Version 0.40. The site is in French language.
Many problems on the Winbora Protocol Implementation. "
DOWNLOAD site : http://membres.lycos.fr/refigny63/nf3.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
********************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-3- Newsletter Useful Info -3-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o How do I unsubscribe?
Use the form at
http://digichess.gr/home.php?lang=en&class_ID=1&choice_ID=7&q=1 or send a
blank email message to newsletter@digichess.gr with the subject
UNSUBSCRIBE.
o How do I subscribe?
Use the form at
http://digichess.gr/home.php?lang=en&class_ID=1&choice_ID=7&q=1 or send a
blank email message to mailto: newsletter@digichess.gr with the subject
SUBSCRIBE.
o How do I see past issues?
Visit http://digichess.gr/home.php?lang=en&class_ID=1&choice_ID=7&q=1
o Is there an HTML or TEXT version?
Yes, but not via e-mail. View it online at
http://digichess.gr/newsletter/en/current.txt
o How do I change my address?
Unsubscribe your old one, then subscribe the new one, using the links
above.
o I need human help with a news letter issue!
Write to newsletter@digichess.gr.
o I have feedback about an article!
I'd love to hear it. Send me an email at
mailto: newsletter@digichess.gr .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This newsletter is published by Marountas John
http://digichess.gr - The Digital Chess Network
Copyright (c) 2001-2002 Marountas John. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.