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Subject: commercial vs. free chess engines

Author: Jayakumar Ramanathan

Date: 07:26:50 09/18/02


Hi,

I use computers primarily to analyse my own games and help me find my mistakes.
The free engines that I use for this purpose are Crafty and Yace (run off of
SCID).

My main question is how commercial engines (like Fritz) compare with
free engines. What are the precise differences in the programs and am I as a
master-want-to-be player going to even notice them? What is it in the Fritz
program that makes it about 200 rating points better than top free programs?

My second question is if there are resources on the web on how a developing
player can use chess engines as an "in-house master"? I have found programs very
useful in finding tactics that have a definite conclusion. However, there have
also been situations where in-correct evaluations have been given based on a 14
ply variation that has a forced mate at the end position. It is very difficult
to know when to trust computer analysis. How does an amatuer use a chess engine
for his/her improvement?

Thanks
J.R.



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