Amateur / Freeware Chess Engines
Note: Many of these are Winboard
compatible. You will find commercial programs on the Software
page.
WBEC-Ridderkerk
- Maintains a list of Winboard-compatible engines with download links.
Aldebaran
Amyan
Arasan
Armageddon
Averno
BabyChess
BACE (Source only - you must compile)
Bestia
Betsy
Chessterfield
- Neural-network based.
Cilian
Cilk Project - Cilk
is a strong program for multi-processor machines. Has source code and
info on parallel computing. Not a Winboard engine.
ColChess
- Engine for Linux/Unix.
CPP1 - Experimental object-oriented
chess engine. Does not use brute force.
Crafty - Source only.
Crazy Bishop - Quite strong.
A class library for chess programs also available.
Crux
La Dame Blanche
DChess
Delfi - plays a human-style game and can emulate a lower-strength opponent.
EG Chess -
3D board and pieces, and you can play against the built-in engine or
a friend over a network.
Embracer
Faile
Fortress
Freyr
Gaviota
Gerbil
- from Bruce Moreland, author of Ferret.
GNU Chess
Golem
Green Light Chess
Horizon
Inmichess
KnightCap - Interesting
program for UNIX is supposed to learn as plays. Source code available.
No Winboard/Xboard support.
KnightX
MFChess
Mint
Mustang
Nejmet
Nero
Pax Chess
Pierre
PolarChess
Quark
Queen
Raffaela
RD
Chess - Has both Windows interface & Winboard support.
Replicant
Sjeng & Deep Sjeng - Sjeng plays bughouse &
crazyhouse; Deep Sjeng is a strong standard chess engine.
Sunsetter - Bughouse
/ crazyhouse engine -- ability to play on a chess server.
TI-Chess - Engine for your TI
calculator.
Yace
Chess Programming Tutorials & Info /
Computer Chess Miscellaneous
Alberta
GAMES Group - An academic research group -- includes a respository
of papers (in PostScript format) regarding chess and game programming.
Anatomy
Of Chess Programs - Short article from ICCA on how chess programs
work. Not detailed, but a good intro.
Anticomputer
Chess - How do you beat your fancy new program? Find out here.
Bruce
Moreland - The chess page of the author of Ferret & Gerbil.
Has information about these two programs, plus computer chess programming
in general.
ChessBits
- In German. Computer Chess magazine. (now defunct)
Chess
Programming - Multi-part series from GameDev.net. Well-written and
thorough.
Chess
Programming Theory - Chess programming tutorial.
Computer
Chess - Part of a huge HTML document, this section describes the
basic architecture of a chess program.
Computer
Chess Club - Web-based moderated discussion forum aimed at keeping
the posts on-topic (computer chess). Very active.
Dark
Thought - Some implementation details on a program called Dark Thought.
Endgame
Tablebase Guide - An introduction to endgame tablebases and how
to get them working properly.
Endgame
Tablebase Server (Nalimov) - An online interface to a complete set
of 3, 4, & 5 man endgame tablebases. Can even be accessed directly
from a chess engine with the right programming.
Endgame Tablebase
Server - Another site to look-up endgames, including depth-to-conversion
data.
EPD2WB
- Bruce Moreland's utility to run EPD test suites with Winboard chess
engines.
Frank's Chess
Page - Lots of info on lots of Winboard engines. Games, Winboard
tournaments, etc.
Game
Programming - Selected lectures on how to program board games.
Game
Theory: Computer Chess Notes - A short explanation of the techniques
of chess programming.
Genetic
Algorithms for King-Pawn Endgames - A paper describing experiments
to use GA's in chess programming.
Hossa
- Steffen Jakob introduces you to his program Hossa (you may remember
his killer Crafty-clone "Brause" that played the Halloween
Attack). No executable or source, but a discussion of techniques used
and games played.
International
Computer Games Association (ICGA) - Organizes computer chess tournaments
(including the computer chess championships), and publishes a journal.
KC Chess
- Academic report on a project to make a chess program. Good reading
if you are just getting into chess programming. Also includes Pascal
source code.
Louis Kessler's Page
- Links and some essays on the history of computer chess from one of
its early innovators.
Machine
Learning in Games - All sorts of great information about programs
that learn to play games.
Memory
vs. Search in Games - A Ph.D. thesis by Dennis Breuker using computer
chess as its main focal point.
Mr.
T vs. Deep Blue - It turns out Kasparov was using the wrong strategy.
MTD(f)
- Tutorial on the MTD(f) minimax algorithm.
Permanent
Brain - [i]In German.[/i] Computer chess games for replay, computer chess
history and software museum.
Programming
a Computer to Play Chess - The paper that started it all. Claude
E. Shannon's 1949 Bell Labs report on just how a computer might play
chess.
Tom's Simple Chess Program - Simple program shows basics of chess programming.
WBEC-Ridderkerk
- Maintains a list of Winboard-compatible engines with download links.
Also has computer chess tournaments.
WinBoard
/ XBoard - You'll need an interface for all those chess engines.
Winboard
/ Chess Engine FAQ - If you don't know what all this Winboard, Crafty,
chess engine, etc. nonsense is all about, this is your first stop to
get your questions answered.
Winboard
Tourney Manager - Utility for running tournaments between Winboard
chess engines.