Chess

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Amateur programs

Most of the programs listed here use their own Graphical User Interfaces (GUI). If you as an amateur want to defeat a chess program, there is no sense in playing against the best commercial programs, because they play as good as a Grand Master. On the other hand it is possible to beat many amateur programs, but amatuer programs like Comet or Crafty are likely too strong.

In most the cases the homepages to the programs or programmers are given, if not search at: PH-download or Pitt Chess Archives.

Amateur programs

Name of the program Description Opinion

AlfChess AlfChess is a new chess program with its own interface, which may be downloaded from Le Fou Numérique. Go to "Téléchargements". The program is not strong. (French)

Arasan Arasan has been developed by John Dart. It is strong, but can not compete with the commercial programs or the best amateur programs.

Armageddon Armageddon by Grzegorz Sidorowicz comes with its own interface, but the engine can also be installed into WinBoard. The program took the second place in the Polish Computer Chess Championships in 2002 as well as 2003.

Chenard Chenard is a nice little program developed by Don Cross, and it is not impossible to beat it.

Chess Marvel A shareware version of this program is available, that you may test before registration, which costs 10 dollars. The shareware version plays only on novice level. The design is not too impressive.

ChessV ChessV is a universal chess program designed to be capable of playing a (potentially) unlimited number of chess variants. It provides support for opening books, pawn structure hash tables, and other features of commercial chess programs. It is free!

Comet Comet is a strong program developed by Ulrich Türke. It is represented on many rating lists and manages very well against certain commercial programs. If I am not completely wrong, the Comet engine defeated a version of Nimzo in the tournament in Paderborn 2000. There is also an engine designed for WinBoard. The complete program is developed for DOS.

Diogenes Diogenes by Jörg Burwitz is also a DOS-program.

E.T.Chess E.T.Chess has been developed by Eric Triki. The program plays around 2100 ELO according to the designer.

Exchess Exchess by Dan Homan exists both in a DOS- and a Windows version.

GnuChess GnuChess exists both in a DOS- and Windows- Pocket PC and Linux version. As programmers Türke and D.Baker have been involved.

GromitChess GromitChess by Frank Schneider had its own interface in the beginning, but Schneider has given up that ambition. The last version functions as a chess engine and can be installed in WinBoard, Fritz and other interfaces.

Homeostatic Computer Chess Player Applet. By playing chess with Homeostatic Computer Chess Player Applet you are participating in an AI research experiment in distributed computation. Moves computed on your machine are sent to the chess memory server for storage and possible reuse, which is very interesting.

Hotbabe Chess Hotbabe Chess has been developed by a female programmer. Female programmers are rare, but Stephanie belongs certainly to the picture.

JavaChess JavaChess is a webbased program, that functions as a playing program as well as a game viewer. You may test it directly on the homepage. Extensive documentation in German.

Jester Jester is a webbased Java chess program.

Kaffeehaus-Schach Kaffeehaus-Schach is the chess club SK "Turm" Lage in Kachtenhausen, Germany, has submitted this weak Java chess program, to the web in order to encourage all those who defeat this program to join the club instead and play against humans.

Little ChessPartner 1.08 You can play against Little ChessPartner 1.08, a predecessor of ChessPartner, on Free Blubbie Chess Server. The computer thinks only 2 half moves ahead, so "give it a go and try to beat it", says the webmaster.

Maim Chess Jason Doucette originally wrote Maim Chess as a Software Engineering project at Acadia University. Estimated ELO 2000. It is a DOS-program, but it runs on some systems under Windows.

Marquis Marquis is a small, simple chess program, especially intended for blitz play and beginners. Roland Marquis from Swiss has made this program. (German and English)

NagaSkaki NagaSkaki is a free, fully functional chess program for Windows 9x, NT and XP. Neels Groenewald also describes how NagaSkai is constructed. Interesting for people who like to know more about chess programs.

Nejmet Nejmet was regarded as one of the five best amateur programs in France 1999.

Pax Chess Pax Chess has been developed by Len Dorfman.

RDChess RDChess, developed by Rudolf Posch, is not especially strong.

Rookie Rookie has been developed by Andrew Dados.

SoftChess SoftChess has been developed by Alexsandr Stanishevskiy, a very experienced programmer. (Russian and English)

Thinking Machine 4 Thinking Machine 4 is actually a curiosity, because it plays not good. It is a sort of artwork: when the machine is thinking, a network of curves is overlaid on the board, according to the thinking lines. It is webbased.

Waxman Waxman has been constructed by Ivan Bacigal.

Smart Neural Chess Smart Neural Chess is a free program for beginners, which does not need so much space on the harddisc and which also works on older computers.

Vektor 3 Vektor 3, which also has a sister, Vanessa, is an award winning chess program for Mac OS X. It features an intuitive user interface, that takes full advantage of Mac OS X' Aqua interface. Due to Vektor3's multi-document approach, it is possible to open and work with several documents at once.

Wilhelm Wilhelm is a German program (from 2001) with its own interface, actually a project for a degree, by Rafael B. Andrist. According to him an average club player can defeat the program.

WJChess WJChess is a chess program, which exists in a 2D version and a 3D version as well as a chess engine (estimated Elo 2150), compatible with Winboard and Arena Shareware. (French and English)

Bringer Bringer is a program, which does not need so much space on the hard disc. Constructor: Gerrit Reubold. The link is broken since 21-11-2004.

Chess-it! Chess-it! is a nice program. it is possible to beat it. It can be downloaded from several sites, but the publisher Yoto Yotov seems not to exist anymore. The link is broken since 21-11-2004.

Rabbit Rabbit has been developed by Roberto Waldteufel. The link is broken since 02-04-2004.

Amateur programs
Name of the program	Description	Opinion
AlfChess	AlfChess is a new chess program with its own interface, which may be downloaded from Le Fou Numérique. Go to "Téléchargements". The program is not strong. (French)
Arasan	Arasan has been developed by John Dart. It is strong, but can not compete with the commercial programs or the best amateur programs.
Armageddon	Armageddon by Grzegorz Sidorowicz comes with its own interface, but the engine can also be installed into WinBoard. The program took the second place in the Polish Computer Chess Championships in 2002 as well as 2003.
Chenard	Chenard is a nice little program developed by Don Cross, and it is not impossible to beat it.
Chess Marvel	A shareware version of this program is available, that you may test before registration, which costs 10 dollars. The shareware version plays only on novice level. The design is not too impressive.
ChessV	ChessV is a universal chess program designed to be capable of playing a (potentially) unlimited number of chess variants. It provides support for opening books, pawn structure hash tables, and other features of commercial chess programs. It is free!
Comet	Comet is a strong program developed by Ulrich Türke. It is represented on many rating lists and manages very well against certain commercial programs. If I am not completely wrong, the Comet engine defeated a version of Nimzo in the tournament in Paderborn 2000. There is also an engine designed for WinBoard. The complete program is developed for DOS.
Diogenes	Diogenes by Jörg Burwitz is also a DOS-program.
E.T.Chess	E.T.Chess has been developed by Eric Triki. The program plays around 2100 ELO according to the designer.
Exchess	Exchess by Dan Homan exists both in a DOS- and a Windows version.
GnuChess	GnuChess exists both in a DOS- and Windows- Pocket PC and Linux version. As programmers Türke and D.Baker have been involved.
GromitChess	GromitChess by Frank Schneider had its own interface in the beginning, but Schneider has given up that ambition. The last version functions as a chess engine and can be installed in WinBoard, Fritz and other interfaces.
Homeostatic Computer Chess Player Applet.	By playing chess with Homeostatic Computer Chess Player Applet you are participating in an AI research experiment in distributed computation. Moves computed on your machine are sent to the chess memory server for storage and possible reuse, which is very interesting.
Hotbabe Chess	Hotbabe Chess has been developed by a female programmer. Female programmers are rare, but Stephanie belongs certainly to the picture.
JavaChess	JavaChess is a webbased program, that functions as a playing program as well as a game viewer. You may test it directly on the homepage. Extensive documentation in German.
Jester	Jester is a webbased Java chess program.
Kaffeehaus-Schach	Kaffeehaus-Schach is the chess club SK "Turm" Lage in Kachtenhausen, Germany, has submitted this weak Java chess program, to the web in order to encourage all those who defeat this program to join the club instead and play against humans.
Little ChessPartner 1.08	You can play against Little ChessPartner 1.08, a predecessor of ChessPartner, on Free Blubbie Chess Server. The computer thinks only 2 half moves ahead, so "give it a go and try to beat it", says the webmaster.
Maim Chess	Jason Doucette originally wrote Maim Chess as a Software Engineering project at Acadia University. Estimated ELO 2000. It is a DOS-program, but it runs on some systems under Windows.
Marquis	Marquis is a small, simple chess program, especially intended for blitz play and beginners. Roland Marquis from Swiss has made this program. (German and English)
NagaSkaki	NagaSkaki is a free, fully functional chess program for Windows 9x, NT and XP. Neels Groenewald also describes how NagaSkai is constructed. Interesting for people who like to know more about chess programs.
Nejmet	Nejmet was regarded as one of the five best amateur programs in France 1999.
Pax Chess	Pax Chess has been developed by Len Dorfman.
RDChess	RDChess, developed by Rudolf Posch, is not especially strong.
Rookie	Rookie has been developed by Andrew Dados.
SoftChess	SoftChess has been developed by Alexsandr Stanishevskiy, a very experienced programmer. (Russian and English)
Thinking Machine 4	Thinking Machine 4 is actually a curiosity, because it plays not good. It is a sort of artwork: when the machine is thinking, a network of curves is overlaid on the board, according to the thinking lines. It is webbased.
Waxman	Waxman has been constructed by Ivan Bacigal.
Smart Neural Chess	Smart Neural Chess is a free program for beginners, which does not need so much space on the harddisc and which also works on older computers.
Vektor 3	Vektor 3, which also has a sister, Vanessa, is an award winning chess program for Mac OS X. It features an intuitive user interface, that takes full advantage of Mac OS X' Aqua interface. Due to Vektor3's multi-document approach, it is possible to open and work with several documents at once.
Wilhelm	Wilhelm is a German program (from 2001) with its own interface, actually a project for a degree, by Rafael B. Andrist. According to him an average club player can defeat the program.
WJChess	WJChess is a chess program, which exists in a 2D version and a 3D version as well as a chess engine (estimated Elo 2150), compatible with Winboard and Arena Shareware. (French and English)
Bringer	Bringer is a program, which does not need so much space on the hard disc. Constructor: Gerrit Reubold. The link is broken since 21-11-2004.
Chess-it!	Chess-it! is a nice program. it is possible to beat it. It can be downloaded from several sites, but the publisher Yoto Yotov seems not to exist anymore. The link is broken since 21-11-2004.
Rabbit	Rabbit has been developed by Roberto Waldteufel. The link is broken since 02-04-2004.