who uses chess analysis programs and what do you use?
do they make you better players by finding better moves or do they make you weaker because you become too lazy to do your own post game analyses?
i have toyed with the idea of getting something in the future though i don't like it much since all the commercial ones run on windows and i use unix. so unless there are some raving reviews in favor of using analysis programs and people really feel they do miracles for one's chess, it is a step that i don't wish to contemplate any further.
in friendhsip,
prad
I'm a cheapskate and a freeware fan (two obviously related traits) so I use:
ChessPad with Crafty, a freeware engine. Here I load a pgn and play back over the moves, re-thinking what I might have done differently and noting what Crafty suggests.
Rebel Decade, a free version of Rebel. This program will go through a whole game and insert its analysis of each move in comments. I haven't actually used this yet with RHP games. I'm also a procrastinator 🙂
I don't remember who, but someone here on RHP is a fan of a free program called Arena. I downloaded it but haven't started tinkering with it yet.
I don't think the computer analysis weakens a player. On the other hand, it won't necessarily strengthen. Whether it does depends on the attitude of the player seeking the engine's assistance, I would think.
EDIT: Whoops. I somehow missed the bit about your being on unix when I first posted 😳
I wouldn't say the post-game computer analysis did any wonders for my game, but I don't use it too regularly. Usually if I had a hairy, tactical position and I wasn't sure of my analysis in-game, then after the game I'll see what Crafty makes of the position. Maybe more regular users of post-game engine analysis can be more helpful than me 🙂
Oh, and my take on programs...I think Chessmaster has helped me a lot. My rating is the highest is has ever been after studying the material and using the program to analyze my past games. Personally, being able to go back through a game and look at other options, and see advice about those options, has helped me to see more options in the present games I am playing now.
Originally posted by ncrosbyI've used both, and I think whether it's worth getting the 9000 version depends on how much of a chessaholic you are. 😉
On the subject of chessmaster, I use Chessmaster 8000, and I've been curious about whether or not it is worth getting 9000. Is there much of a difference?...if anyone has ever used both.
There is a very good addition to the Classroom section - in addition to the old Waitzkin's annotated games, there's another section by Waitzkin called "Psychology of Competition" that includes 19 more annotated games by Josh, plus an endgame course by Josh that includes 15 annotated games. That I think, for me at least, made upgrading well worth it.
As for other features... I've had Chessmaster 9000 for quite a while so I don't really remember how different it was from CM 8000. But I think the additions to the Classroom section are the most notable changes.
-Jarno
Originally posted by pradtfI run the following on a .BSD:
who uses chess analysis programs and what do you use?
do they make you better players by finding better moves or do they make you weaker because you become too lazy to do your own post game analyses?
i have toyed with the idea of getting something in the future though i don't like it much since all the commercial ones run on windows and i use unix. so ...[text shortened]... ne's chess, it is a step that i don't wish to contemplate any further.
in friendhsip,
prad
gnuchess: http://www.gnu.org/software/chess/
with
xboard: http://www.tim-mann.org/xboard.html
From the xboard site (editted a bit):
"XBoard is a graphical user interfaces for chess. They display a chessboard on the screen, accept moves made with the mouse, and load and save games in Portable Game Notation (PGN). They serve as front-ends for many different chess services, including: Chess engines that will run on your machine and play a game against you or help you analyze, such as GNU Chess, Crafty, or many others."
Personally I mostly use xboard to play 5 minute Blitz on an ICS when things are slow here. I'm sure you'll be able to find a version for whichever *nix you are running.
Good luck.
Originally posted by cpkid6107You can use the "game analysis" feature in the Game room. First you have to copy the move list of the game you want analyzed, and paste it into the game room.
maybe its just me but i have chessmaster 9000 and i don't know i just must be missing it but where do you have the computer check your games at??
You do this by first (in the RHP website) clicking on "view board" on one of your finished games, and then clicking on "game history", and finally on "Get PGN of this game". Select the contents of the box that opens and copy them (Press Ctrl+c).
Then you go to the game room in CM9000, and select from the "Edit" menu "PGN" under "Paste". Now you should have your finished game, along with the move-list displayed on the screen. Then just select "Game analysis..." from the Mentor menu, and let Chessmaster go to work.
Unfortunately, for some reason (I don't know whether this is a bug with CM9000 or due to some problem specific to my system), the "paste PGN" feature worked only once - it won't work any more for some reason. I tried re-installing, and again it worked the first time after re-installation, but not after that.
If you have the same problem, then I'm afraid the only way to get your games analyzed is to set up a new game pitting yourself against yourself, and playing out the game you want to analyze by making the moves of both sides. It's slower, but one good thing about it is that you can use that opportunity to go over all your moves yourself first, trying to spot your mistakes before allowing Chessmaster to analyze it.
-Jarno
Originally posted by Lazarausthanks lazarus and everyone else!
I run the following on a .BSD:
gnuchess: http://www.gnu.org/software/chess/
with
xboard: http://www.tim-mann.org/xboard.html
From the xboard site (editted a bit):
"XBoard is a graphical user interfaces for chess. They display ...[text shortened]... find a version for whichever *nix you are running.
Good luck.
i used to use crafty 2+ years ago on my P120 - let it run all night for analysis on my FICS games. it was helpful to some extent, but i stopped. some of these newer programs may be worth looking into, someday. i had heard that the 'chess school' feature is pretty good in chessmaster and am glad to see it confirmed here.
btw, lazarus, i do my stuff with scid db program. i've found it pretty good - but the engine that comes with it 'scidlet' is pretty pitzy. crafty works better, but doesn't annotate terribly well as far as variations go, so i stopped using it (my P120 did a better job). it may be possible to get different variations with scid and crafty, but i haven't bothered to try to figure it out.
thanks all, again!
in friendship,
prad
Unfortunately, for some reason (I don't know whether this is a bug with CM9000 or due to some problem specific to my system), the "paste PGN" feature worked only once - it won't work any more for some reason.Chessmaster requires castling in the PGN to be be capitalized, but RHP lowercases the castling notation. If you capitalize the catling notation before copying it, it works fine.
Originally posted by cevansWow thanks! Never would have figured that one out.
Chessmaster requires castling in the PGN to be be capitalized, but RHP lowercases the castling notation. If you capitalize the catling notation before copying it, it works fine.
By unlucky coinsidence the two games that I copied and pasted to Chessmaster successfully (the first one, and the one after re-installation) must have been ones where there was no castling. This led me to believe that there was a bug in the program. Thanks for setting me straight! 🙂
Hmm... that seems somehting that might be worth changing - maybe RHP should start using capitalized O's in castling.
-Jarno