Weak chess programs

Originally posted by Golub
There is one called Golem.. very simple. Basically just tries to control the centre, but quite strong considering how few rules it has..

Has perhaps 1300-1400 strength

Thanks Golub. This one seems really weak! Not sure how human-like it is, but I'll play a few more games with it to see if it could be a contender.

I would recommend buying a copy of the Fritz engine. It has a variety of modes including one that plays at an intermediate strength and it purposely makes at least 2-3 blunders per game. I really enjoy using Fritz and would suggest it for players of all skill levels.

Why not let your son join a chess club or play with players at his level. Programs are bad for beginners because they :-

- play in some areas like GMs and patzers in other areas.

Originally posted by z00t
Why not let your son join a chess club or play with players at his level. Programs are bad for beginners because they :-

- play in some areas like GMs and patzers in other areas.

My son often plays against other children of roughly his ability, and it improves his chess no end. I'm managing a county junior team and quite a lot of the children in the team don't have regular access to a chess club. I was hoping to be able to send them a free chess engine to practise basic stuff with, e.g. K+R vs K, king and pawn endings and, ideally, even whole games. Unfortunately I can't find an engine which plays normal, but weak, chess.

Originally posted by Wulebgr
It is not one tournament, but dozens. Some engines play in only a few. Some have faults that cause program failures, which I then remove from my computer, although they still appear in the rating list. I run events in Arena (UCI and Winboard engines) and in Fritz (Chessbase and UCI engines).

Here's the entire Arena list, last updated more than a year ago. ...[text shortened]... 88 2.9 %
60 T.Rex 1.8.5 : 1511 95 0 114 1.3 % 2111 0.9 %

Hi Wulebgr,

I recently updated my own chess engine, Rival, to support the UCI protocol if you are interested...

http://www.redhotpawn.com/rival

-Chris

Originally posted by Fat Lady
I was hoping to be able to send them a free chess engine to practise basic stuff with, e.g. K+R vs K, king and pawn endings and, ideally, even whole games. Unfortunately I can't find an engine which plays normal, but weak, chess.

For the elementary technique needed for K+R vs K and pawn endgames, weak engines will perform a disservice. Better that they practice against a strong engine with tablebases. Learn correct technique so you can beat even Kramnik in such positions.

This past week, I was using the position below as my training position with elementary school children (it came from a recent OTB game). If the kid will spend the time practicing against an engine, Fritz is the choice for such positions.

Black to move



For full game sparring, however, weak engines have their place. And finding an engine that plays weak, but humanlike is tough.

Originally posted by Chris
Hi Wulebgr,

I recently updated my own chess engine, Rival, to support the UCI protocol if you are interested...

http://www.redhotpawn.com/rival

-Chris

Thanks. I'll try it out.

Originally posted by Chris
Hi Wulebgr,

I recently updated my own chess engine, Rival, to support the UCI protocol if you are interested...

http://www.redhotpawn.com/rival

-Chris

I think crafty started as Prof Hyatt's Uni project and was twice world computer chess champion. Maybe you should not give up on the project but you can revive it with the aim of it becoming a strong program.

As I posted in my blog GNUChess is freguently underrated and does not feature in any of the amateur program leagues. Perhaps its lack of UCI/old code is to blame?