From pribut@us.net (Stephen M. Pribut) Newsgroups: rec.games.chess Subject: *Chess Faq Part 2 - chfaq11b.txt [1/2] Date: 20 Feb 1995 20:14:40 GMT Content-Type: Text/Plain Expires:1995/02/27 Last-Modified: 1995/02/16 Summary: This posting addresses some of the FAQ's on the rec.games.chess news group. Topics include E-Mail games, Internet Chess Server (ICS), Material available via FTP servers, Dedicated Computers, and Software for Playing, Databases and Utilities. Keywords: chess FAQ semimonthly answers Reply-To: pribut@us.net Keywords: chess FAQ semimonthly answers Archive-Name: games/chess/part2 Stephen M. Pribut pribut@us.net Publicly available playing, e-mail lists, or material [17] E-Mail Games, ICS, Mailing Lists, Gopher, Usenet Reader [18] Material Available via Anonymous FTP Commercially available playing or material [19] Chess-Playing Computers [20] Chess-Playing Software [21] Database Software [22] Utility Software Miscellaneous [23] Using Graphic Chess Symbols in Printed Text [24] Trivia [25] Common Acronyms [26] Rules [27] Variants [28] Disclaimer and Copyright Notice This FAQ list may be obtained via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu under /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/chess/part2. Or, send email to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with 'send usenet/news.answers/games/chess/part2' in the body of the message, leaving the subject line empty. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: [17] E-Mail Games, ICS, Mailing Lists, Gopher, Usenet reader The Internet Chess Server (ICS)is a true internet chess highlight! ICS was originally developed by Michael Moore (mmoore@dsd.es.com). ICS allows interactive chess games for those with Internet telnet capability. Use telnet (e.g., "telnet chess.lm.com 5000") to connect. All may log on and play chess, but if you wish to have your games recorded and develop a rating, register on the system you use (see help on the system for more information). Send questions to tange@daimi.aau.dk or danke@daimi.aau.dk. There are several IC Servers running: To play on the ICS,USA, all you need to do is type: telnet chess.lm.com 5000 You will be asked for a name. Type in any name you want. You will then be logged in as an "unregistered" player. If you want a "registered" account, type "help registration" and follow the directions carefully. SOME FACTS ABOUT ICS: There are over 7,000 accounts on ICS, from all over the world. There are often over 150 people logged in. Many times more than 230. Players range in skill from Grandmaster down to beginner, so you can always find someone at your level. This is "live" chess, not e-mail chess! It only takes a second or two to transmit your move to your opponent (unless there is bad lag on the internet). It's a fun, club-like atmosphere, with people talking about chess, kibitzing during games, shouting greetings to each other, discussing sports, arguing politics, etc. You can: - play chess 24 hours a day. - play games using any time control you and your opponent agree to, ranging from one minute for the whole game to 5 hours. - get ratings for blitz and slow chess. Each game is rated right after it is played. You can play unrated also. - watch Grandmasters and International Masters playing blitz. - play over and sutdy the past 14 games of any ICS player. - obtain "graphical interfaces", that allow you to make moves with a mouse on a board on your screen. These are available for DOS, Mac, and Unix machines. do "help interface". - talk to people from all over the world, with the many commands for communicating: tell, shout, kibitz, whisper. For more information, just login into ICS, and look around. "help" and "info" give you a list of all the files of information that you can read. You can also talk to an administrator if you have any questions or problems. Administrators can be found by typing "who" and looking for a "*" by their name. ICS-addresses: Euro- Server: anemone.daimi.aau.dk 5000 (130.225.18.58 5000) US- Server: chess.lm.com 5000 (164.58.253.10 5000) (this has changed twice in October - November 1994) Dutch-Server: dds.hacktic.nl 5000 (193.78.33.69 5000) Aussie-Server: lux.latrobe.edu.au 5000 (131.172.4.3 5000) ICS-backup servers (unsaved games) telnet iris4.metiu.ucsb.edu 5000 telnet coot.lcs.mit.edu 5000 Ftp server : ftp chess.onenet.net 5000 (164.58.253.10 5000) To see a sample ftp session, do: help ftp Graphical Interfaces for ICS ------------------------------------ There are several graphical interfaces available for the ICS. All are available via anonymous ftp from the chess ftp site, in the directory pub/chess. See "help addresses" and "help ftp" on ICS for the location of the ftp site and instructions on how to use it. NAME Operating System Author -------------------------------------------------------------------- GIICS DOS with modem LLama NGIICS DOS with TCP/IP LLama ZIICS DOS with modem Zek JIICS DOS with modem (requires VGA/mouse) Peluri Monarc DOS with modem Kevster Raja Elephant MS Windows and modem (also known as "WICS") fischer Gilchess MS Windows and modem Azorduldu PMICS OS/2 PM and modem (get pmics091.exe, in pub/chess/DOS/OLD-STUFF) woof XBoard Unix with X windows and TCP/IP (or modem) mann XICS Unix with X windows and TCP/IP observer cics Unix with ordinary terminal (e.g. vt100) observer NeXTICS NeXT with modem or TCP/IP red MacICS Mac douglas MacICS-TCP Mac with TCP/IP eew E-ICS Mac douglas Aics Amiga fischer Programmers: Please do "help programmers" for suggestions about how to parse the output from this server. IEGC, a e-mail pairing service is currently run by Franz Hemmer - franz@hemsoft.ping.dk. Ratings are posted in rec.games.chess. Three speeds are supported, move a day, move a day except weekends and 10 moves per month. For pairing send your NAME, E-MAIL ADDRESS, and LEVEL-OF-PLAY (Novice,Intermediate, or Expert) or approximate rating to (franz@hemsoft.ping.dk). You will be matched to play 2 games simultaneously. This is another true internet chess highlight! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS About IECG What is the origin of IECG? At the end of 1993, several chess players who had met and played elsewhere via slow net email began playing their games via Internet to speed up play. A notice calling for more players was placed in rec.games.chess. The idea has proved popular, as indicated by the rapid growth to almost 900 players world-wide. What is the purpose of the IECG? To continue to provide chessplayers throughout the world with the opportunity to compete and meet new chess friends in the context of an organization which does not require fees for membership and the rating of games. This includes players who have their own access to Internet, or the ability to use the Internet address of a friend. What are the goals of IECG? * To fully staff IECG with capable volunteers -- including tutors for those new to chess via email -- so that the chess-via-Internet community can continue to enjoy the benefits of this service. * To gain further recognition in the world's chess community so that all members can enjoy that measure of status of belonging to an international chess organization. What relation does IECG have to ICS? None, though many IECG players do play blitz via ICS. Does IECG have any interaction with FIDE, ICCF, or with national chess federations such as USCF or CFC? None at this time. What algorithm is used to determine player ratings? * Formulas similar to those used by USCF and CFC. Please note: National ratings -- with appropriate conversions -- can apply. Subject to correction/revision, the following adjustments are believed to be appropriate. Quebec [FQE] : Add 100 points England : Multiply the 3-digit rating by 8 and add 700 Norway : Add 180 points ELO : Add 100 points FIDE conversion: Add 50 points Further information welcomed! * IECG ratings are updated virtually in real-time. Also, rating changes are published more often -- and more quickly -- in rec.games.chess than is possible in federation publications. New players frequently ask: "What is a good number of games to start?" Difficult to answer without knowing the player's available hobby time, other commitments, and threshold of stress. Start with one, two, or even three two-game matches. Then discuss the specifics of your situation with Franz Hemmer. What about other forms of Tournaments? IECG will arrange them soon! Do I have to read my email and respond on weekends? No. You just have to keep the standard pace: 10 moves in 30 days, avg. rate of 1 every 3 days. Am I going to get flagged if I am confronted with other commitments ? Not if you advise your opponent, requesting adjournment, with a copy of that message sent to the TD. In short, adjourments are permissible IF Franz Hemmer is notified, and the notification confirmed. How do I blow the whistle on someone who won't move? Notify the TD, with full details, including dates. How do we resolve typographical errors? (Touch-move?) Typos are binding. If a transmitted move is possible, it can not be retracted. If it is impossible, it should be corrected. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * STAFF * International Email Chess Group: * STAFF * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Franz Hemmer, CEO/TD franz@hemsoft.ping.dk Henk Chang, Executive VP/Archivist khchang@netcom.com Lisa Powell, Chairman Of The Board, Executive VP Chess Academy rpowell@uoguelph.ca Barry Wright, VP Training rn6370@rose.com Giorgio Chinnici, VP Planning & Documents giorgio.chinnici@galactica.it Chuck Schulien, Advisor on Master events bookup@bronze.coil.com Mats Larsson, Advisor on Master events matsl@axis.se Mike Westbrook, Arbitrator mwest@hcsd.hac.com Sherman Klausner, Academy Staff Coordinator klaus@interaccess.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * TEAMS * International Email Chess Group: * TEAMS * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harvey Reed: TD, Corporate/Ad Hoc Teams, IECG: David MacMahon, Marcam Team Coordinator, Marcam CC [MCAM] Mats Larsson, Axis Team Coordinator, Axis CC [AXIS] Evan Welsh, EPCC Team Coordinator, EPCC [EPCC] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * GAME * International Email Chess Group: * SCORES * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send completed game scores [record of moves] to Franz Hemmer: franz@hemsoft.ping.dk [to update win-draw-loss statistics] Henk Chang: khchang@netcom.com [to maintain IECG games database] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * MISC * International Email Chess Group: * MISC * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TD for quad tournaments: Richard Kyllo richkyllo@mbnet.mb.ca E-mail quads: 4-player double round robin mini-tourneys. Each player plays two games against each opponent, one as white and one as black. Further details from Richard Kyllo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like a copy of the latest IECG Quick Guide, then write to Giorgio Chinnici: giorgio.chinnici@galactica.it If you would like to join, then please fill out the following and send it to Franz Hemmer Your full Name : Email Address : Estimated rating : nnnn [FIDE?, USCF?, ??] Country, State and City : Played email chess before? : Ready to play a match? : ----------------------------------------------------------- - Rob Buchner (rainbow@cbnewsc.cb.att.com) organizes e-mail games on "ladders." If you would like to be included on the ladder, simply send him a message. Contacting potential opponents and setting up matches is your initiative. Just let him know whenever a match starts or ends. Also, after a game has been completed, include the following information: white score black completed moves opening ***** ***** ***** ********* ***** ******* name ?:? name date number type Ladder updates are posted to rec.games.chess about once a month. Other lists: There is a mailing list which is not associated with rec.games.chess called "chess-l." It averages about 4 posts/day, which are sent to subscribers via e-mail. To subscribe to the chess-l news group, send the message "subscribe chess-l Your-Real-Name-Here" to listserv@hearn.bitnet. A mailing list for those interested in scholastic chess has been set up by Kenneth Sloan (sloan@cis.uab.edu). Send a request to be added to the list to scholastic-chess-request@cis.uab.edu. Gopher is "a document delivery service"; sort of a stripped-down menu-driven FTP. Those with access to a gopher client can access kasey.umkc.edu for chess-related material. For those on the Internet whose sites do not receive rec.games.chess, it can be read (along with all other Usenet groups) from an experimental bulletin board system (EBBS) run by the University of North Carolina. The Internet address for EBBS is launchpad.unc.edu (152.2.22.80). A news reader (read-only) is available to all users, but posting is limited to those who have been verified by land mail. Internet e-mail privileges are also available to verified users. All access to this system is free at this time. There is a Special Interest Group (SIG) on a pool of computers: the Free-Net System at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Try "telnet freenet-in-[a,b,c].cwru.edu" (replace "[a,b,c]" with one of a, b or c). Login as a visitor and explore the system. Try "go chess" to find local chess bulletin boards and an e-mail chess group. Request membership at xx011@cleveland.freenet.edu [The Cleveland Chess Sig (FNCF), 4382 Tiedeman Rd., Brooklyn, Ohio 44144]. There is a FidoNet conference for chess which offers games by e-mail. The moderator of the FidoNet International CHESS Echo is Bill Spinks @ 1:2613/333.12. Also, a second FidoNet conference is now in existence. It is the Fidonet Chess Tourney Echo, moderated by Doug Attig at doug.attig@rook.com or FidoNet 1:138/239.0. There's an e-mail chess pairing service run by William Moxley. To get an opponent, send your NAME, E-MAIL ADDRESS, and LEVEL-OF-PLAY (Novice, Intermediate, or Expert) to chess.info@vpnet.chi.il.us. If you don't hear back within a week, you cannot be reached at the e-mail address provided. ------------------------------ Subject: [18] Material Available via Anonymous FTP FTP is a way of copying files between networked computers. Information on it is available via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in the file /pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-sources. If you do not know how to use anonymous FTP or do not have access to it, you can retrieve the file by sending an e-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" as the body of the message. (Send a message containing "help" for general information on the server.) Or, see the posting titled "How to find sources (READ THIS BEFORE POSTING)" in the news groups comp.sources.wanted or news.answers. Information on what the various compression extensions mean (like ".Z") and what utilities are available to deal with them can be found in the comp.compression FAQ list (see the posting in comp.compression or news.answers titled "comp.compression Frequently Asked Questions," or get /pub/usenet/news.answers/compression-faq/* from rtfm.mit.edu). Miscellaneous. A general repository for chess-related material is somewhat associated with the Internet Chess Server (ICS). Currently, the 'ICS FTP host' is caissa.onenet.net. Material is in the pub/chess directory. New material may be placed in pub/chess/uploads. Many freeware chess programs for different platforms, including graphical ICS (see [17]) clients, are available (e.g., for MS-DOS, MacOS, AmigaOS, NeXT, and UNIX vt100 or X Windows interfaces). Scores of various matches and other groups of games as well. Follows is an outline of some of the available directories on ICS: pub/chess: general chess directory pub/chess/PGN: Portable Game Notation directory pub/chess/PGN/Standard: ASCII version of the PGN Standard pub/chess/PGN/Standard.TOC: Table of Contents for above pub/chess/PGN/Events: directory of directories of events by year pub/chess/PGN/Players: directory with many PGN games by player pub/chess/Tests: directory with many chess program test positions pub/chess/Tests/Manifest: description of EPD test files pub/chess/TB: endgame tablebases pub/chess/TB/README-TB: tablebase decyphering documentation pub/chess/TB/tbt.c: ANSI C tablebase test harness pub/chess/PGN/Tools: PGN tools and utilities directory pub/chess/Unix/SAN.tar.gz: Standard Algebraic Notation source kit Chaos. A chess tournament pairing program (Swiss pairing as well as Round Robin), GNU General Public License, runs on the Commodore-Amiga, available from AmiNet mirrors (e.g., wuarchive.wustl.edu), under /pub/aminet/game/think. GNU chess. Gnuchess is a freely available chess-playing software program. Gnuchess 4.0 can be FTP'ed from prep.ai.mit.edu, export.lcs.mit.edu, and probably other sites. It can be compiled for X Windows (with XBoard, below), SunView, curses, IBM PC character set, or ASCII interfaces. Included in the package are the utilities gnuan (analysis program), game (PostScript printout), postprint (prints hashfile), checkgame (checks a game listing for illegal moves), and checkbook (checks the opening book for illegal moves). It has been posted to gnu.chess. LaTex chess macros. Piet Tutelaers' (rcpt@rwc.urc.tue.nl) chess LaTex package (version 1.2) may be FTP'ed from sol.cs.ruu.nl (131.211.80.5); please restrict access to weekends or evenings. A server can answer e-mail requests (put "send HELP" as the message to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl). Get TEX/chess12.*. See [23]. Notation. Notation is a chess game score preprocessor written by Henry Thomas (hthomas@irisa.fr). It reads chess games, either in full algebraic or shortened notation (i.e., Nf1-g3 or f1g3 or Ng3) and is able to output the games and/or the board at any move, in ASCII, PostScript, TeX, or nroff. It also can generate output for the gnuan and XBoard programs. It is multi-lingual for piece identification; understanding French, English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, etc. The program also handles variations and symbolized comments. It works fine on UNIX (Sun SPARCstation and Sun-3). It uses standard C, and function declarations are done in both K&R-C and ANSI-C. It won't be difficult to compile for MS-DOS with MSC. Sources have been posted to comp.sources.misc. You can also get them from Mr. Thomas by e-mail. They may be FTP'ed from wuarchive.wustl.edu, in /usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume28/notation/*.Z (European users use garbo.uwasa.fi). Chess notation tool kit. The Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN) Kit chess programming C source tool kit is designed to help chess software efforts by providing common routines for move notation I/O, move generation, move execution, and various useful position manipulation services. There are substantial additions to the previous version which include a standard position notation scheme along with some benchmarking tests. A main program is included which gives sample calls for the various routines. Simple I/O functions are also provided. A clever programmer needs only to add a search and an evaluation function to produce a working chessplaying program. A programmer who already has the source to a chessplaying program may improve it further by including tool kit routines as needed for standardization. The author of this package is Steven J. Edwards (sje@mv.mv.com). The SAN Kit may be retrieved from the 'ICS FTP host'as: ftp://ics.onenet.net/pub/chess/Unix/SAN.tar.gz. XBoard. XBoard is an X11/R4-based user interface for GNU Chess or ICS. As an interface to GNU Chess, XBoard lets you play a game against the machine, set up arbitrary positions, force variations, or watch a game between two machines. As an interface to the ICS, XBoard lets you play against other ICS users or observe games they are playing. You can also use XBoard as a chessboard to review or analyze games. It will read a game file or allow you to play through a variation manually. This is useful for keeping track of email postal games, browsing games off the net, or reviewing GNU Chess and ICS games you have saved. Beginning with version 2.0, Tim Mann has taken over development of XBoard. The program can be FTP'ed from the 'ICS FTP host.' ------------------------------ Subject: [19] Chess-Playing Computers There are numerous dedicated chess-playing computers available commercially, as well as chess-playing software for various personal computers. Prices vary from perhaps $10,000 for the most expensive dedicated computer to perhaps $30 for the cheapest software (see [20]). The differences are basically how strong the machine (or software) plays, and the other features it has to offer (e.g., for dedicated machines: size of board, wood/plastic, autosensory or "push the pieces," etc.). When purchasing a chess computer or software, it is best to buy something which plays at least 300 points above your rating. The Swedish list ratings are ELO ratings. ELO ratings may be lower than USCF ratings by 50 to 250 points. The 2431 rating of "Genius" is estimated to be approximately the equivalent of 2650 USCF rating. A computer may assist in your learning in many ways. One of the best uses is to auto-analyze your own games. Find out where you have erred and what better lines were available. You may also set up positions that are of interest or play out lines against the computer. If you are working on a specific opening, you may play a vairiety of continuations against the computer. Both middle game and endgame practice are also useful. Set up positions that are in the instructional books you are reading. Playing against the computer is excellent practise. Most people recommend setting up a board, rather than just keeping the position on screen. Unless of course you are cramming for the ICS. Here's the latest SSDF-rating list from Sweden. The SSSDf are using new autotesting equipment. The 2.400+ rating achieved by Chess Genius 3.0 (Pentium 90) is the highest rating ever achieved by any program in SSDF's history! (approx. 2.650 USCF!) The following list was supplied by Mads Brevik, computer science student at Kongsberg College of Engineering.(mads2bacchus.kih.no) \ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SSDF RATING LIST 1995-01-08 40615 games played by 134 computers Rating + - Games Won Oppo ------ --- --- ----- --- ---- * 1 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2431 64 -57 148 69% 2289 * 2 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2371 40 -37 352 67% 2245 * 3 MChess Pro 4.0 486/50-66 MHz 2351 46 -44 253 61% 2274 4 Mephisto Genius 2.0 486/50-66 MHz 2346 34 -32 483 66% 2230 5 Rebel 6.0 486/50-66 MHz 2320 34 -32 466 64% 2218 6 Ch.Machine 30 MHz King 2.0 aggr/R30 off 2313 26 -24 877 71% 2153 7 Chess Machine 30-32 MHz Schroder 3.1 2310 34 -32 500 70% 2165 8 Chessmaster 4000 486/50-66 MHz 2304 38 -36 392 69% 2165 9 MChess Pro 3.5 486/50-66 MHz 2298 33 -32 486 62% 2209 10 Mephisto Gideon Pro 486/50-66 MHz 2286 38 -36 380 65% 2178 11 Chess Genius 1.0 486/50-66 MHz 2282 34 -32 464 65% 2176 12 MChess Pro 3.12 486/50-66 MHz 2275 37 -34 427 71% 2121 13 Fritz 3.0 486/50-66 MHz 2266 37 -35 393 66% 2151 14 Berlin Pro 68 020 24 MHz 2247 43 -41 289 63% 2149 15 Chess Genius 1.0 486/33 MHz 2245 41 -41 292 55% 2211 16 Kallisto 1.82-1.83 486/50-66 MHz 2238 31 -30 530 54% 2207 17 MChess Pro 3.12 486/33 MHz 2234 50 -48 208 60% 2160 17 Mephisto Vancouver 68030 36 MHz 2234 37 -34 451 73% 2059 19 Mephisto RISC 1 MB ARM 2 14 MHz 2211 25 -24 858 63% 2117 20 Kasparov SPARC 20 MHz 2210 31 -30 528 57% 2157 20 Hiarcs Master 2.0 486/33 MHz 2210 46 -46 229 51% 2200 22 Saitek RISC 2500 ARM2 14 MHz 128K 2199 24 -24 881 61% 2119 23 Chess Machine Schroder 512K ARM2 16MHz 2198 28 -27 679 63% 2105 24 MChess 1.1-1.71 486/33 MHz 2195 44 -40 326 74% 2017 25 Chess Machine The King 512K ARM2 16MHz 2181 33 -32 461 57% 2135 26 Mephisto Vancouver 68020 12 MHz 2164 25 -24 904 70% 2017 27 Socrates 3.0 486/33 MHz 2151 49 -50 203 47% 2172 28 Fritz 2.0 486/33 MHz 2145 36 -36 383 53% 2124 29 Mephisto Berlin 68 000 12 MHz 2125 26 -25 761 61% 2045 30 Fidelity Elite 68030 32 MHz (vers.9) 2122 40 -37 372 73% 1952 31 Mephisto Vancouver 68000 12 MHz 2102 23 -23 922 58% 2048 32 Novag Sapphire H8 10 MHz 2091 35 -34 431 62% 2004 33 Hiarcs Master 1.0 486/33 MHz 2075 48 -48 214 48% 2091 34 Nimzo 2.2.1 486/33 MHz 2039 46 -47 229 42% 2093 35 Fritz 1.0 486/33 MHz 2036 51 -51 188 52% 2023 36 Zarkov 3.0 486/25-33 MHz 2035 46 -48 232 39% 2114 37 Rex Chess 2.3 386/25-33 MHz 2030 65 -62 126 59% 1965 38 Zarkov 2.5 386/25-33 MHz 2019 56 -53 168 61% 1940 38 Kasparov Brute Force H8 10 MHz 2019 25 -25 753 52% 2005 40 Novag Diablo 68000 16 MHz 2006 22 -22 1000 44% 2052 41 Fidelity Mach III 68000 16 MHz 1995 14 -14 2399 52% 1980 42 Complete Chess System 486/33 MHz 1986 47 -47 221 47% 2008 43 Mephisto MM 5 6502 5 MHz 1981 20 -20 1215 49% 1987 44 Mephisto Polgar 6502 5 MHz 1973 17 -17 1693 42% 2033 45 Mephisto Milano 6502 5 MHz 1961 26 -26 740 42% 2017 46 Kasparov President/GK-2100 H8 10 MHz 1954 44 -43 258 53% 1930 47 Chessmaster 3000 386/25-33 MHz 1934 68 -74 103 36% 2032 48 Mephisto Amsterdam 68000 12 MHz 1926 22 -22 1020 58% 1871 49 Kasparov GK-2000 H8 10 MHz 1898 29 -29 582 43% 1949 50 Mephisto Modena 6502 4 MHz 1895 29 -30 555 44% 1936 51 Psion Atari 68000 8 MHz 1882 18 -18 1487 44% 1928 52 CXG Sphinx Galaxy 6502 4 MHz 1881 17 -18 1603 38% 1965 53 Novag Ruby H8 10 MHz 1878 30 -30 545 42% 1933 54 Conchess Plymate Victoria 6502 5.5 MHz 1868 26 -27 701 40% 1941 54 Saitek Turboking II 6502 5 MHz 1868 23 -24 906 38% 1954 56 Saitek Kasparov Blitz 1739 49 -51 202 41% 1800 57 Chessmaster 2100 Amiga 68000 1686 65 -76 120 25% 1873 58 Mephisto Europa 1681 50 -52 190 42% 1739 59 Chess Champion 2175 Atari/Amiga 1671 56 -62 157 30% 1820 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz, 2431 Geniu3 486/66 1.5-3.5 MCPr40 486/66 10.5-9.5 Geniu2 486/50 4.5-3.5 Rebel6 486/66 12.5-7.5 CM30 King 2.0 15-5 CM30 Schr 3.1 3-1 CM4000 486/50 2.5-1.5 MCPr35 486/50 12.5-8.5 Fritz3 486/66 12.5-2.5 Kallis 486/50 17.5-2.5 Sapphire 10.5-0.5 2 Genius 3.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2371 Genius 3 P90 3.5-1.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 9-11 MCPr40 486/66 12.5-9.5 Geniu2 486/50 11.5-8.5 Rebel6 486/66 20.5-13.5 CM30 King 2.0 11.5-8.5 CM4000 486/50 13.5-6.5 MCPr35 486/50 11.5-8.5 ChGen1 486/50 12-9 ChGen1 486/33 12.5-7.5 Kallis 486/50 12-8 Meph. RISC 20-5 RISC 2500 4-3 Chess M Schr 3-0 Lyon 68020 13.5-6.5 Fritz2 486/33 18.5-1.5 Lyon 68000 19.5-4.5 Vancou. 68000 9-2 Polgar 5 MHz 19-1 3 MChess Pro 4.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2351 Genius 3 P90 9.5-10.5 Geniu3 486/66 9.5-12.5 Geniu2 486/50 10-10 Rebel6 486/66 10-10 CM30 King 2.0 2-3 CM4000 486/50 11.5-8.5 MCPr35 486/50 13-9 Gideon 486/50 4.5-2.5 ChGen1 486/50 13-7 Fritz3 486/66 7-6 ChGen1 486/33 9-3 Kallis 486/50 16.5-3.5 Lyon 68020 6.5-3.5 Fritz2 486/33 16-4 Berlin 68 000 7.5-3.5 Lyon 68000 3-3 Diablo 68000 4-0 Polgar 5 MHz 1-0 4 Mephisto Genius 2.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2346 Genius 3 P90 3.5-4.5 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 10-10 Rebel6 486/66 13.5-6.5 CM30 King 2.0 20-22 CM30 Schr 3.1 14-6 CM4000 486/50 9-8 MCPr35 486/50 10-10 Gideon 486/50 5.5-7.5 ChGen1 486/50 11.5-8.5 MCPr31 486/50 5.5-2.5 Fritz3 486/66 1-0 Portor. 68030 2.5-2.5 Kallis 486/50 16-10 Meph. RISC 14.5-5.5 SPARC 20 MHz 15.5-4.5 Hiarc2 486/33 13-7 RISC 2500 21-10 Chess M Schr 20-4 Chess M. King 18-4 Lyon 68020 14.5-5.5 Socr 3 486/33 8.5-2.5 M Chess 386 3-1 Berlin 68 000 16-4 Vancou. 68000 16-4 Diablo 68000 18-2 Mach III 9-1 Zark26 386/25 1-0 5 Rebel 6.0 486/50-66 MHz, 2320 Genius 3 P90 7.5-12.5 MCPro 4.0 P90 2-2 Geniu3 486/66 13.5-20.5 MCPr40 486/66 10-10 Geniu2 486/50 6.5-13.5 CM30 King 2.0 2.5-5.5 MCPr35 486/50 13.5-6.5 ChGen1 486/50 11-9 Fritz3 486/66 11.5-10.5 Berlin Pro 12-8 ChGen1 486/33 5.5-7.5 Kallis 486/50 14-9 MCPr31 486/33 7.5-2.5 Meph. RISC 14-6 SPARC 20 MHz 9-11 Hiarc2 486/33 5.5-4.5 RISC 2500 16.5-3.5 Chess M Schr 7-3 Chess M. King 7-3 Lyon 68020 15-5 Socr 3 486/33 9-1 Fritz2 486/33 7-3 Berlin 68 000 17-3 Vancou. 68000 17-3 Almeria 68020 4-0 Fritz1 486/33 9.5-0.5 Diablo 68000 18.5-1.5 CCS 486/33 9-1 Polgar 5 MHz 17-1 6 Ch.Machine 30 MHz King 2.0 aggr/R30 off, 2313 Genius 3 P90 5-15 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 3-2 Geniu2 486/50 22-20 Rebel6 486/66 5.5-2.5 CM30 Schr 3.1 11.5-8.5 CM4000 486/50 9.5-10.5 MCPr35 486/50 12-8 Gideon 486/50 13-7 ChGen1 486/50 14-6 Genius 68 030 17-9 MCPr31 486/50 12.5-7.5 Fritz3 486/66 3.5-1.5 Berlin Pro 11-9 ChGen1 486/33 13.5-6.5 MCPr31 486/33 11-9 Meph. RISC 13.5-6.5 SPARC 20 MHz 12-8 Hiarc2 486/33 13.5-6.5 RISC 2500 7.5-2.5 Vancou. 68020 11.5-8.5 Socr 3 486/33 16-4 Fritz2 486/33 14.5-5.5 Lyon 68000 70-21 Vancou. 68000 14-6 Hiarc1 486/33 17-3 Mach IV 68020 62-18 Nimzo 486/33 18-2 Zark30 486/33 13-7 Roma 68020 18.5-1.5 Brute Force 17-3 Diablo 68000 17.5-3.5 Mach III 19.5-0.5 CCS 486/33 15.5-1.5 Meph. MM 5 2-0 Polgar 5 MHz 18-2 Meph. Milano 18.5-1.5 Super Exp. C 45-5 7 Chess Machine 30-32 MHz Schrder 3.1, 2310 Genius 3 P90 1-3 Geniu2 486/50 6-14 CM30 King 2.0 8.5-11.5 CM4000 486/50 9-11 MCPr35 486/50 10.5-9.5 Gideon 486/50 14.5-5.5 ChGen1 486/50 14-7 MCPr31 486/50 14-15 ChGen1 486/33 11-9 Kallis 486/50 13-7 MCPr31 486/33 3-1 Vancou. 68030 7.5-3.5 Meph. RISC 13.5-6.5 SPARC 20 MHz 13.5-6.5 Hiarc2 486/33 1.5-1.5 RISC 2500 12.5-7.5 Chess M. King 0.5-0.5 Vancou. 68020 12-8 Socr 3 486/33 6-0 Fritz2 486/33 16.5-3.5 Vancou. 68000 18.5-1.5 Hiarc1 486/33 2.5-1.5 Nimzo 486/33 15.5-4.5 Zark30 486/33 18.5-1.5 Brute Force 18.5-1.5 Diablo 68000 15-2 Mach III 17-3 Meph. MM 5 18-2 Polgar 5 MHz 19-1 Meph. Milano 17.5-2.5 8 Chessmaster 4000 486/50-66 MHz, 2304 Genius 3 P90 1.5-2.5 Geniu3 486/66 6.5-13.5 MCPr40 486/66 8.5-11.5 Geniu2 486/50 8-9 CM30 King 2.0 10.5-9.5 CM30 Schr 3.1 11-9 Gideon 486/50 2-1 Berlin Pro 0.5-0.5 Kallis 486/50 3-5 SPARC 20 MHz 11-9 RISC 2500 18-12 Chess M Schr 17.5-2.5 Chess M. King 19.5-2.5 Lyon 68020 11-9 Berlin 68 000 15-5 Lyon 68000 16.5-3.5 Vancou. 68000 16.5-3.5 Nimzo 486/33 17.5-2.5 Brute Force 11-4 Diablo 68000 16.5-3.5 Mach III 2-0 Polgar 5 MHz 26-4 Meph. Milano 20-0 9 MChess Pro 3.5 486/50-66 MHz, 2298 Genius 3 P90 8.5-12.5 Geniu3 486/66 8.5-11.5 MCPr40 486/66 9-13 Geniu2 486/50 10-10 Rebel6 486/66 6.5-13.5 CM30 King 2.0 8-12 CM30 Schr 3.1 9.5-10.5 Gideon 486/50 10.5-12.5 ChGen1 486/50 10-7 Portor. 68030 13.5-6.5 Kallis 486/50 11-9 Meph. RISC 2.5-1.5 SPARC 20 MHz 9-11 Hiarc2 486/33 11-9 RISC 2500 20.5-9.5 Chess M Schr 12.5-7.5 Chess M. King 15.5-4.5 Lyon 68020 15-5 Socr 3 486/33 7-3 Fritz2 486/33 1-0 Berlin 68 000 14-6 Vancou. 68000 18-2 Diablo 68000 17.5-2.5 Mach III 16.5-1.5 Polgar 5 MHz 38-2 10 Mephisto Gideon Pro 486/50-66 MHz, 2286 MCPr40 486/66 2.5-4.5 Geniu2 486/50 7.5-5.5 CM30 King 2.0 7-13 CM30 Schr 3.1 5.5-14.5 CM4000 486/50 1-2 MCPr35 486/50 12.5-10.5 ChGen1 486/50 3.5-2.5 MCPr31 486/50 0.5-1.5 Berlin Pro 8-1 ChGen1 486/33 4-6 Portor. 68030 9-11 MCPr31 486/33 6-1 Meph. RISC 3.5-4.5 SPARC 20 MHz 13-8 Hiarc2 486/33 13.5-5.5 RISC 2500 12.5-7.5 Chess M Schr 3-0 Chess M. King 12.5-7.5 Lyon 68020 14.5-5.5 Socr 3 486/33 15.5-5.5 M Chess 386 1-1 Lyon 68000 2-0 Vancou. 68000 15.5-4.5 Almeria 68020 4.5-1.5 Nimzo 486/33 2-0 Zark30 486/33 8.5-2.5 Diablo 68000 16.5-3.5 Mach III 5-0 Meph. MM 5 17-3 Polgar 5 MHz 19.5-0.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The list was posted with the following request: "The Swedish Rating list may be quoted in other magazines, but we insist that this will be done in a correct way! We expect, that not only the rating figures, but also the number of games and the margin of error will be quoted. This list is primarily made for the members of the Swedish Chess Computer Association. The details of the testwork are described in our Swedish magazine PLY, where you for instance can find the names of the tester for every single result! Note that all games are played on the tournament level - 40/2 hrs. " There are a number of non-commercial chess-playing machines, the strongest and most famous of which is "Deep Thought." Deep Thought was built and programmed by graduate students Feng-Hsiung Hsu, Thomas Anantharaman, Murray Campbell, Peter Jansen, Mike Browne, and Andreas Nowatzyk at Carnegie Mellon University, and who are now working (some of them, anyway) for IBM. The current version of Deep Thought has beaten several GM's and many IM's. It has a USCF rating of about 2520. (The Oct. 1990 issue of _Scientific American_ goes into more detail on Deep Thought.) Another Carnegie Mellon product, "Hitech," was developed by former World Correspondence Champion Dr. Hans Berliner and sports a USCF rating just over 2400. ------------------------------ Subject: [20] Chess-Playing Software The strength of chess-playing software is highly dependent on the hardware it runs on (all software discussed is for MS-DOS; programs available for MacOS are noted). Here is a method to approximate the strength differences for the same software running on different hardware (source: _Computer Chess Reports_). Processor "Chess MIP's" 8088 Speed in MHz divided by 19 80286, 1 wait state Speed in MHz divided by 8 80286, 0 wait states Speed in MHz divided by 6 80386, no cache memory Speed in MHz divided by 6 80386 with cache Speed in MHz divided by 4.7 80486 Speed in MHz divided by 2.3 (Note that math coprocessors--used before the 486--don't change the speed, since chess programs don't use floating point arithmetic at all.) Now, if a program has a given rating on a 1 (Chess) MIP machine, this is how to adjust the rating for other MIP's (interpolate between points): MIP: 0.25 0.5 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 24 32 48 64 Adj.: -180 -87 0 47 80 124 154 195 223 261 287 323 347 379 402 For example, a program running on a 10 MHz 8088 (0.5 MIP's and -87 points) will be about 272 USCF rating points weaker than the same program running on a 33 MHz 80386 (no cache: 5.5 MIP's and +185 points). Ratings are the average of autotest at 30" to 1' per move, Computer Chess News Sheet from England and the "Ply" list from Sweden. PC programs are rated on an i486 PC running at 33MHz. See the Volume 3, Number 2 issue of _Computer Chess Reports_ for more details. MChess Pro ~2480 by Marty Hirsch, San Rafael, California Runs on a 286 with 640K, but a 386 with 12 Meg is recommended (10 are used for hash tables). Opening book is 7x as large as amateur version and is programable. Improved graphics. DM 250 MChess 1.1 - 1.72 2400 by Marty Hirsch DM 180 Zarkov 2.6 2350 by John Stanback / Chess Laboratories Interfacing to the chess database software Bookup. Supersedes Zarkov 2.5 (USCF 2280) by John Stanback. Best analyzation features. DM 135 ChessChampion 2175 2340 by Chris Whittington Program uses Shannon B strategy, not brute force like all the others. Supersedes ChessPlayer by Chris Whittington. DM 115 KnightStalker II ~2300 by Frans Morsch / ChessBase Interfacing to the chess database software ChessBase. Program can be used as background-evaluator while working with ChessBase 4.0. It can read ChessBase libraries. DM 178 Supersedes KnightStalker I (USCF 2260, DM 99) by ChessBase. Grandmaster Chess 2300 by John Stanback / Capstone Mass market version of Zarkov 2.55 with pull-down menus and fancier graphics (2d and 3d board), but is missing some of Zarkov2.6's features such as generating multiple candidate moves when analyzing games, annotations, generating PCX or WPG chess diagrams, interfacing to Bookup7 etc. DM 110 Rexchess 2.30 2290 by Larry Kaufman DM 99. Will be superseded by TitanChess by Larry Kaufman, which is expected to come out Dec 92. - Heuristic Alpha by Larry Kaufman Written for 8086er and 80286er in C. Selled to Electronic Arts. Expected to come out spring 93. - Sokrates by Larry Kaufman Written for 80386er and 80486er in Assembler. Hasn't found any publisher up to now. Psion 2 2290 by Richard Lang / Psion Ltd. Supersedes Psion 1 (USCF 2140) by Psion Ltd. Program of Mephisto Amsterdam, recompiled for IBM PC. CheckCheck by Wolfgang Delmare / Digital Concepts German but completely self-explaining (mouse/buttons/icons). Full version contains complete database of four-piece-finishings. That needs 16 Mb on the hard disk. DM 99 without database or DM 168 for full version. VGA only Chessmaster 4000 (2304 ELO) by Software Toolworks No copy protection. No limited number of installs. Auto annotation. CD ROM version for windows available. Approximately $40. Incredibly good cost to game quality ratio! Chessmaster 3000 2170 by Software Toolworks Excellent graphics. DM 99 A windows version of Chessmaster 3000 is marketed as well for DM 119. A CD ROM version can be bought for DM 145. Supersedes Chessmaster 2100 (USCF 2070) by Software Toolworks. Sargon V ~2100? by Dan and Kathy Spracklen / Activision DM 115. Supersedes Sargon IV by Spinnaker. Colossus Chess X 2090 DM 50 BattleChess by Interplay Very weak program with the most entertaining graphics. DM 50 A windows version of BattleChess is marketed as well for DM 110. Little trap: BattleChess II isn't a chess but a chinese chess program. Available for MacOS: Chessmaster 3000 & 2100, Sargon IV (V due soon), BattleChess and CheckMate. Available for the Amiga: Chessmaster 2000 and 2100, Sargon III and IV, Chessplayer 2150 and Chess Champion 2175, BattleChess and CheckMate, ChessMate, The Art of Chess, Colossus Chess and the ChessMachine. Gnuchess is a freely available chess-playing software program (see [18]). Its strength varies widely based on the machine for which it's compiled. Subject: [21] Database Software Chess databases store games and information about games, and can manipulate and recall that information in a variety of ways. The "big three" of chess databases are NICBase, ChessBase, and Bookup. You can purchase data disks for each of these databases. NICBase and ChessBase are game-oriented, while Bookup is opening-oriented. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. A good (but dated) review of these programs was written by Eric Schiller and appeared in the Sept. 1990 _Chess Life_. A more current review was written for the APCT, and Jon Edwards has volunteered his e-mail address for information: jedwards@phoenix.princeton.edu. Bookup interfaces with Zarkov; ChessBase interfaces with KnightStalker/Fritz. Reviews will be incorporated and expanded here as I more fully evaluate the programs. Chessbase for Windows is the first program which has an expanded feature description and mini-review. Chess Assistant will follow, with an improved description and than others as available. Sincere thanks to both ICS and ChessBase USA for makeing their programs available for evaluation. Bookup from Chess Laboratories, P.O. Box 3541, S. Pasadena, CA 91031. 818-799-7567. Version 8 is now available. Version 7 for MS-DOS costs $99 and version 1.3 for MacOS costs $59. Online demo is available at caissa.onenet.net. This demo may read any version 8 database and includes a subset of the e4 openings. ChessAssistant 1.4 (MS-DOS); $195. Free conversion utilities for PGN, NICBase, ChessBase formats. Free functional demo available. The demo works on up to 250 games. Get the demo! This functional demo will give you an idea of the power of this program. It is available directly from ICS, Seattle, Washington and is also found online at caissa.onenet.net. The online name is capgn.exe. (550,000k+of selfextracting file). International Chess Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 19457 Seattle, WA 98109 1-800-26-CHESS or 206-448-1066. 5,000 games included in basic. One of the outstanding features is the "tree", from which all of the paths leading into and out of a particular board position are displayed. The percentages wins for white, draws, wins for black are displayed for each move , and the same statistics may be toggled on for that particular board position. Header and position searches. Easy easy to use, the interface and menu is quite intuitive. When entering your own games, a move guessing algorithm is used by CA and is extremely helpful. May be linked to Zarkov, Chess Genius, Fritz or HIARCS for analyis assistance. 1995 subscription 12,000 games sent every 2 months $150. 350,000 games on CDROM $250. This is truely an amazingly large number of games. Annotated Game Collections: include CA-Light Ruy Lopez (Spanish), Sicilian Chelyabinsk (...e5, Lasker/Pelikan), King's Indian Averbakh, Sicilian Rossolimo - $15 each. Toll free support is available 5 days per week. (longer review of CA coming next month) ChessBase 4.0 (MS-DOS only); basic $295, deluxe $395, super mega - $595. upgrade from 2.2 $75. ChessBase ACCESS $39.95. ChessBase USA, P.O. Box 133, Hagerstown, MD 21741. 301-733-7541 (orders only: 800-524-3527); fax 301-797-6269. USCF prices: 3.0 $279, ACCESS $37.95. ChessBase 4.0 is out; upgrade from 3.0 is $60-70, Depending on manual. $5 demo disk. ChessBase for Windows (Windows 3.1); $295 basic. deluxe $395. Currently there is a special available with the basic ChessBase for Windows: 200,000 games are included at no extra charge. Upgrade from CB 4.0 for DOS is $80. Analysis module $60. ChessBase USA, P.O. Box 133, Hagerstown, MD 21741. 301-733-7541 (orders only: 800-524-3527); fax 301-797-6269. No demo is available at this time. Hopefully one will be made soon so the curious may view the revolutionary features of this program. This is the only chess database program currently available to run directly in Microsoft Windows. Note that Windows requires a fast computer. I would recommend a 486 50DX at a minumum, but those with more tolerance for waiting than I could use a slower machine. The quick start manual recommends a minimum of a 486-33, although it will run on a 386. VGA graphics are viewable at 640 x 480 although the manual recommends 800 x 600. (Maybe they have a 17" monitor!). It is an exceptional program and makes full use of the features of windows. Multiple games may be viewed simultaneously, each one may be miniaturized so that 6 or more games may be visible, each with independent controls. The same game may be viewed at different stages. It is easy to edit or add alternate lines and comments, annotations or "?", "!", etc to any game in your database. Just begin using your mouse to enter the moves or click on the appropriate icon to add comments. You do not have to switch to any other submenu area. This is an incredible convenience and an amazing time saver. The game may then be saved either in the original database or an alternate or "training" database. Several games may be combined. If you are studying a particular opening and want to combine 4 or 5 games that exemplify this opening, you may combine them together as alternate lines of each other. Highlight the games, press the enter key and the games will be combined together. ECO type viewing of the lines is available one mouse click away. Searching and sorting on a variety of fields is available. Classification by ECO is one Control-C away. Besides the oridinary position search a feature called "find novelty" features a modified position search which will find games that are similar to the game that you are viewing or have just entered. It will search the currently open database. The printing and publishing features are exceptional, and like other truetype windows printing programs, extremely easy to use. If your windows has already been configured for your printer there is no set up necessary. At this time it comes with a "quick start manual" which is adequate to get you going. An undocumented feature is Alternate-F1, which sets an internal toggle to floats a bubble over the icons telling what each does as your mouse passes over it. ChessBase magazine includes approximately 1,000 games every second month, 25% - 50% annotated, along with a section on tactics, endgames, dramatic master errors and an opening study. These may be added to your database choices within CBW. $115. (CBM Express $225 includes CB Magazine and monthly disks totalling 16,000 games per year). Chess Genius: Written in 386 assembler.$149 for Genius 3, or $75 for the Genius 2 to 3 upgrade. This price includes airmail registered delivery from PC Solutions. Local currentcy: 90 pounds + 2.50 pounds Post & Packing - (first class or airmail registered delivery) There is an automatic info service for Chess Genius - just email:- genius-info@centron.com and you will get an info sheet back. Having just been set up, it is primarily an advert-sheet at this time, but it will be expanded to include general new & interesting stuff as time goes on. Also contact pc.solutions@phoenix.centron.com for direct questions. NICBase 3.0 (MS-DOS or Atari ST: $195 with 5,000 games; $595 with 50,000 games) & NICTools ($125) from Chess Combination, Inc. P.O. Box 2423 Noble Station, Bridgeport CT 06608-0423. Phone 203-367-1555 or 800-354-4083; fax 203-380-1703; e-mail 70244.1532@compuserve.com (Albert Henderson). Free catalog and sample of _New in Chess_. NICBase 3 demo disk free to users of CompuServe and the Internet. NICBase 3 was reviewed in _Chess Horizons_ Jul/Aug 1992, Canadian _En Passant_ Apr 1992, _California Chess Journal_ Feb/Mar 1992, and USAT _Chess Perspectives_ Nov 1991. ------------------------------ Subject: [22] Utility Software Eric Churchill's Chess Recorder, a (PC) Windows program that records chess moves, suitable for keeping track of postal games, will be uploaded to GEnie and submitted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc. (It even keeps a log of when the moves were entered, which could be used to keep track of postal time limits.) You can enter annotations and other comments and they appear in a separate window when the corresponding move is displayed. The program will print out the moves of the game (with annotations). $15 shareware fee. Graphics are quite good--looks OK even on monochrome systems. The colors of the pieces on color systems are 'interesting.' It can now flip colors to put Black on bottom. Swis-Sys, a $70 Swiss System pairing program, is available from Thad Suits (the author), 2125 1st Ave North, Great Falls, MT, 59401. 406-453-6160. Chaos, another pairing program (Swiss pairing as well as Round Robin), GNU General Public License, runs on the Commodore-Amiga, available from Aminet mirrors (wuarchive.wustl.edu for example), directory /pub/aminet/game/think. Jochen Wiedmann For other software utilities see [18]. ------------------------------ Subject: [23] Using Graphic Chess Symbols in Printed Text There are basically three ways of composing chess texts in international figurine notation (or including diagrams in printed text): 1) Use a word processor or page-layout program and a chess font. For instance, for the Apple Macintosh there are at least 3 different sets of fonts usable with standard word processors like Microsoft Word, MacWrite, Nisus or WriteNow; or with page-layout programs like Illustrator or PageMaker. Most of these fonts are proprietary (you must purchase them). The fonts usually can be used for both the figurines and the diagrams. A freely available/usable PostScript font, including a variety of figurines, diagrams and _Informant_ symbols, has been posted to comp.fonts and rec.games.chess by Andy Walker (anw@maths.nott.ac.uk). 2) Use a chess-specific writing application. ChessWriter (Apple Macintosh) offers an interface including a chessboard and a text window. Moves made on the chessboard are automatically transformed into characters in the text window. ChessWriter is proprietary. CC-Publisher (MS Windows) is another commercial chess-specific writing application. You must have MS Windows, a word processing package (Word, WordPerfect, AmiPro), and a chess database system (for generating diagrams--although this could be done by hand--like ChessBase or Zarkov). It comes in two versions. The basic version supports HP LJ-compatible laserjet printers ($49.95). The deluxe version supports any PostScript printer, and comes with PostScript Type I or TrueType fonts ($139.95). You get integrated utilities to move you from game-entry or diagram-creation to conversion and import into your word processor, with special Tips and Tricks for MS Word, Lotus AmiPro, and WordPerfect users. Extremely easy installation, and your fonts become available to all Windows applications. There's a comprehensive user manual on the installation disk, and you get free technical support! (_Chess Chow_ subscribers get disconts: basic--$10, deluxe--$20.) To order, see address for _Chess Chow_ in [15]. 3) Use the LaTeX chess macros and fonts package by Piet Tutelaers (see [18]). TeX is an advanced public-domain system for text formatting available on mainframes, workstations and personal computers. LaTeX is a set of text-formatting macros for TeX. METAFONT is a font generator program for TeX. For general information on all of these, and pointers to reference manuals, see the FAQ list posting in comp.text.tex.) Once you have the chess package, you'll need to 3a) be able to use METAFONT to generate chess fonts starting from the programs contained in the package; 3b) be able to install the LaTeX macros in your TeX system; and 3c) learn the macro language to format chess texts. Activity 3a can become tiresome if you do not have any help from a TeX wizard. Using LaTeX to write chess text is not very simple, but the results are worth the effort. ------------------------------ Subject: [24] Trivia How long is the longest possible chess game? The basic idea is a player may claim a draw if fifty moves elapse without a capture or a pawn advance. Ignoring the special cases where more than 50 moves are allowed by the rules, the answer is after Black's 5948th move, White is able to claim a draw. The simple calculation is ( + - + ) * , or (16*6 + 30 - 8 + 1) * 50 = 5950; we're able to trim two moves from this total by observing that sequences of Captures/Pawn_moves must have (at least) 4 alternations between the two players. ------------------------------ Subject: [25] Common Acronyms AI Artificial Intelligence ("Anything we can't do with a computer") BCE _Basic Chess Endings_ (see your local chess book source) BCF British Chess Federation BCO _Batsford Chess Openings_ (see [14]) DT Deep Thought (see [19]) DT II Deep Thought; latest version ECO _Encylopedia of Chess Openings_ (see your local chess book source) ELO Arpad Elo's rating system (see [8]) FAQ Frequently Asked Question (see news group news.answers) FIDE Federation Internationale des Echecs (see [1]) FM FIDE Master (see [1]) F-S II Fischer-Spassky match held Sept-Nov '92 (Fischer won 10-5) GM Grandmaster (see [1]) ICS Internet Chess Server (see [18]) IGM see GM IM International Master (see [1]) IWM International Woman Master (see [1]) KIA King's Indian Attack (see opening books) KID King's Indian Defense (see opening books) MCO _Modern Chess Openings_ (see [14]) N Novelty (see TN) NM National Master (or just "Master"; see [8]) OTB Over-the-board (as opposed to correspondence/postal chess) QGA Queen's Gambit Accepted (see opening books) QGD Queen's Gambit Declined (see opening books) SM Senior Master (see [8]) TD Tournament Director TN Theoretical Novelty A new idea in an opening line (usually used when a GM first tries it) USCF United States Chess Federation (see [2]) WGM International Woman Grandmaster (see [1]) ------------------------------ Subject: [26] Rules Steve Rix (steven@chemeng.ed.ac.uk) has volunteered to supply either a plain text or TeX version of the FIDE Laws of Chess to any who ask via e-mail. He also periodically posts the plain text version to rec.games.chess. ------------------------------ Subject: [27] Variants Over the centuries, many variations of chess have appeared and more have been invented recently by gaming enthusiasts. Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. (28 South Main Street, Rutland, VT 05701) has published a general book on the subject: _Chess Variations: Ancient, Regional, and Modern_ by John Gollon. Two of the most popular alternatives to our version of chess are known as Chinese Chess (or shiang-chi or xiangqi) and Shogi (or Japanese Chess). Ishi Press International (76 Bonaventura Drive, San Jose, CA 95134) sells good books on both of these games. (_Chinese Chess for Beginners_ by Sam Sloan and _Shogi for Beginners_ by John Fairbairn. Warning: Sam Sloan's eccentric views about chess history are far from universally accepted.) One relatively recent variation of chess is called Ultima and is described in detail in the book _Abbott's New Card Games_ by Robert Abbott. ------------------------------ Subject: [28] Disclaimer and Copyright Notice Some answers given may reflect personal biases of the author and the chess FAQ listing's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements of, nor commercials for, the manufacturer. Where cost information is stated this is based on "street" information, and is in no way binding on the seller. Unless otherwise stated, prices, addresses, and telephone numbers are in United States' terms. The answers contained herein pertain to discussions on the rec.games.chess news group, and are by no means exhaustive. The chess FAQ list owes its existence to the contributors on the net, and as