Chess Program Wish List

[swami]

I wanted to ask if a chess software or a tool can be designed in such a way that it gets the pgn from the user, studies the game and extensively comments about each and every move and suggests better alternative simultaneously explaining them in return?

I know there's one such thing in chessbase and fritz 11, this can be done via deep position analysis but I feel that output is not detailed enough. Comments outputted from that are very short and it doesn't explain quite a few moves more either.

What I'd find ideal would be to list all the possible explaination for that move and mark arrows in advance to show the future moves from that point itself. It ought to do this with every single move in the pgn. It helps learning better. Kind of an automated tool. Is this too much?

[Dann Corbit]

I wanted to ask if a chess software or a tool can be designed in such a way that it gets the pgn from the user, studies the game and extensively comments about each and every move and suggests better alternative simultaneously explaining them in return?

I know there's one such thing in chessbase and fritz 11, this can be done via deep position analysis but I feel that output is not detailed enough. Comments outputted from that are very short and it doesn't explain quite a few moves more either.

What I'd find ideal would be to list all the possible explaination for that move and mark arrows in advance to show the future moves from that point itself. It ought to do this with every single move in the pgn. It helps learning better. Kind of an automated tool. Is this too much?

This request is really a function for the GUI.
The chess engines will happily analyze anything you want them to.
I think more commonly, people want only one color analyzed (the side that they were playing).

The hard part of this equation is finding a system that will explain the analysis in human terms. One version of Chessmaster has something like this, but it was really experimental. Still, it was an interesting option.

[BubbaTough]

Part of what you are asking for (cogent explanations of moves or possible moves) is very hard to do well. Engines think about chess very different than people, so just grabbing their "thoughts" and putting them down is really not that helpful to most humans. I think a good analysis/teaching tool could be designed, but it would be a lot of work to do right. If only there was more money in chess, we would probably already have such a tool.

-Sam

[JVMerlino]

Chessmaster can do this, but probably nowhere near the level of explanation you are looking for. Here's an example of a game annotated at 10 seconds per move, just to give you an idea of the type of text you might see:

Code: Select all

[Event "OpenWar 6th Edition test 5 + 3"]
[Site "QUAD"]
[Date "2009.06.30"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Anatoli 0.43"]
[Black "Myrddin 0.81a2"]
[TimeControl "300+3"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "1. +0.12   12... +0.00"]

{Annotations by Chessmaster 9000 Auto-Annotator. 10 seconds per
move.

		White	Black
Book Move	8	7
Leave Book	0	1
CM9000
Agrees	25	22
CM9000 Disagrees	3	6
Agreement Pct.	89%	79%
Total
Error	0.00	5.04
Relevant Error	0.00	3.24
Missed Mate	2	0
Moved Into
Mate	0	3

} 1.d4 {A40 Queen's Pawn Opening. The Queen's Pawn opening
move is somewhat slower than the popular e4, because White will not be
able to castle for three more moves. Its advantage is that it gives
White more control over tactical surprises and often provides more
lasting initiative and pressure.} 1...Nf6 {A45 Indian Defense. The
immediate development of the Knight is the most supple response to the
Queen's Pawn opening, allowing transposition into virtually every type
of defense at Black's disposal.} 2.c4 {A50 Indian Defense / Indian
Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4. White, with c4, tries to restrict Black's options
in attacking the center.} 2...g6 {A50 Indian Defense / Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4. The fianchetto is common to many Black defenses to the
Queen Pawn opening.} 3.Nf3 {E60 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense
3.Nf3.} 3...Bg7 {E60 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense 3.Nf3.} 4.g3
{E60 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense 3.Nf3.} 4...d6 {E60 Indian
Defense / King's Indian Defense 3.Nf3.} 5.Bg2 {E60 Indian Defense /
King's Indian Defense 3.Nf3.} 5...O-O {E60 Indian Defense / King's
Indian Defense 3.Nf3 (transposed).} 6.O-O {E60 Indian Defense / King's
Indian Defense 3.Nf3.} 6...Nbd7 {E60 Indian Defense / King's Indian
Defense 3.Nf3.} 7.Nc3 {E61 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense
(transposed).} 7...e5 {E61 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense.} 8.e4
{E61 Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense.} 8...a6 {Out of Opening
Book. c6 would have been in the Indian Defense / King's Indian Defense
book opening.
} 9.Qc2 exd4 {Attacks White's knight at c3 and creates a passed pawn on
d4.} 10.Nxd4 {Protects White's knight at c3. White wins a pawn for a
pawn. Material is even.} 10...Re8 11.Rd1 Ne5 {Threatens White's pawn at
c4 and blocks White's pawn at e4.} 12.c5 dxc5 {Slightly better is Bg4.} 
13.Nc6 {Slightly better is Nf5.} 13...Qxd1+ {Pins White's bishop at c1
and forks White's king and White's queen.} 14.Qxd1 {Frees White's bishop
at c1 from the pin and protects White's king.} 14...Nxc6 { Black wins a
rook, a knight, and a pawn for a queen. Material is even.} 15.Bf4 {
Threatens Black's pawn at c7.} 15...Ng4 {Blocks White's pawn at g3.} 
16.h3 {Attacks Black's knight at g4.} 16...Bxc3 {Pins White's pawn at b2
with a partial pin and attacks White's pawn at b2.} 17.bxc3 Nge5 {Moves
it out of harm's way, protects Black's pawn at c7, and blocks White's
pawn at e4.} 18.Bxe5 {Threatens Black's pawn at c7.} 18...Nxe5 {Removes
the threat on Black's pawn at c7 and blocks White's pawn at e4. Black
wins a bishop and a knight for a bishop and a knight. Material is even.}
19.f4 {Attacks Black's knight.} 19...Nd7 {Moves it out of immediate
jeopardy.} 20.e5 {Pins Black's pawn at b7.} 20...Nb6 {Frees Black's pawn
at b7 from the pin.} 21.Qb3 {Pins Black's pawn at f7.} 21...Rd8 {Takes
control of the open file.} 22.Qa3 {Attacks Black's pawn at c5.} 22...Nd7
{Removes the threat on Black's pawn at c5.} 23.Rd1 {Pins Black's knight.
} 23...Ra7 {Releases the pin on Black's pawn at b7.} 24.Qb3 {Pins
Black's pawn at f7.} 24...Kg7 {Leads to 25.e6 b6 26.Bc6 Nf6 27.Rxd8 Bxe6
28.c4 Bxh3 29.Qe3 Be6 30.Qc3, which wins two pawns for a rook. Better is
Kf8, leading to 25.Qc4 Kg7 26.e6 Nb6 27.Rxd8 Nxc4 28.e7 Bd7 29.Rxd7 Ra8
30.Bxb7, which wins a queen for a rook, a bishop, and a pawn. This was
black's only meaningful blunder, but it cost the game. Black was not
able to recover and was eventually
mated.
} 25.e6 {Threatens Black's knight.} 25...fxe6 {Isolates own pawn at e6.
Leads to 26.Qxe6 Rf8 27.Rxd7+ Bxd7 28.Qxd7+ Rf7 29.Qe8 b5 30.Bd5 c6
31.Bxf7 Rxf7 32.Qxc6 Re7 33.Qxc5 Re2, which wins a rook, a bishop, and a
pawn for a rook, a bishop, a knight, and three pawns. Better is b6,
leading to 26.Bc6 Nf6 27.Rxd8 Bxe6 28.c4 Bxh3 29.Qe3 Be6 30.Qc3, which
wins two pawns for a rook.} 26.Qxe6 { White wins a pawn for a pawn.
Material is even.} 26...Rf8 {Frees Black's knight from the pin.} 27.Bd5 
Kh8 {Black moves into a forced mate. Much better is Kh6. Kh8 leads to
28.Bc4 Kg7 29.Qe7+ Kh6 30.Rxd7 Rxf4 31.Qg7+ Kg5 32.gxf4+ Kxf4 33.Qf6+
Ke3 34.Qe5+ Kf3 35.Rd3# and checkmate.} 28.Bc4 {White senses a mate in
7. Blocks Black's pawn at c5. Leads to 28...Kg7 29.Qe7+ Kh6 30.Rxd7 Rxf4
31.Qg7+ Kg5 32.gxf4+ Kxf4 33.Qf6+ Ke3 34.Qe5+ Kf3 35.Rd3# and mate.} 
28...Kg7 {Black moves into a forced mate. Much better is Nf6. Kg7 leads
to 29.Rxd7+ Kh6 30.Rxh7+ Kxh7 31.Qe7+ Rf7 32.Qxf7+ Kh6 33.Qf8+ Kh7
34.Qg8+ Kh6 35.Qh8# and checkmate.} 29.Qe7+ {White doesn't see the win.
Much better is Rxd7+, leading to 29...Kh6 30.Rxh7+ Kxh7 31.Qe7+ Rf7
32.Qxf7+ Kh6 33.Qf8+ Kh7 34.Qg8+ Kh6 35.Qh8# and checkmate.} 29...Kh6 {
Black moves into a forced mate. Much better is Rf7. Kh6 leads to 30.Qg5+
Kg7 31.Rxd7+ Bxd7 32.Qe7+ Rf7 33.Qxf7+ Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.Be2+ Bg4
36.Bxg4# and checkmate.} 30.Qh4+ {White misses the chance for a forced
mate. Much better is Qg5+, leading to 30...Kg7 31.Rxd7+ Bxd7 32.Qe7+ Rf7
33.Qxf7+ Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.Be2+ Bg4 36.Bxg4# and checkmate.} 30...Kg7 {
Forced. Moves it out of check.} 31.Rxd7+ {White has a mate in 5. Forks
Black's king and Black's pawn at c7. Leads to 31...Bxd7 32.Qe7+ Rf7
33.Qxf7+ Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.Be2+ Bg4 36.Bxg4# and checkmate.} 31...Bxd7 
{Protects Black's pawn at c7 and Black's king. Black wins the exchange
(Rook for Knight).} 32.Qe7+ {White has a mate in 4. Triple-forks Black's
king, Black's bishop, and Black's pawn at c5 and seizes the open file.
Leads to 32...Rf7 33.Qxf7+ Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.Be2+ Bg4 36.Bxg4# and
mate.} 32...Rf7 {Removes the threat on Black's bishop and Black's king
and attacks White's queen.} 33.Qxf7+ {White has a mate in 3. Forks
Black's king and Black's bishop. Leads to 33...Kh6 34.Qf8+ Kh5 35.Be2+
Bg4 36.Bxg4# and mate.} 33...Kh6 {Moves it out of check.} 34.Qf8+ {White
has a mate in 2. Forks Black's king and Black's pawn at c5. Leads to
34...Kh5 35.Be2+ Bg4 36.Bxg4# and checkmate.} 34...Kh5 {Forced. Moves it
out of check.} 35.Be2+ {White has a mate in 1. Checks Black's king.
Leads to 35...Bg4 36.Bxg4# and checkmate.} 35...Bg4 {Forced. Removes the
threat on Black's king, threatens White's bishop, and blocks White's
pawn at g3.} 36.hxg4# {Checkmates Black's
king.
} 1-0

jm