ChessTricks v6.0

[USGroup1]

ChessTricks is a position analyzer gui for Windows with an emphasis on finding trick moves.

I added 'Ideas' feature in version 6, it shows a list of various ideas in the position, including positional plans and possible continuations. You can analyze unknown positions and look for likely piece manoeuvres or see which squares, specific pieces are best posted on within a system, and it's all based on heuristic analysis on engine pvs.

v6.0

• Added new feature: 'Ideas' (List of various ideas in the position, including positional plans and possible continuations.)
• Tweaked trick filters(added Delay Check pattern, fixed Pin pattern).
• Added Only Move indicator.
• Bug fixes.

https://chesstricksapp.wordpress.com/download/

[CositasBuenas]

THANKS!

[Ovyron]

Hey, I just tried ChessTricks out. I picked "All Variations" and after 1 hour of analysis it came up with a line.

It says it had analyzed 51 variations, yet it only displays one? Is there a way to check the other 50 variations that it checked out to see what it found about them?

Now I'm afraid to close the GUI and no longer be able to see what it checked out!

[USGroup1]

Hey, I just tried ChessTricks out. I picked "All Variations" and after 1 hour of analysis it came up with a line.

It says it had analyzed 51 variations, yet it only displays one? Is there a way to check the other 50 variations that it checked out to see what it found about them?

Now I'm afraid to close the GUI and no longer be able to see what it checked out!

You must have entered a big number for manual depth for it to take 1 hour, it's much faster if you use Auto depth. At the end of analysis, it shows the Trick and Refutation lines(if there is any) and the best line, you can also check Ideas and Critical Squares section.

"All Variations" option means that it analyses all legal moves in that position individually, most of the times it's better to use the default 28 instead of "All Variations" which means it only analyses the best 28 moves (based on the static evaluation).

[Ovyron]

Thanks USGroup1.

"All Variations" option means that it analyses all legal moves in that position individually

So I gather it did that but only shows information about the best move it found, and there's no way to see the analysis of all the other legal moves?

...

Oh, my game just finished, so I can discuss this position in the open:

[d]r1b2r1k/pp2p1b1/1nn4p/2qp1pp1/3N4/1QP1P1BP/PP1NBPP1/R4RK1 w - -

So after I let it run it came up with this:

FEN: r1b2r1k/pp2p1b1/1nn4p/2qp1pp1/3N4/1QP1P1BP/PP1NBPP1/R4RK1 w - - 0 1

Engine: stockfish_19091615_x64.exe
Threads: 4
Hash: 128
Start Time: 02/10/2019 04:25:43 p. m.

Best: (0.00) Nxc6
1. Nxc6 Qxc6 2. Bb5 Qc5 3. a4 e5 4. a5 Nd7 5. Bh2 Rd8 6. Rad1 Nf8 7. e4 Be6 8. exf5 Bxf5 9. Rfe1 Ng6 10. Nf3 Be4 11. Nd2

Best Move: Nxc6
Best Reply: Qxc6
Evaluation: 0.00
Variations: 51
Depth: 28
Analysis Time: 01:12:53.5529345
Generated by ChessTricks v6.6

No tricks. However, this is what is shown on "Ideas for white":



Interestingly, the best move appears ranked second by its score, and Bh2 appears with a 100% score, but it only shows this move and nothing else (so it remains a mystery why isn't Bh2 the best move). So an idea for a future version would be to show the PV lines and scores of the other variations investigated in this Ideas window, or somewhere else. I... I guess I'll close it for now.

[USGroup1]

No tricks. However, this is what is shown on "Ideas for white":



Interestingly, the best move appears ranked second by its score, and Bh2 appears with a 100% score, but it only shows this move and nothing else (so it remains a mystery why isn't Bh2 the best move).

The best move is not always on top of the Ideas list, Bh2 in that case is probably in more pvs(in the good lines for white), so that despite having worse evaluation than Nxc6, its ranked higher in Ideas list.