Your Favorite <2300 Engine?

[Dirt]

Chad's chess.

Because that's how bad an engine has to be for me to have a good chance to beat it. Too bad it's buggy and lacks features.

[Graham Banks]

ChessAlex:
(It doesn't play like a ordinary engine at all, tactically sharp relative to engines in its league)

I'm curious, how it compares with Marginal 0.1? (a newer engine by the same author). I don't see Marginal in tournaments, does it have any big problems, or it's just weaker?

I seem to recall having problems getting Marginal working.

[swami]

ChessAlex:
(It doesn't play like a ordinary engine at all, tactically sharp relative to engines in its league)

I'm curious, how it compares with Marginal 0.1? (a newer engine by the same author). I don't see Marginal in tournaments, does it have any big problems, or it's just weaker?

Sorry I haven't downloaded it yet. I do recall that it was released a while ago. Haven't gotten around to testing it.

[Edsel Apostol]

For me, my favorite is Golem and MicroMax as sparring partners. They are good opponents for my relentless attacking style as they don't have much king safety. I beat Golem most of the time through king attacks. I could only manage to draw MicroMax. Another one is Olithink but it's too strong for me tactically. I don't play much against engines. Even early versions of my engine beats me. I prefer playing against humans. Humans seems easier to crumble under pressure when they are being attacked relentlessly even if some of the attacks are unsound and just plain bluff.

[Eraserheads]

RivalChess - Has its own GUI and allows me to practice avoiding tactical mistakes. One of my "Practice Engines"

GromitChess 1.2 - Has its own gui and actually beatable is you play good positional chess. This is a good program to practice your positional skills with (2000 and below players) Where can I download it today? One of my "Practice Engines"

ChessMaster 2000 - My first program. Very active playing style too. Beatable. Good piece of early chess software that taught me the openings.

Waxman - Plays weird and cramped openings. Provokes you to practice your kingside attacking skills. Beating Waxman usually means sacrificing some pawns to open lines of attack. Another one of my "Practice Engines"

I should try Golem and Micromax, since you say they play interesting chess too.

[Mark Mason]

Hi,

My favourite engine in this class is definitely CLUELESS v1.4 by Helmut Fett (EUL rating 1887). I find that it plays with a remarkably human like and natural style so it really feels like you are playing an 1887 player. It plays good sound positional chess and doesn't make any obvious errors - it just doesn't always find blinding tactical combinations. It is also very stable and has never crashed for me.

You can download it from

http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/download.htm

[Aaron Becker]

Thanks, Swaminathan! Daydreamer appreciates your support. Hopefully the next release will leave 2300 in the dust (and output even more unusual analysis information).

[swami]

Thanks, Swaminathan! Daydreamer appreciates your support. Hopefully the next release will leave 2300 in the dust (and output even more unusual analysis information).

You're welcome. As long as the style of thinking/pv output structure remains the same in the engine, It will be a favorite of mine for a long time.