Engines for Chess Variants

[Trahald]

Hello all,

I'm looking for as many Winboard (UCI is fine too, but I'm guessing the protocol wasn't designed with this in mind) engines as I can find with support for chess variants other than Chess960. (I have enough of those already!).

The two which stand out of course are Pulsar and early versions of Sjeng, can anybody list some others?

Thanks

[hgm]

Configurable:
Fairy-Max (preconfigured for: Capablanca, gothic, knightmate, cylinder, berolina, shatranj, great shatranj, courier, superchess, makruk)
ChessV (Capablanca, and many, many others)

Specialized to a single variant:

10x8 chess:
Joker80
SMIRF
ArcBishop
BigLion80
TSCP-Gothic
TJchess10x8

Knightmate:
JokerKM
CCCP-knightmate
Faile-KM
Vanilla Chess KM
MSKCP

Shatranj:
Sha-Max

Xiangqi:
MaxQi
Haqiki D
XQWLight
TJxiangqi
HoiXiangqi

Shogi:
TJshogi

[Carlos777]

Dabbaba, Gerbil, Fimbulwinter, Lime and Jabba also support the Knightmate variant, not sure if they can play another variants. I think Dabbaba can.

[hgm]

Oops, forgot a few...

Dababba supports a few variants with augmented Knights that are not standard in WB protocol, but can be played with legality testing off under WinBoard. One of those is Nightrider Chess. This is also played by Faile-NR, and Fairy-Max can be configured for it. (But it might crash now and then due to mutual perpetual check. Not sure how the other engines handle that.)

I also forgot to mention crazyhouse engines:

TJchess
SunSetter

There must be more, but I am not really into crazyhouse / bughouse.

Also worth mentioning is that there are very many Xiangqi engines that can play under WinBoard through the UCCI2WB adaptor. Some 25 UCCI engines can be downloaded for free from www.elephantbase.net. Especially Binghewusi is very strong.

[govert]

What about Alice Chess?

[Ron Murawski]

The Variants Engine List:
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=c ... ngine_list

Ron

[LiquidNitrogenOverclocker]

This is one of my favorite endgames from Gothic Chess. When ported to an 80-square board, the Queen + Pawn vs. Queen longest checkmate soars to 268 moves for the longest win:



The solution is (all moves with ! are the only move to win from that position):

Code: Select all

1. Qe2! Qg8+ 2. Ka7! Qg7+ 3. Ka6! Qa1+ 4. Kb7 Qb2+ 5. Kc6 Qf6+ 6. Kc5 Qf5+ 7. Kd6 Qf8+ 8. Kd7! Qf7+ 9. Qe7 Qd5+ 10. Qd6! Qb7+ 11. Ke6 Qe4+ 12. Kf6 Qf3+ 13. Ke5 Qe2+ 14. Kf5 Qf3+ 15. Qf4 Qd5+ 16. Kf6 Qc6+ 17. Ke5 Qb5+ 18. Ke4 Qb1+ 19. Ke3 Qe1+ 20. Kd3 Qc1 21. Ke2 Qc2 22. Ke3 Qc1 23. Kf2 Qc2 24. Kg3 Qg6+ 25. Kf3 Qd3+ 26. Qe3 Qf5+ 27. Kg3 Qi5+ 28. Kg4 Qi6+ 29. Kf4 Qf6+ 30. Kg3! Qj6+ 31. Kf3! Qi6+ 32. Kf2 Qi5+ 33. Ke2 Qb5+ 34. Ke1 Qb1+ 35. Kf2 Qa2 36. Kg3 Qg8+ 37. Kf4 Qj8+ 38. Kf5 Qf8+ 39. Ke6 Qc8+ 40. Kd6 Qd8+ 41. Kc6 Qa8+ 42. Kb5 Qb7+ 43. Ka5 Qa8+ 44. Kb4 Qb7+ 45. Ka3 Qa6+ 46. Kb2 Qb5+ 47. Qb3 Qe5+ 48. Qc3! Qb5+ 49. Ka3 Qa6+ 50. Kb4 Qb6+ 51. Kc4 Qc6+ 52. Kd4 Qd6+ 53. Ke4 Qg6+ 54. Kd5 Qg8+ 55. Kc5 Qc8+ 56. Kd4 Qg8 57. Qc6+ Ki2 58. Qd7+! Ki3 59. Kc3 Qa2 60. Qd6 Qa1+ 61. Kc4 Qc1+ 62. Kb5 Qb1+ 63. Qb4 Qd3+ 64. Kc6! Ki2 65. Qi4+ Kh2 66. Qh5+! Kg1 67. Qd5! Qa6+ 68. Kd7! Qa7+ 69. Ke6! Qb6+ 70. Kf5 Qf2+ 71. Ke5 Qe2+ 72. Kf6 Qf2+ 73. Ke7 Qa7+ 74. Qd7 Qc5+ 75. Qd6! Qg5+ 76. Ke6 Qg6+ 77. Kd7! Qg4+ 78. Kc6 Qa4+ 79. Kb7 Qe4+ 80. Kb6 Qb1+ 81. Ka6 Qa2+ 82. Kb7 Qf7+ 83. Kc6 Qf3+ 84. Qd5 Qf6+ 85. Kc5 Qa6 86. Kb4! Kf2 87. Qb5! Qe6 88. Kc3! Kf3 89. Qd3+ Kg2 90. Qc4! Qe1 91. Qg4+ Kh2 92. Qf4+ Kg2 93. Kb2 Qe2 94. Qi4+ Kh2 95. Qh4+ Ki2 96. Kc2 Kj3 97. Kc3 Qf3+ 98. d3 Qe3 99. Qd4 Qh6 100. Qd5 Qe3 101. Kc4 Qa7 102. Qc5 Qa2+ 103. Kc3! Qa1+ 104. Kd2 Qa2+ 105. Ke3 Qe6+ 106. Kd4 Qg4+ 107. Kc3! Qg3 108. Qf5 Qc7+ 109. Kd2 Qd6 110. Ke3 Qh6+ 111. Ke4 Qc6+ 112. Qd5 Qg6+ 113. Kf3 Qf6+ 114. Ke2 Qj2+ 115. Ke3 Qe7+ 116. Kd4 Qh4+ 117. Kc5 Qe7+ 118. Kb6 Qf6+ 119. Kb5 Qb2+ 120. Kc6 Qc3+ 121. Kd7 Qg7+ 122. Ke8 Qh8+ 123. Ke7 Qh4+ 124. Kd7 Qh3+ 125. Kc7 Qg3+ 126. Kc6 Qg6+ 127. Kc5 Qa6 128. Qf3+ Ki4 129. Qg4+ Ki5 130. Qd7 Qa5+ 131. Qb5! Qc7+ 132. Kd5 Qd8+ 133. Ke6+! Ki4 134. Qd5 Qg8+ 135. Ke5 Qg5+ 136. Kd4 Qg7+ 137. Kc4 Qc7+ 138. Qc5 Qf7+ 139. Kc3 Qf3 140. Qd6 Kh3 141. Qe6+! Kg3 142. Kc4 Qf1 143. Qg8+! Kh4 144. Qd5! Kg4 145. Kb5! Kg3 146. Qg5+ Kh2 147. Qe3 Kg2 148. Kb4 Qb1+ 149. Kc5! Qc2+ 150. Kd6! Qc8 151. d4 Qd8+ 152. Kc5 Qc7+ 153. Kb4 Qb6+ 154. Kc3 Qa5+ 155. Kc4 Qa6+ 156. Kc5 Qa5+ 157. Kc6 Qa8+ 158. Kd7 Qd5+ 159. Ke7 Qb7+ 160. Kf8 Qb8+ 161. Kg7 Qc7+ 162. Kg6 Qc6+ 163. Kg5 Qa8 164. Qe2+ Kg1 165. Qe5 Qj8+ 166. Kg6 Qj6+ 167. Kf7 Qj3+ 168. Ke7 Qi3+ 169. Kd7 Qh3+ 170. Kc7 Qc3+ 171. Qc5 Qg3+ 172. Qd6 Qc3+ 173. Kd7 Qh3+ 174. Kc6 Kh1 175. d5 Qh8 176. Kb5 Qh7 177. Kb6 Qh8 178. Qe7 Qb2+ 179. Kc6 Qc2+ 180. Qc5 Qe4 181. Kb6 Qb1+ 182. Qb5 Qg6+ 183. Kc5 Qf5 184. Qe2 Ki1 185. Qe1+ Kh2 186. Qh4+ Ki1 187. Kd4 Qf1 188. Qg3+ Kj2 189. Qj6+ Ki1 190. Qi6+ Kj2 191. d6 Qa1+ 192. Kd5 Qa8+ 193. Ke5 Qb8 194. Qj5+ Ki2 195. Qg2+ Ki1 196. Qc6 Qh8+ 197. Ke6 Qh3+ 198. Ke7 Qh4+ 199. Kd7 Qh7+ 200. Kc8 Qg8+ 201. Kc7 Qg3 202. Qc4 Ki2 203. Qb4 Qe5 204. Kc6 Qe6 205. Qb2+ Ki1 206. Qc1+ Ki2 207. Qi7+ Kj3 208. Qj7+ Ki4 209. Kc7 Qc4+ 210. Kd8! Qg8+ 211. Kd7 Qg3 212. Qe7 Kj4 213. Qj2+ Ki5 214. Qd2 Ki6 215. Kc6 Qf3+ 216. Kc7 Qf5 217. Qe2+ Kj6 218. Qc4 Qa5+ 219. Kb7 Qf5 220. Qc6 Qb1+ 221. Kc7 Qi1 222. Qd5 Ki6 223. Qf5 Kj6 224. Kd7 Qg3 225. Ke6 Qb3+ 226. Kf6 Qi3+ 227. Kf7 Qi7+ 228. Kf8 Qh8+ 229. Ke7 Qi7+ 230. Qf7 Qc1 231. Qf6+ Ki7 232. d7 Qc5+ 233. Ke8 Qb5 234. Qc3 Ki8 235. Ke7 Qg5+ 236. Kd6 Qh6+ 237. Kc7 Qf4+ 238. Kb7 Qe4+ 239. Kb6 Qb1+ 240. Kc7 Qi1+ 241. Kc8 Qi2 242. Qd3+ Kj8 243. Qg6 Qh3 244. Qg8+ Ki7 245. Qg7+ Kj6 246. Qf6+ Ki5 247. Kc7 Qh7 248. Qd4 Ki6 249. Kb7 Kj7 250. Ka8 Qh1+ 251. Ka7 Qh7 252. Qd1+ Ki7 253. Qc1+ Kj6 254. Qc7 Qh8 255. d8Q Qa1+ 256. Kb8 Qb1+ 257. Qb6+ Qxb6+ 258. Qxb6+! Ki5 259. Qb4 Ki6 260. Qi4+ Kh6 261. Kc7 Kg5 262. Kc6 Kf6 263. Qh5 Kg7 264. Kd5 Kf6 265. Kd6 Kg7 266. Ke6 Kg8 267. Kf6 Kf8 268. Qh8# 1-0 

If you have a tough time replaying that in your head without the board, you can replay it here:

http://www.gothicchess.com/endings/kqpkq/game.htm

[LiquidNitrogenOverclocker]

And this was one of my favorite "mess around games" showing that despite making reckless moves in the opening, the game can turn around very quickly:

[beachknight]

Hello all,

I'm looking for as many Winboard (UCI is fine too, but I'm guessing the protocol wasn't designed with this in mind) engines as I can find with support for chess variants other than Chess960. (I have enough of those already!).

The two which stand out of course are Pulsar and early versions of Sjeng, can anybody list some others?

Thanks

You might want to check Jim Abblet's page. Scroll down to bottom.