Junior and ICC discount

[LJC]

NEWS 1890 (14 Mar 2008):
Just got this off news 1890 on ICC

Junior 10.1 Special and Dasher 1.2

Now you can super-charge ICC Dasher and obtain the most reliable
analysis from the World Champion "Junior" chess engine. Junior is
considered by many to be the strongest and most human-like of all the
computer engines. Deep Junior drew a match with Kasparov, won a
match with Radjabov, and, last summer, won a FIDE-organized match
against Deep Fritz 4-2.

We are offering Junior at an EXCLUSIVE price for ICC-members only.
The single-processor version (Junior) is available for $29.95 and the
multi-processor version (Deep Junior) is available for $49.95. These
prices are less than half of what you might pay from other vendors!

Even better, during the month of March only, if you sign up for a
new ICC membership or renew an existing membership for a year or
more, we'll take a further $10-20 off, bringing the price down
to $19.95 for Junior and $29.95 for Deep Junior! All you need to
do is sign up or renew online before purchasing Junior.

Junior now integrates with ICC Dasher, allowing you to
analyze your games or "Play vs. Computer" offline. To purchase:

1) Download ICC Dasher 1.2 (Windows) for free from:

http://www.chessclub.com/helpcenter/int ... asher.html

2) Sign into the ICC using Dasher

3) Select "Purchase Junior Engine" from the Web menu

After purchasing, you can download Junior to your computer for
immediate use.

Junior FAQ: http://www.chessclub.com/help/Junior

Dasher 1.2 is a new release. Changes since Dasher 1.1:

* Special Junior and Deep Junior engine support
* Chat coloring by channel
* Player Statistics
* Now available in French, as well as Spanish
* Improved Vista compatibility
* Atomic Chess, Two Kings, and Random Wild
* Add-a-Friend feature
* Enhanced typing focus
* Over 60 other improvements

Dasher 1.2.2 Release Notes:

http://www.chessclub.com/helpcenter/int ... Notes.html

[Ovyron]

Now you can super-charge ICC Dasher and obtain the most reliable
analysis from the World Champion "Junior" chess engine.

I think that Junior is useful when you are searching for a surprise move to play against your opponent, because it's good at finding playable moves that other engines would never consider.

But by itself it's not very useful, and less when you want to analyze your played games offline. It may be good for producing interesting games, but I wouldn't go and say that it's a tool for reliable analysis (Unless your playing style is like Junior) because it seems that Junior is looking at a very different game.

[LJC]

I think that Junior is useful when you are searching for a surprise move to play against your opponent, because it's good at finding playable moves that other engines would never consider.

It does however find the best move that other engines would find also. It seems to be superimposed on people's minds that because of it's flexibility given by the programmers that the moves are inferior to other engines. We already know that DJ has done well verse some of the GM's in matches.