Caissa Chess for iPhone

[Mark]

Anybody try Caissa Chess for the iPhone yet? I'll probably get it later today.

[Tord Romstad]

Anybody try Caissa Chess for the iPhone yet? I'll probably get it later today.

I just downloaded it and played a quick game. It looks pretty and is easy to use, but the chess engine is very weak. Based on the single game I played, I guesstimate the strength to be somewhere around 1200 Elo.

Here is the game:

Code: Select all

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.07.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tord Romstad"]
[Black "Caissa Chess"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. d5 Qd8 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nc4 15. Ng3
Nb6 16. Nh2 a5 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. hxg4 b4 19. Nf5 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rb8 21. Qf3 Nc8
22. Qh3 a4 23. g3 Bf6 24. Kg2 Qa5 25. Rh1 Bxf5 26. exf5 h6 27. g5 Qxc3 28. gxf6
Qxc2 29. Qg4 g6 30. Rxh6 Qxf5 31. Qh4 Qe4+ 32. Qxe4 Rb2 33. Rxg6+ fxg6 34.
Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qg7#
1-0

[Mark]

Anybody try Caissa Chess for the iPhone yet? I'll probably get it later today.

I just downloaded it and played a quick game. It looks pretty and is easy to use, but the chess engine is very weak. Based on the single game I played, I guesstimate the strength to be somewhere around 1200 Elo.

Here is the game:

Code: Select all

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.07.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tord Romstad"]
[Black "Caissa Chess"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. d5 Qd8 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nc4 15. Ng3
Nb6 16. Nh2 a5 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. hxg4 b4 19. Nf5 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rb8 21. Qf3 Nc8
22. Qh3 a4 23. g3 Bf6 24. Kg2 Qa5 25. Rh1 Bxf5 26. exf5 h6 27. g5 Qxc3 28. gxf6
Qxc2 29. Qg4 g6 30. Rxh6 Qxf5 31. Qh4 Qe4+ 32. Qxe4 Rb2 33. Rxg6+ fxg6 34.
Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qg7#
1-0

Was that on the toughest level?

[Tord Romstad]

Anybody try Caissa Chess for the iPhone yet? I'll probably get it later today.

I just downloaded it and played a quick game. It looks pretty and is easy to use, but the chess engine is very weak. Based on the single game I played, I guesstimate the strength to be somewhere around 1200 Elo.

Here is the game:

Code: Select all

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.07.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tord Romstad"]
[Black "Caissa Chess"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. d5 Qd8 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nc4 15. Ng3
Nb6 16. Nh2 a5 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. hxg4 b4 19. Nf5 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rb8 21. Qf3 Nc8
22. Qh3 a4 23. g3 Bf6 24. Kg2 Qa5 25. Rh1 Bxf5 26. exf5 h6 27. g5 Qxc3 28. gxf6
Qxc2 29. Qg4 g6 30. Rxh6 Qxf5 31. Qh4 Qe4+ 32. Qxe4 Rb2 33. Rxg6+ fxg6 34.
Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qg7#
1-0

Was that on the toughest level?

The toughest level, yes. I tried another game with black, and won just as easily. This program is clearly better suited for casual players than for serious chess players.

Tord

[Uri Blass]

Anybody try Caissa Chess for the iPhone yet? I'll probably get it later today.

I just downloaded it and played a quick game. It looks pretty and is easy to use, but the chess engine is very weak. Based on the single game I played, I guesstimate the strength to be somewhere around 1200 Elo.

Here is the game:

Code: Select all

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.07.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tord Romstad"]
[Black "Caissa Chess"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. d5 Qd8 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nc4 15. Ng3
Nb6 16. Nh2 a5 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. hxg4 b4 19. Nf5 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rb8 21. Qf3 Nc8
22. Qh3 a4 23. g3 Bf6 24. Kg2 Qa5 25. Rh1 Bxf5 26. exf5 h6 27. g5 Qxc3 28. gxf6
Qxc2 29. Qg4 g6 30. Rxh6 Qxf5 31. Qh4 Qe4+ 32. Qxe4 Rb2 33. Rxg6+ fxg6 34.
Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qg7#
1-0

This program seems to be clearly weaker than you but you are a strong player who probably can get fide rating of at least 2000 if you play in fide tournaments.

I think that you simply overestimate 1200 players.

The program lost because of 24...Qa5 and it is not a trivial mistake

Even Glaurung2.0.1 likes 24...Qa5 at small depth(see the main line after 12 knodes at depth 6)

Tord Romstad - Caissa Chess, 2008
1rnq1rk1/3b1ppp/3p1b2/2pPpN2/p3P1P1/2P3PQ/P1B2PK1/R1B1R3 b - - 0 1

Analysis by Glaurung 2.0.1:

24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5
³ (-0.45) Depth: 2 00:00:00
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Nc8-b6
³ (-0.49) Depth: 3 00:00:00
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Nc8-b6 26.f2-f3
= (-0.21) Depth: 4 00:00:00
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Qd8-a5 26.Bc1-d2 Nc8-b6
³ (-0.29) Depth: 5 00:00:01
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Nc8-b6 26.Re1-h1 h7-h6 27.f2-f3
= (-0.07) Depth: 6 00:00:01 7kN
24...Qd8-a5 25.Re1-h1 Bd7xf5 26.g4xf5 h7-h6 27.Bc1-d2 Nc8-b6
= (-0.09) Depth: 6 00:00:01 12kN
24...Rb8-b6 25.Ra1-b1 Rb6xb1 26.Bc2xb1 Qd8-a5 27.Bc1-d2 h7-h6
= (-0.19) Depth: 6 00:00:01 21kN
24...Bd7-b5 25.Re1-h1 h7-h6 26.f2-f3 Nc8-e7 27.Bc1-e3 Ne7xf5 28.g4xf5
³ (-0.41) Depth: 6 00:00:01 28kN
24...Bd7-b5 25.Re1-h1 h7-h6 26.Bc1xh6 g7-g6 27.Bh6xf8 Kg8xf8 28.Qh3-h6+ Kf8-g8
+- (3.84) Depth: 7 00:00:01 33kN
24...Rb8-b6 25.Ra1-b1 Rb6xb1 26.Bc2xb1 Qd8-a5 27.Bc1-d2 Bd7xf5 28.g4xf5 Nc8-b6
= (-0.19) Depth: 7 00:00:01 39kN
24...Rb8-b6 25.f2-f3 h7-h6 26.Ra1-b1 Nc8-e7 27.Nf5xe7+ Bf6xe7 28.Bc1-e3 Rf8-e8 29.Rb1xb6 Qd8xb6
= (0.05) Depth: 8 00:00:01 82kN
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Qd8-a5 26.Re1-h1 h7-h6 27.Bc1-d2 Rb8-b2 28.Rh1-c1
= (-0.15) Depth: 8 00:00:01 93kN
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Nc8-b6 26.Re1-h1 h7-h6 27.f2-f3 Bf6-g5 28.Bc2-d3 Bg5xc1 29.Ra1xc1
= (0.03) Depth: 9 00:00:01 138kN
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Nc8-b6 26.Re1-h1 h7-h6 27.f2-f3 Bf6-g5 28.Bc2-d3 Rf8-e8 29.Bc1-b2
= (0.07) Depth: 10 00:00:03 219kN
24...Bd7xf5 25.g4xf5 Bf6-g5 26.Bc2xa4 Bg5xc1 27.Ra1xc1 Nc8-b6 28.Re1-h1 h7-h6 29.Ba4-b3 Qd8-g5 30.Rc1-b1
² (0.33) Depth: 11 00:00:04 465kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Bc2-d3 Bd7xf5 27.g4xf5 Bg5xc1 28.Ra1xc1 Qd8-g5 29.Qh3-h5 Qg5xh5 30.Rh1xh5 Nc8-e7 31.f2-f3 Rb8-b2+ 32.Rc1-c2
= (-0.05) Depth: 11 00:00:04 816kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Nf5xg7 Kg8xg7 27.f2-f4 Rf8-h8 28.f4xg5 h6-h5 29.Qh3-h2 h5xg4 30.Qh2xh8+ Qd8xh8 31.Rh1xh8 Kg7xh8
² (0.37) Depth: 12 00:00:05 1216kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Nf5xg7 Kg8xg7 27.f2-f4 Rf8-h8 28.f4xg5 h6-h5 29.Qh3-h2 h5xg4 30.Qh2xh8+ Qd8xh8 31.Rh1xh8 Kg7xh8
² (0.37) Depth: 13 00:00:07 2097kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Nf5xg7 Kg8xg7 27.f2-f4 Rf8-h8 28.f4xg5 h6-h5 29.Qh3-h2 Bd7xg4 30.Bc1-d2 Rb8-b2 31.Rh1-c1
² (0.27) Depth: 14 00:00:08 3411kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Nf5xg7 Kg8xg7 27.f2-f4 Rf8-h8 28.f4xg5 h6-h5 29.Qh3-h2 Bd7xg4 30.Bc2-d3 Nc8-b6 31.Bc1-e3 f7-f6
= (0.05) Depth: 15 00:00:11 6603kN
24...h7-h6 25.Re1-h1 Bf6-g5 26.Nf5xg7 Kg8xg7 27.f2-f4 Rf8-h8 28.f4xg5 h6-h5 29.Qh3-h2 Bd7xg4 30.Bc2-d3 Qd8-a5 31.Bc1-d2 Rb8-b2 32.Kg2-g1
= (0.00) Depth: 16 00:00:18 11755kN
24...h7-h6 25.Qh3-h5 Bd7xf5 26.Qh5xf5 Nc8-b6 27.Re1-h1 g7-g6 28.Qf5-f3 Bf6-g5 29.Rh1xh6 Bg5xh6 30.Bc1xh6 Rf8-e8 31.Ra1-h1 f7-f6 32.g4-g5 f6xg5 33.Bc2-d3
² (0.31) Depth: 17 00:01:18 50281kN
24...h7-h6 25.Qh3-h5 Rf8-e8 26.Re1-h1 Bd7xf5 27.Qh5xf5 Nc8-b6 28.Qf5-h5 a4-a3 29.Ra1-b1 Qd8-e7 30.f2-f3 Nb6-c4 31.Rb1xb8 Re8xb8 32.Bc2-d3 Nc4-b2 33.Bd3-e2 Bf6-g5 34.Bc1xg5 h6xg5
² (0.49) Depth: 18 00:02:35 106216kN

(so k, 12.07.2008)

[Mark]

I'm going to order it anyway, while waiting for the Glaurung version.

While I certainly will buy strong programs for the iPhone as they become available, the weaker programs are actually more fun for me to play against, since I'm not that strong of a player.

[Mark]

Yep, I think Caissa will be strong enough for me.

One feature I wish it had, though, is to be able to export games as pgn.