<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Review of GNU Chess</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY background="../../images/tile">
<CENTER><h3>Review of GNU Chess</h3></CENTER>
<p>
  The first thing you notice about this game of chess is the subfusc, simple graphics. Unlike most computer chess programs, and like most software distributed under the Free Software Foundation's General Public Licence. The pieces make no attempt to be either 3D or animated. The startup screen consists of plain text on a white backdrop. More attention has, for a change, been paid to content than presentation.
<p>
  Documentation is rather hard to find. When I finally stumbled across a list of commands in a cryptically named file, my enjoyment of the package increased exponentially.
<p>
  Having mastered the somewhat complicated command structure, I found that GNU Chess plays an extremley good, if, initially, rather predictable game (it draws its moves from a 'book' of openings (editable), and only has one or two alternatives for each position.
<p>
  Set, I am ashamed to say, on the easiest level, I was able to beat it roughly once every three times. Level progression is in terms of the time the computer has on its clock - ie. thinking time - since it uses the same routine to calculate moves for all levels.
<p>
  The computer seems to be most vulnerable in the midgame, since, at the start, it has its massive book of openings (which, if you want to be mean, you can turn off - this led to a distinct improvement in my victory rate), which it can use to respond to anything but an utterley non-standard opening in masterly style. In the midgame, it has lost its book, but there are too many pieces on the board for it to be able to compute accurately what each can do (at least on an ARM 2, that is - since its ability to 'think' is only limited by time - ie. by processor speed - I shudder to think what this would be like on a 233 Mhz Strong ARM). In the endgame, if you haven't a reasonable advantage, it will probably win, since, with fewer pieces on the board, it is able to calculate all possible outcomes with frightening precision.
<p>
Author: Stefan Mattauch<br>
Status: GNU General Public Licnese distribution<br>
Availability: Major PD libraries
</body>
</html>