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Table of Contents
Chess GUI Protocol Support
List of Chess GUIs and the Protocols They Support
| Name | Winboard protocol | UCI protocol | Chessbase protocol | Auto232 | ICS (FICS,ICC etc) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena 1.08+ | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 and 2 | No | Yes | Yes | Arena is a free interface |
| BabasChess | Protocol 1&2? | Yes | No | No | Yes | This is a free interface for online play like Winboard. But unlike Winboard, the Winboard engines can only be used for analysis but not for playing. |
| Bookup | Protocol 1 | UCI 1 (build 16) | No | No? | No? | NA |
| Checkmate | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | Yes | This is a free interface for online play like Winboard. But unlike Winboard, the Winboard engines can only be used for analysis but not for playing |
| Chess Academy 6 | Protocol 1 | UCI 1(for Chess Academy 7 Office Deluxe) | No | Yes | No | Supports Millennium Chess System [MCS] as well |
| Chess Assistant 6 | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 , but not the light version | No | Yes | Yes (ICC only) | Supports Millennium Chess System [MCS] as well |
| Chessbase GUI like Fritz 5.32&6&Deep Fritz,Junior 6&7,Hiarcs 7.32,Shredder 5.32 | Yes,if use with old adaptor but with problems | No | Yes | Yes | No | NA |
| Newer Chessbase GUI eg Fritz 7 (with patch),Hiarcs 8,Junior 8 | Yes, If use old adaptor but with problems | UCI 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes (Playchess server only) | Winboard engines are generally converted to UCI engines using Malin's wbtouci adaptor because of problems with the old winboard adaptor |
| Chessbase Shredder 6 | Yes comes with a adaptor | UCI 1,if updated to Fritz 7 Interface | Yes | Yes | Yes (Playchess server only) | Bundled together with Shredder 6 UCI interface (See below) |
| Chess Commander | Yes | No | No | No | Yes(Chess Planet) | Limited shareware does not have Winboard support. |
| Chessgui (BigLion) | WB 1&2 | UCI 1&2 | No | No | No | Freeware, pre-alpha |
| "Classic" Shredder | Yes comes with a adaptor | UCI 1 and 2 | No | Yes | No | Bundled together with Shredder 6 CB interface (See above) |
| Chess Dragon | Protocol 1 | No | No | No | No | Shareware database |
| Chessmaster 8000/9000 | Protocol 1 | No | No | No | No | Chessmaster 8000/9000 is a Winboard engine |
| Chesspad | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | No | Free PGN viwer |
| Chess Partner 5.0.0.4 | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 | No | Yes | Yes | NA |
| Chess Vision | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | Yes | Seems to be dead |
| Chess Vu | No | UCI 1 | No | No | No,but analyses log files | Shareware product,database functions |
| Eboard | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | Yes | Eboard is a linux interface for playing online |
| ECTool | Protocol 2 only | No | No | No | No | Email manager tool for correspondence chess |
| Gandalf 5.1 | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 | No | Yes | ? | Sold by Rebel, Gandalf 5.1 (the engine) is Winboard compatible only |
| iNemisis | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | Yes | This is a free interface for online play like Winboard. But unlike Winboard, the Winboard engines can only be used for analysis but not for playing |
| Jose | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 | No | No | No | Graphical database windows and linux |
| Knightx | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 | No | No | Yes | Not for windows. |
| NetChess | Protocol 1&2 | UCI 1 and 2 | No | No | No | Freeware, connects 2 players over network using TCP/IP (LAN) or in internet/intranet |
| Pirat | No | UCI 1 | No | Yes | No | Commerical, in german |
| SCID | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | No | SCID is a free Chess database |
| Shredder 5 | Yes,comes with a adaptor | UCI 1 | No | Yes | No | Shredder 3 to 5 Supports Millennium Chess System [MCS] as well |
| Sigma Chess 6.1 | No | UCI | No | No | No | For OS X and Classic Mac OS |
| Slibo 5 | Yes | No | No | No | yes | Linux |
| Thinkerboard | Protocol 1 | No | No | No | No | Thinkerboard a free interface |
| Wildcat GUI | Protocol 1 and 2 | No | No | No | No | Privateware |
| Winboard | Protocol 1&2 | No | No | No | Yes | The original interface to support Winboard protocol |
| Ychess | Protocol 1 &2? | UCI 1 | No | No | No | Shareware |
Notes
- “Adaptors” by external parties are not considered to make an interface compatiable to a given protocol. Examples include Malin's wbtouci adaptor, Boerger's Winboard auto232 adaptor and/or the old chessbase winboard adaptor, as well as one for zillions of games etc.
- Another site that reviews the UCI interfaces (Chess Academy, Chess Assistant, Chess Partner, Fritz, Shredder, Arena) is http://www.uciengine.de/GUI_s/gui_s.html . Click on details and you can learn about their support for various functions in terms of availability of engine tournaments, GUI book, debug window, log file support for auto232 and external board like DGT
