Engine Updates

Arasan 12.3 (WB/UCI)
C++ source; mp; Win32/64, Linux
-changes to move ordering in qsearch - formerly we used to call see() in the initial move sorting phase but now it is deferred until we are ready to use a move - this is how most programs do it
- Linux version uses an ASM routine (if USE_ASM is defined) for bit extraction - this is much faster (on CPUs that support it)
- small fix to pin detection
- bug fixes in scoring: specifically in adjustMaterialScoreNoPawns, outpost scoring, potential passer scoring, passer piece block
- reduce penalty for open files around king (was excessive)
- qsearch futility prune margin increased back to 1 1/4 pawn; changes to LMR reduction depth and thresholds
- endgame capture extension is made in more cases but is decreased to 1/2 ply extra depth
- Several UCI protocol fixes
http://www.arasanchess.org/

Jim Ablett Win/Linux builds
CuckooChess 1.08 JA (UCI)
Java source; own GUI; uses Cuckoo hashing; JA build is for Win32 only
http://jimablett.hostwebs.com/

Onno 1-2-70 (UCI)
Commercial; Win32/64, Linux64; mp
- new Linux compile for registered owners
http://www.onnochess.com/index.html

Pawny 0.2.1 (UCI)
C source; Win32/64, Linux32/64
"I expect 25-30 ELO at best"
- root search revisited: applied LMR, check extension, Pawn Push extension and basically, the root node now looks almost identically to inner nodes
- new psq tables for white pawns, black pawns, white endgame pawns and black endgame pawns
- several optimization and code cleanups
- PV displaying - if the principal variation from the triangular array is shorter than the depth passed, only then the pv is extracted from the transposition table
- mate threat extension removed, instead mate_threat is used to restrict LMR and FP now
- pawn hash table - Preventing the pawn pst value to enter in the table, since it's a dynamic value
- mate in # displaying - corrected (STM perspective)
http://pawny.netii.net/

Redqueen 0.9 (UCI)
C++ source; Win32, Linux64; uses pthreads library
"I think v0.9 is about 100 Elo stronger than v0.8. "
this is actually a re-release of a version briefly available on January 30, 2011
- clean up code
- fixed bugs
- implemented Non-capturing checks at quiescence search
- improved evaluation of passed pawns, rooks and knights
- added candidate passer knowledge
- bonus to rooks in open/half open files
- added knight outposts
- PST's values refined
- improved LMR code/parameters
- the PV is now retrieved from the transposition table (I was using before Bruce Moreland's method)
- implemented singular extensions (+20 Elo worth perhaps)
- storing static evaluation information in hash table
- improved move ordering
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redqueenchess/files/

Spike 1.4 (WB/UCI)
Win32; FRC; limit strength
"we expect a large increase in playing strength"
- the evaluation part was first simplified, some terms with at least doubtable value were thrown out
- the passed pawn evaluation was rewritten; Beside the common passed pawn evaluation, Spike has now some special terms and values for passed pawns in rook endgames and pawn endgames
- sort of an own material table; chances are good, that the values of this table are sometimes by far off
- IIRC, a somewhat improved futility pruning
- much more selectivity by the extensive usage of lmr
- Spike has now a strength reduction feature; its not tested very extensively, so there are possibly some flaws
- support of up to 12 cores; our own tests were only up to 6 cores, so we dont have any numbers regarding speedup above that
- a new internal book with nearly 230.000 positions
- countless bug fixes (some of these bugs were really serious)
http://www.spikechess.de/index_en.html
http://spike.lazypics.de/index.html

Chess News

ChessGUI 0.211 (WB/UCI)
chess GUI / tournament manager by Matthias Gemuh; there is a separate download for a portable version
- ChessGUI is now resizable
http://biglion.110mb.com/
http://w2410tmq9.homepage.t-online.de/

Olivier Deville's PGN collection
also a Polyglot book based on the 42,335 PGN games
"Games from 2001 to 2011"
- minimum Elo = 2530
- only long time control games
- no annotations
- no computer games
- no games under 20 moves
http://www.open-aurec.com/chesswar/download.html

WinBoard 4.5.0
available as source code only
http://savannah.gnu.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=6705 (announcement)
Mac build:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/e478xdr6i348f61/Xboard%204.5.0-macintel.zip (direct link)

Down/Problem Chess Websites

Aldebaran homepage down for 44 days (no response in 60 seconds)
Amyan homepage down for 2 days (no response in 60 seconds)
Fianchetto homepage down for 21 days (configuration error)
Frenzee homepage down for 166 days (webpage taken down until new engine release)
Genesis homepage down for 19 days
Smash homepage down today (no response in 60 seconds)
Sorgenkind homepage down for 32 days (no response in 60 seconds)
Usurper homepage down for 30 days

Wiki Changes
Nothing new today

Bonus Notifications (recent releases of free stuff)

Warnings:

- do not install unwanted toolbars, etc.
- alpha releases have new features; crashes and bugs are to be expected
- beta releases have new features; they may contain bugs or crash
- release candidate software may contain minor bugs; crashes are rare

BurnAware 3.1.2
CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc-burning software
http://www.burnaware.com/burnaware_free.html (info)
http://www.burnaware.com/downloads.html (download)

Defraggler 2.02
free file/directory/drive defragmenter with scheduling & many options
http://www.piriform.com/defraggler
http://www.piriform.com/blog/2011/2/1/defraggler-v202 (announcement)

Miranda IM 0.9.16
open source instant messaging program
http://www.miranda-im.org/

PostgreSQL 9.0.3
open source SQL database for high performance and high availability applications
http://www.postgresql.org/ (homepage)
http://www.postgresql.org/about/news.1289 (news)
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/release-9-0-3.html (changes)

RJ TextEd 7.10
free programmer's text editor; unicode, spell-checking, code-completion, remote editing, etc
http://www.rj-texted.se/index.htm (homepage)
http://www.rj-texted.se/download.htm (download page)

µTorrent 2.2 (build 24402)
open source BitTorrent client
http://www.utorrent.com/ (homepage)
http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=86666 (2.2 forum thread)

VLC 1.1.7
open source, cross-platform multimedia player (audio/video)
http://www.videolan.org/

Meaning of Colors

Red = New or Warning
Green = Updated
Gray = Info Only

Engine List: http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_engine_list
Chess News: http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_news_list

NOTE: If you want me to track a website for you, please email me and I will add it.