Update Information: September 15, 2014 (Updates)

by Ron , Monday, September 15, 2014, 15:08

Engine Updates

K2 0.63 (WB/UCI)
C++ source; Win32
https://github.com/serg-meus/k2 (source repository)
http://www.sdchess.ru/download_engines.htm (download)

Pedone 0.5 (UCI)
Win64, Linux64; supports Syzygy egtbs & Polyglot opening books
- silent update, version number unchanged
- fixed egtb bug
http://www.g-sei.org/pedone/

Rodent 1.5 (UCI)
C source; Win32/64; limit strength; originally based on Sungorus code; supports Polyglot opening book
- fixes and additions in drawish endgame recognizers
- getting rid of a buggy implementation of continuation moves
- more logical handling of LMR in case of very late moves
- bugfix in candidate passers detection
- move routines are now part of position class
- more restrictions on eval pruning
- king tropism eval (style addition)
- always verify null move
http://www.pkoziol.cal24.pl/rodent/rodent.htm

Satana 2.0.6 (WB)
Win32/64
- "contains both standard and experimental 'Knife Edge' genetic version"
http://www.linformatica.com/index-scacchi.php

Sayuri 2014.09.14 (UCI)
Sayuri 2014.09.13 (UCI)
C++ source (Japanese comments); mp (up to 64 cores); Win64, Linux64
- intended for clang compiler using cmake
http://github.com/MetalPhaeton/sayuri/releases (source + builds)

Supra 19.1 (UCI)
C++ source; Win32/64
- silent update, version number unchanged
- 'pro' build added
http://suprachesssystem.com/

Chess News

ChestUCI-DB
database of mate problems
- updated: now with 6525 mate problems
http://fhub.110mb.com/

Lucas Chess 8.09a
"play chess against the computer with increasing levels of difficulty and with a limited number of hints that are given by a chess tutor"
Python source; Win32
- also available as a portable build
http://www-lucaschess.rhcloud.com (homepage)
https://googledrive.com/host/0B0D6J3YCrUouRk1IcHVzSWNVZkk/ (download)

Norm Pollock site
PGN & EPD Utility Suites and Opening Book Databases
- withdrawal of entire TXT suite
http://www.hoflink.com/~npollock/chess.html

Ordo 0.9.7
Ordo 0.9.6
calculates relative ratings based on game results
https://sites.google.com/site/gaviotachessengine/ordo

XBoard Alpha News
HG Muller is adding new features to Winboard/XBoard
- new sections:
--- Playing moves by clicking them
--- Fonts in the XBoard GTK build
--- Using the mousewheel (XB)
--- Slicing up a PGN database
http://hgm.nubati.net/news.html

Chess Programming Blogs

iCE: http://macechess.blogspot.de/2014/09/ice-2-has-been-released_7.html
MadChess: http://www.madchess.net/post/odds-games-versus-elite-engines

Wiki Page Changes

FACE Tournament
partial results for Division 2 playoffs are available
http://computer-chess.org/forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=2910

Engine GUI List
update by Norbert Raimund Leisner
- ChessPartner: added a link
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:engine_gui_list

Macintosh Engine List
update by Norbert Raimund Leisner
- GNUchess: added more links
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:macintosh_engine_list

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

Adblock Plus 1.8.5 for Chrome, Opera and Safari
free, open source browser plugin that blocks most web advertisements
http://adblockplus.org/en/

Adobe Flash Player 15.0.0.152
free cross-platform flash video player
- fixes some important security vulnerabilities
- Flash is the 2nd most common avenue of infection when computers become compromised
- beware of installing unwanted 3rd party software
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Auslogics Registry Cleaner 7.2.0.0
free Windows registry optimizer/cleaner; recommended
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/registry-cleaner/

Autoruns 12.03
Windows program shows programs configured to run during system bootup or login, and
the processing order of these programs
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2015.0.5315
free anti-virus, anti-spyware program with excellent protection for Win32/64
http://free.avg.com/us-en/download.prd-afh.line-2014

BitTorrent 7.9.2 (build 33498)
freeware; the original bit torrent program; for Windows only
http://www.bittorrent.com/

Calibre 2.3.0
cross-platform open source ebook manager supporting all popular ebook readers
with format conversion, news feeds, and integrated e-book viewer
http://calibre-ebook.com/

Cassandra is 2.1.0
free, open source, distributed NoSQL database; uses wide column store model
http://cassandra.apache.org/download/

Firefox 32.0.1
popular, free, open source browser
http://www.mozilla.com/ (homepage)

Gimp 2.8.14.1
free, cross-platform open-source Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
- retouch photos, create drawings & renderings, etc.
http://www.gimp.org/
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html (Win download)

Jenkins 1.581
cross-platform, open source, continuous integration server for developers
- automates the building/testing process
http://jenkins-ci.org/

Miranda IM 0.10.24
open source instant messaging program
http://www.miranda-im.org/

NetBeans IDE 8.0.1
open source cross-platform IDE used primarily for Java-based programming languages
(supports C/C++, PHP, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Java, Groovy, etc.)
supports syntax highlighting, code completion, object browsing, refactoring + more
all languages have debuggers, profilers and unit testing plus support for collaborative programming
http://netbeans.org/
http://netbeans.dzone.com/articles/netbeans-ide-801-now-available (release announcement)

Notepad++ 6.6.9
open source programmer's editor (Windows only)
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Pale Moon 24.7.2
open source, efficiency-optimized build of Firefox source code for Windows
- 32 & 64-bit versions available
http://www.palemoon.org/

PC-BSD 10.0.3
x64-only, BSD-based Linux distro; KDE (default), Awesome, Cinnamon, Fluxbox, FVWM, GNOME, i3, IceWM, LXDE, MATE, Openbox, WMaker & Xfce desktops; #40 in popularity
http://www.pcbsd.org/

Perl 5.20.1
popular open source scripting language
http://www.perl.org/ (homepage)

phpMyAdmin 4.2.8.1
web admin to view/change MySQL/MariaDB databases; interactive commandline SQL; import/export, etc.
http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php

Process Explorer 16.04
displays information about which Windows handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

Puppy Linux -- Fatdog64 700, Beta 1
Puppy is a popular (#10) and easy-to-learn, easy-to-use Linux distribution
Open source, boots from a CD (your Windows installation is unchanged) w/ simple instruction manual
old, slow computers run very well using Puppy's all-in-memory Linux kernel
There are many versions of Puppy available, each with a specific purpose
You don't necessarily use the latest release, you use the version with the software you want
You will need to know how to burn a disk from an ISO image
- Precise Puppy is binary-compatible with Ubuntu LTS 12.04.1
- Wary Puppy is intended to run on older hardware
- Racy Puppy is a mod of Wary Puppy, supporting the newest machines
- Slacko Puppy can use Puppy, Slackware, Salix, or Slacky software repositories
- Fatdog64 is a 64-bit Puppy distro; it is larger than most other Puppys
http://puppylinuxnews.org/ (news)
http://puppylinux.org/ (PuppyLinux homepage)
http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/latest.html (release notes)
http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/ (Fatdog homepage)

Redis 2.8.15 Stable
free, popular, open source database; uses key-value store model
- experimental support for Windows
- full support for Linux
http://redis.io/download

SeaMonkey 2.29
open source, all-in-one Internet suite: browser, email, news feed, newsgroups, IRC chat, & html editor
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

SMPlayer 14.9.0
cross-platform graphical interface for MPlayer media player
http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/

SuperAntiSpyware 6.0.1146
removes spyware, adware and malware; Windows only; no resident scanning for free version
http://www.superantispyware.com/

System Explorer 5.9.4
free; detailed info about Windows tasks, processes, modules, startups, IE addons, uninstallers, windows,
services, drivers, connections and opened files; graph/monitor usage of system resources in real-time
http://www.systemexplorer.net/

SystemRescueCd 4.3.1
bootable image for CD or USB stick to rescue data from HD; mount and read data from any disk;
features disk partitioning, LVM management, data copying, remote backup, more
http://www.sysresccd.org/

Task Coach 1.4.1
open source cross-platform desktop todo manager with task or calendar viewing, project tracking, etc
http://www.taskcoach.org/

Thunderbird 31.1.1
Mozilla's excellent open source email program
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/ (homepage)

Tiny Core 5.4
independent distro; Fluxbox, flwm, Hackedbox, IceWM, JWM, & Openbox desktops; #44 in popularity
http://www.tinycorelinux.net/

Vala/Genie 0.25.4 Beta
Vala syntax resembles C# and Genie syntax resembles Python
the common language compiler outputs OO C code using the GObject library
not yet at version 1.0, but some large apps are written in Vala/Genie
http://live.gnome.org/Vala (Vala info)
http://live.gnome.org/Genie (Genie info)

Very Sleepy 0.82
C/C++ 32/64-bit CPU profiler for Windows systems; supports Microsoft and GCC/MinGW compilers
- this version is not new, but the page was recently updated to show current & older versions
http://www.codersnotes.com/sleepy

VirtualBox 4.3.16
open source, general-purpose, full virtualizer for x86 and AMD64/Intel64 hardware
runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris as host
install one or more guest operating systems onto the same computer
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Guest_OSes (list of guest operating systems)
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog (changelog)
http://www.virtualbox.org/ (homepage)

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.
ron _at_ computer-chess _dot_ org