Engine Updates

AlChess 1.84 (UCI)
Win32
- does not work on WinXP
http://www.sdchess.ru/download_engines.htm (SDChess)

Andscacs 0.84 (UCI)
- "Should be clearly better ... probably more than 30 Elo"
mp (32 cores max); multi-PV; Win32/64
http://www.andscacs.com/

ChessBot (UCI)
new source code only engine by johnniegf
Java source
- unknown if code includes a complete, functional engine
- Tony? Daniel? Can you build this?
https://github.com/johnniegf/chessbot

Electronic Grand Master (UCI)
new source code only engine by Benny Abramovici
C++ source
- engine also known as 'EGM'
- unknown if code includes a complete, functional engine
- a Mac compile is claimed, but I can't find it
- Tony? Daniel? Can you build this?
https://github.com/eventhorizon02/Chess-engine

Embla 0.7.1 (UCI)
Win64, Linux64; mp (INT_MAX cores)
- bugfix release (fixing pondering issues)
http://www.vanheusden.com/Embla/

Galjoen 0.31.1 (WB/UCI)
C++ source; Win64; uses Polyglot books
http://www.goudengaljoen.be/

Presbyter (UCI)
new source code only engine by Jefferson Wilson
Java source
- unknown if code includes a complete, functional engine
- Tony? Daniel? Can you build this?
https://github.com/jwilson82/presbyter

Sahistii Mascati Chess (WB)
new source code only engine by 'shred2042'
C++ source
- claims ability to play chess
- Tony? Daniel? Can you build this?
https://github.com/shred2042/Sahistii_Mascati_Chess_Project

Sayuri 2015.12.08 (UCI)
C++ source (Japanese comments); mp (up to 64 threads); Linux64, Win64, Mac
http://github.com/MetalPhaeton/sayuri

Superpawn build 109 (UCI)
C++ source; Win32/64
http://chess.johnbyrd.org/

Chess News

FACE Tournament
- Edition 15, Division 2 - round 192 results
http://computer-chess.org/forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=3063#p3085

Jim Ablett Android compiles
- Stockfish Matefinder JA (UCI)
- Komodo (BeeKay) 1028 JA (UCI)
- Scorpio 2.7.7 JA (WB)
- Arasan 18.2 JA (WB/UCI)
- Stockfish Devel (7904a7d) JA(UCI)
http://jimablett.net63.net/compiles.html

Lucas Chess 9.08
"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
- contains 36 engines
- also available as a portable build
http://www-lucaschess.rhcloud.com (homepage)

Matibay 1.1 (WB)
new engine by Ferdinand Mosca plays Amazons chess variant
Win32/64
https://sites.google.com/site/deuteriumengine/files/amazon

Masipag 1.1 (WB)
new engine by Ferdinand Mosca plays Nightrider chess variant
Win32/64
https://sites.google.com/site/deuteriumengine/files/nightrider

Norm Pollock site
PGN, EPD & TXT Utility Suites and Opening Book PGN Databases
- all PGN, EPD, & TXT programs re-compiled, preventing Avast false-positive virus notice
http://www.hoflink.com/~npollock/chess.html

Stockfish MateFinder
Stockfish code altered to find mates faster
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1145468/MateFinder.7z (direct link)
https://github.com/jhellis3/Stockfish/tree/mate_finder (source)

Tarrasch Chess GUI 3, Alpha release (UCI)
C++ source; open source Chess GUI by Bill Forster
http://www.triplehappy.com/ (homepage)
https://github.com/billforsternz/tarrasch-chess-gui (code repository)
https://github.com/billforsternz/tarrasch-chess-gui/releases/tag/V3.alpha.2015-12-12-a (download)

Chess Programming Blogs

Arasan blog: http://arasanchess.org/blogs/dec15.html
iCE blog: http://macechess.blogspot.de/2015/12/oh-very-clever-worf-eat-any-good-books.html
Tarrasch Chess GUI blog: https://triplehappy.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/finally/

Updated Wiki Pages

Variants Engine List
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:variants_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 2.45
Google Chrome extension to block ads, thereby preventing malware infections
- not related to AdBlocck Plus
http://www.getadblock.com/

Adobe Flash Player 20.0.0.235
free cross-platform flash video player for browsers
- Flash is in undisputed first-place as the most common avenue of infection
- Adobe bundles unwanted 3rd party crapware, beware!
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Avira AntiVir Personal 15.0.15.129 Free
antivirus product; the free version pops up annoying intermittent ads, but gives excellent protection
http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

Black Lab 7.0.1
Linux distro based on Ubuntu (LTS); GNOME, KDE, MATE, Xfce desktops; #23 in popularity
http://www.blacklablinux.org/

Calibre 2.46.0
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 2.2.4 Stable
free, popular, open source, distributed NoSQL database; uses wide column store model
http://cassandra.apache.org/download/

CentOS 7-1511
Linux distro based on Red Hat Enterprise; choice of GNOME or KDE desktop; #8 in popularity
http://www.centos.org/

CrystalDiskInfo 6.6.0
open source, Windows-only hard drive monitoring/warning/alarm system using SMART technology
http://crystalmark.info/?lang=en

elementary 0.3.2
Ubuntu-based Linux distro; Pantheon desktop; #16 in popularity
http://elementary.io/

Frostwire 6.1.8
open source, cross-platform Java-based BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) client
http://www.frostwire.com/

Git 2.6.4
cross-platform, distributed version control system that is free and open source
http://git-scm.com/

Google Chrome 47.0.2526.80
popular cross-platform web browser
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/?

HHVM 3.11.0
Facebook's open-source replacement/improvement of the PHP programming language
- HHVM programs run much faster than PHP programs
- package includes the Hack programming language, version 3.11.0
https://github.com/facebook/hhvm/releases

Jenkins 1.642
cross-platform, open source, continuous integration server for developers
- automates the building/testing process
http://jenkins-ci.org/

LameXP 4.13
open source audio encoder GUI for MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP4/AAC & many more
http://lamexp.sourceforge.net/
http://muldersoft.com/#lamexp

Linux Kernel 4.3.2
- the Linux kernel has been updated
http://www.kernel.org/

MariaDB 5.5.47 Stable
open source fork of MySQL; completely compatible w/MySQL; w/extra DB engines & extra features
"MariaDB is a binary drop-in replacement for MySQL"
MariaDB restores several significant features that Oracle has dropped from MySQL
- gaining popularity from MySQL, a work-alike competitor with fewer features
- 5.x version stays in sync with MySQL 5.x; version 10 is an improved version of it
http://kb.askmonty.org/en/what-is-mariadb-100 (What is MariaDB 10?)
http://downloads.mariadb.org/mariadb/10.1.9/ (MariaDB 10.1.9 page)
http://kb.askmonty.org/v/mariadb-versus-mysql-features (extra features vs MySQL)
http://kb.askmonty.org/ (homepage)

Meld 3.15.1
open-source visual file/folder difference and merge program for Win, Linux & Mac
- compare files, directories, and version controlled projects
- two- and three-way comparison of both files and directories
- edit files in-place and on-the-fly
- source code syntax highlighting
- built-in regex text filtering to ignore uninteresting differences
http://meldmerge.org/

Miranda 0.10.41
open source instant messaging program
http://www.miranda-im.org/

MongoDB 3.2.0 Stable
free, open source NoSQL database; uses document store model
http://www.mongodb.org/downloads

Notepad++ 6.8.8
open source programmer's editor (Windows only)
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

NSIS 2.47
open source creator of Windows installers
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page

Opera 34
somwhat popular web browser
http://www.opera.com/ (homepage)
http://www.opera.com/browser/download/ (download)

Perl 5.22.1
popular open source scripting language
http://www.perl.org/ (homepage)

Puppy Linux -- Quirky 7.4
Puppy is a popular (#15) 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
- Fatdog64 is a 64-bit Puppy distro; it is larger and more complete than most other Puppys
- Precise Puppy is binary-compatible with Ubuntu LTS
- 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; Slacko seems to be the flagship version
- Tahrpup is built from Ubuntu Trusty Tahr
- Quirky is built from Ubuntu and is intended for full installs
- Puppy is based on Slackware; available in 32- and 64-bit
http://puppylinuxnews.org/ (news)
http://puppylinux.org/ (PuppyLinux homepage)
http://bkhome.org/news/?viewDetailed=00299 (announcement)

qBittorrent 3.3.1
open source cross-platform Bittorrent client
http://www.qbittorrent.org/

Qt Creator IDE 3.6.0
open source cross-platform IDE for C/C++ and JavaScript
Features: syntax highlighting for many languages, plugins, version control, code completion, function call tips, more
although the IDE encourages using Qt libraries, the choice is not forced
http://download.qt-project.org/official_releases/qtcreator/ (download)

Skype 7.16.0.102
free cross-platform videophone/phone/instant messenger program
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home

USBDeview 2.51
free Win32/64 utility to list all USB devices ever connected to computer; can uninstall any USB drivers local or remote
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html (homepage)
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usbdeview.zip (direct download)

VMware Player 12.1.0
free open source, cross-platform virtual machine emulator, similar to VirtualBox
run multiple operating systems at the same time on your PC
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/overview.html

WinPython 3.5.1.1 -- for Win32/64
open-source portable distribution of Python for Windows32/64
allows use of different Python versions that are fully isolated from each other
WinPython is the easiest way of getting Spyder IDE working on Win32/64
NumPy, SciPy and Matplot are also included
- this is a large file to download (more than 200 MB)
http://winpython.github.io/

WordPress 4.4
free, popular, open source website/blog creation using PHP & MySQL w/ many plugins & themes
http://wordpress.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.
ron _at_ computer-chess _dot_ org