Update Information: September 1, 2016 (Updates)

by Ron , Thursday, September 01, 2016, 16:19

Engine Updates

BagaturChess 1.4d (UCI)
Java source; cross-platform; mp; supports Gaviota ebtbs
https://sourceforge.net/projects/bagaturchess/files/BagaturEngine/
https://github.com/bagaturchess/Bagatur-Chess-Engine-And-Tools/tree/master/Downloads/Engine

Fizbo 1.8 (UCI)
mp; Linux, Win; supports Syzygy egtbs
- "approximately +40 Elo improvement in playing strength"
- "estimated strength with 1 CPU/4 CPU is 3,100/3,170 Elo"
http://sites.google.com/site/fizbochessengine/

Pigeon 1.50 (UCI)
Win64; requires external dlls (not included in package)
https://github.com/StuartRiffle/pigeon/releases

Sting SF 7.3 (UCI)
C++ source; Linux, Mac(JM), Win; requires extra dlls (not included); Stockfish derivative
http://www.mediafire.com/download/sx4ou8g4fxzbaib/sting-sf-73.zip (direct link)

Sunfish 2016.08.31 (UCI)
Python source; requires Python interpreter with '-u' option invoked (to disable i/o buffering); didactic engine
- cleanup changes, compatability with Python 3.4 changes
http://github.com/thomasahle/sunfish/

Chess News

Droidfish 1.62 for Android
port of Stockfish to Android platform + chess GUI
- updated stockfish engine
- added features, fixed bugs
http://web.comhem.se/petero2home/droidfish/index.html

sprts.py
new Python script by Michel Van Den Bergh
- simplified implementation of SPRT algorithm (for engine testing) with no external dependencies
- "help you to design truncated sequential likelihood ratio tests"
http://hardy.uhasselt.be/Toga/sprta.py

Chess Programming Blogs

Nothing new today

Updated Wiki Pages

updates by Norbert Raimund Leisner:

Chess Logos List
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_logos_list

Mobile Chess List
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:mobile_chess_list

Stockfish Engine List
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:stockfish_engine_list

Bonus Notifications (recent releases of free stuff)

Advisory:

- 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

NOTE: I had an argument with Microsoft. I thought I owned my computer, they thought they did. Microsoft won by cheating: they clobbered my sys admin settings. Microsoft won the battle, but lost the war. If I can't trust a company to do an update, how can I trust it at all? All future updates of Windows-only software will no longer be listed here.

Austrumi 3.4.7
Linux distro based on Slackware; FVWM desktop; #71 in popularity
- OS & all applications run in RAM, making it fast
http://cyti.latgola.lv/ruuni/

Calibre 2.65
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/

Dr Memory 1.11.0
cross-platform (Linux or Win) 32-bit programmer's aid to detect:
access to uninitialized memory, unaddressable memory (including outside of allocated heap units
and heap underflow and overflow), freed memory, double frees, memory leaks, and on Win
access to un-reserved thread local storage slots and common GDI API usage errors
https://github.com/DynamoRIO/drmemory (homepage)
https://github.com/DynamoRIO/drmemory/releases (download)

GhostBSD 10.3
BSD-based Linux distro; MATE desktop; #52 in popularity
http://www.ghostbsd.org/

Google Chrome 53.0.2785.89
Google Chromium 53.0.2785.89
popular cross-platform web browser
- Chromium is fully open-source, Chrome has propietary extensions to enhance Google profits
https://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/download-chromium (Chromium)
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/? (Chrome)

ImageMagick 7.0.2-10
cross-platform, open-source program to manipulate images
- create, edit, compose, or convert images files (200+ formats)
- bmp, png, jpg, gif, tiff, svg, etc.
- resize, flip, mirror, rotate, distort, shear and transform
- adjust image, apply special effects,
- draw text, lines, polygons, ellipses & Bézier curves
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

Jenkins 2.20
cross-platform, open source, continuous integration server for developers
- automates the building/testing process
http://jenkins-ci.org/

Manjaro 16.08
Arch-based, rolling-release distro; desktops: Openbox, Cinnamon, KDE, MATE, Xfce; #5 in popularity
http://manjaro.org/

MariaDB 10.1.17 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/ (homepage)
http://kb.askmonty.org/v/mariadb-versus-mysql-features (extra features vs MySQL)
http://kb.askmonty.org/en/what-is-mariadb-100 (What is MariaDB 10?)

MongoDB 3.3.12 Stable
free, open source NoSQL database; uses document store model
http://www.mongodb.org/downloads

OpenBSD 6.0
independent distro based on BSD; desktops: almost all of them; #78 in popularity
http://www.openbsd.org/

PyPy2.7 v5.4.0
cross-platform, open source Python implementation; choose JIT (default), no JIT, stackless, or sandboxed;
also available: back ends for .NET and Java (see: 'Features' page);
other languages that run in the JIT: Prolog (incomplete), Smalltalk, JavaScript, Io, Scheme and Gameboy
for Win32, Linux 32/64, Mac64, & ARM
- syntax-compatible with Python 2.7.10 (PyPy) or 3.2.5 (PyPy3)
- "7.51 times faster than Python 2.7.2 (previous version was 7.56 times faster); see:
http://speed.pypy.org/ (speed benchmarks)
http://pypy.org/ (homepage)

Q4OS 1.6.1
Linux distro based on Debian (Stable); Trinity desktop; #47 in popularity
http://q4os.org/

Salix 14.2
Slackware-based Linux distro; desktops: Fluxbox, KDE, MATE, Openbox, Ratpoison, Xfce; #65 in popularity
http://www.salixos.org/

Thunderbird 45.3.0
Mozilla's excellent open source email program
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/ (homepage)

XAMPP 7.0.9
XAMPP 5.6.24
XAMPP 5.5.38
cross-platform, open source web-server (Apache), SQL database (MySQL) w/ admin, PHP, ftp server, Tomcat, & more
- this is probably the easiest way to install a working, web-aware PHP into Windows
- it is also easy to add web apps like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, SugarCRM, phpBB, DokuWiki, etc.
- version numbering reflects the PHP version that is supported
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html

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