Engine Updates

Chesley the Chess Engine 274 (WB)
no build for this version yet
latest builds: 271(Win32/64), 241(Mac)
- Updates for release package
- Ease compiling on Windows
http://sourceforge.net/projects/chesley/

Daydreamer 1.5 (UCI)
NOTE: '1.4 vanilla' is also a new release that can be downloaded
C source only, no Jim Ablett build yet
- rewrote eval, added passed pawn detection, mobility, king safety
- new board representation
- improved move ordering
- added futility pruning using history counters
http://github.com/AaronBecker/daydreamer

Down chess websites
Armageddon site down for 2 days
Averno site down for 40 days
Brainless site down today
Dika site down today
Pierre site down for 73 days
Simplex site down for 2 days

Chess News

Polyglot 1.4.45b
Michel Van den Bergh's Linux and Windows builds based on Fonzy Bluemers modification
of Fabien Letouzey's Polyglot with original work and bugfixes
- The engine specific config files (<myname>.ini) are now stored in a separate
directory. $HOME/.polyglot on Linux and "./Polyglot Settings" on Windows.
- The engine specific config files are now complete config files. So they can
be used in a stand alone fashion.
- Implemented a minor hack to make xboard show error messages during startup.
http://alpha.uhasselt.be/Research/Algebra/Toga/polyglot-release/

STS [2.0] Open Files and Diagonals II
Strategic Test Suite [STS]
- 5 test positions have been replaced
1b1r4/3rkp2/p3p2p/4q3/P5P1/2RBP3/P1Q4P/1R3K2 b - - bm Ba7; c0 "Ba7=10, Qf6+=3, a5=3, h5=5"; id "STS(v2.1) Open Files and Diagonals II.017";
2b1r1k1/2r5/p3pbp1/5p2/PN5P/1Pp2BP1/4PP2/2R2RK1 w - - bm Rfd1; c0 "Rfd1=10"; id "STS(v2.1) Open Files and Diagonals II.026";
5rrk/pR4p1/3p2q1/P6p/2Q1pn2/7P/1PP2PP1/R3N1K1 w - - bm Ra3; c0 "Ra3=10, Kh2=6, Rb3=4"; id "STS(v2.1) Open Files and Diagonals II.042";
b2r4/3qk3/1p1pp3/pN4b1/P3Pp1p/2P5/4BQPP/5R1K w - - bm Bg4; c0 "Bg4=10, Rd1=1"; id "STS(v2.1) Open Files and Diagonals II.081";
r3r1k1/1b3ppp/2p2n2/1p2b1B1/4P1B1/P6P/1PQ1NPP1/6K1 w - - bm Bf5; c0 "Bf5=10, Bf3=3, Bxf6=3, f3=2"; id "STS(v2.1) Open Files and Diagonals II.98";
http://sites.google.com/site/strategictestsuite/open-files-and-diagonals

Wiki Changes

FACE Tournament
- updates to division 6 & 7 pages
- updates to downloads and ratings
- updates to main FACE page (link below)
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:tournaments:face

Bonus Notifications (free stuff)

Skype 4.1.0.166
freeware; for free phone calls over the Internet
(your computer must be on and you need a microphone or headset!)
http://www.skype.com/getconnected/

Silverlight 3.0.40818
programmable web browser plugin that enables features such as animation,
vector graphics and audio-video playback
http://silverlight.net/

MySQL 5.1.38
popular open source database; the 'community edition' is free
http://www.mysql.com/ (homepage)
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ (downloads)

Vista Codec Package 5.4.1
freeware; despite the name this package works in WinXP too
'Codecs' are used by Windows to play back audio and video files
- Codecs have been a problem for most users at one time or another. This is
because there has never been an 'out of the box' working solution that the
average computer user could install and just have everything work properly
from the beginning.
- The installer will automatically remove most other popular codec packs from
your computer before installing this concise yet comprehensive package.
http://shark007.net/vistacodecpackage.html

K-Lite Codec Pack 5.10
freeware; a competing codec that is more sophisticated, allowing codec choices
http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm