Engine Updates

Pawny 0.1.9 (UCI)
C source; Win32/64, Linux32/64
Linux 64 build is new; no Jim Ablett build yet
(fixed bugs)
- pawn push extension bug – fixed
- bug in eval_white_passer – fixed
- ‘Bad captures’ ordering bug in main search – fixed
- memory alignment issues for trans. and pawn tables were fixed by writing own aligned allocation functions
(changes and notes)
- new TT (4 entry buckets) + new replacement policy and better indexing
- pawn evaluation – rewritten. The array-fields was replaced by incrementally updated bitboards; added couple of new pawn structure evaluation terms
- removed couple of restrictions in IID
- several optimizations (splitting-up the mobility evaluation to omit piece-list loops, as well as several other minors)
- several code cleanups
http://pawny.netii.net/

Redqueen 0.4 (UCI)
2 commit(s) to the C++ source code (commits= 263), no new build
- 262: tests
- 263: fixed evaluation of passed pawns
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redqueenchess

Spark 0.4 (UCI)
mp, Win32/64, Linux64, Mac64
- silent update of Mac version
- new opening book by Dr. Wael Deeb
http://members.ziggo.nl/allard.siemelink/spark/

Vajolet 0.31.13 (WB)
new engine by Marco Belli; C# source; Win32; requires chesslib.dll
http://code.google.com/p/vajolet/ (homepage)
http://vajolet.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vajolet/release/vajolet%200.31.13/vajolet%200.31.13.exe (direct link)
http://vajolet.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vajolet/release/vajolet%200.31.13/chesslib.dll (chesslib.dll)

Chess News

Ajax Chess 2.0
online Javascript chess opponent by Gary Linscott (GarboChess)
- mobility evaluation (thanks Fruit)
- bishop pair
- rep-draw detection
- better null-move pruning (thanks Stockfish)
- better LMR (and again, thanks Stockfish)
- bugfix with using hash move
- some speed optimizations
http://forwardcoding.com/projects/ajaxchess/chess.html

Norm Pollock site
PGN & EPD utilities & opening book PGN databases
- new: "epdComments" - splits pgn comments into a separate file
- new: "steady" - extracts games with steady evaluations from PGNs
http://www.hoflink.com/~npollock/chess.html

Down/Problem Chess Websites
Alex homepage down for 54 days ("Temporarily Unavailable")
Amundsen homepage down for 59 days
Mizar homepage down for 22 days (no download page)
Nesik homepage down for 63 days
NSVChess homepage down today
Numpty homepage closed until further notice (50 days)
Wilhelm homepage down for 38 days

NOTE: I consider these homepages as dead: Brama, Dika & Flux. These homepages
will no longer be tracked.

Wiki Changes

Chess Engine List
- Brama moved to the Retreated Engine List
- Dika moved to the Retreated Engine List
- Flux Chess homepage link removed, JA is only download location now
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_engine_list

Private Engine List
- Bobcat added
- Fantod added
- MemeChess renamed to Puca
- Vajolet removed: it is now public
- Wombat added
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:private_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

Free Audio Converter 2.0
converts from/to: mp3, wav, m4a, aac, wma, ogg, flac, ape, etc.
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/products/dvd/Free-Audio-Converter.htm
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/guides/dvd/convert-mp3-m4a-audio-files.htm (instructions)

Opera 10.60 beta 1
open source web browser- the most standards-compliant rendering
this is a *beta* release
http://www.opera.com/ (homepage)
http://www.opera.com/browser/download/ (download)

OS X 10.6.4
Apple's operating system for Mac has been updated; *not* free!
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048

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