Engine Updates

GullChess 1.1 (UCI)
C++ source; Win32/64
Features:
- "searchmoves" command support
- "Clear Hash" command support
- tunable version with some additional UCI parameters; it's slightly slower than the standard version, so the latter is better for engine vs engine matches
- "+-/=/-+ Evaluation" command: force evaluation of the current position (tunable version only)
Algorithms:
- improved mobility evaluation
- improved outpost evaluation
- improved pawn structure evaluation
- tuned prunings
- quiet moves in the quiescence search
- improved hashing & IID
Switches:
- TUNABLE - standard/tuneable compile
- KNS_TESTING - special testing mode with fixed number of nodes per move
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gullchess/

Plisk 0.2.7d (WB/UCI)
Win32/64, AMD64, Mac, & Linux32
- eval from engine's PoV (back as it always used to be)
- updated opening book
- king safety tweaking
- pawn evaluation tweaking
- don't miss PV output when kibitzing
- change mobility eval for Knights, Bishops and Rooks
- some general speed optimizations
- added support for hash size commands in the UCI protocol
http://sites.google.com/site/pliskchess/

Redqueen 0.7.5 (UCI)
3 commit(s) to the C++ source code (commits= 470), no new build
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redqueenchess

Chess News

WinBoard 4.5.0 beta (WB)
The grand-daddy of all the free chess GUIs
- this is an updated *beta* release, 4.20101112
http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51303 (announcement)
http://hgm.nubati.net/WinBoard-4.5.beta.zip (direct link)
http://hgm.nubati.net/news.4.5.0.html (info)
http://hgm.nubati.net/WinBoard-4.5.beta.zip

Down/Problem Chess Websites

Frenzee homepage down for 87 days (webpage taken down until new engine release)
Jin GUI homepage down today (no response in 60 seconds)
NSVChess homepage down for 41 days (403 error: forbidden)
Prophet site down for 11 days ("This domain name expired on 11/01/2010 and is pending renewal or deletion")
Holger Schluckebier Mac builds homepage down for 21 days (internal server error)

Wiki Changes
Nothing new today

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

Calibre 0.7.28
cross-platform open source ebook manager for all popular ebook readers with format conversion,
news feeds, and integrated e-book viewer
http://calibre-ebook.com/

FBackup 4.5.232
free, simple backup program
http://www.fbackup.com/

Game Booster 2.0
free; increases performance by temporarily shutting down background processes
and maximizing available RAM; Recommended!
http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html (homepage)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Game_Booster_d5952.html (mirror)

Groovy++ 0.2.27
this is an extension to the standard Groovy jvm language; it supports better runtime efficiency
http://code.google.com/p/groovypptest/downloads/list

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