Engine Updates

EXchess 6.70 (WB)
C++ source; own GUI; FRC; limit strength; Win32/64, Linux32/64, Mac
- improvements over the previous version in king safety and a bit on the search
- some bug fixes, most significantly on time control management for games with increment
http://personal.denison.edu/%7Ehomand/EXchess.htm

GullChess II (UCI)
C++ source; mp; Win32/64; Ivanhoe derivative
source code for this version seems to be unavailable
- slightly modified eval & search
- significantly improved parallel search efficiency at long time controls
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gullchess/

Jim Ablett Win/Linux builds
Myrddin 0.86 JA (WB)
Win32/64
- "do not download this version until I [John Merlino] post here [at CCC] that it is safe!"
- finished conversion to bitboards from 0x88
- added support for winboard 'st' and 'sd' commands
- removed lazy eval
- lots of bug fixes either discovered by the bitboard conversion or removed by them (of course, new bugs added!)
http://jimablett.net63.net/ (Jim Ablett page)
http://www.computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:engines:myrddin:index (Myrddin homepage)

Chess(2) 4.1a (WB)
new engine by 'Zhang Dong' (Domenico Lattanzi, Andrea Manzo, & Roberto Munter)
Win32/64, Linux64
- engine renamed due to several previous engines already having that name
http://www.g-sei.org/chess-4-1/ (alt site)
http://chess41.jimdo.com/ (homepage)

Chess News

Nothing new today

Down/Problem Chess Websites

Akkad homepage down for 3 days (not found)
Bestia homepage down for 58 days (a 110mb.com site)
CCCP homepage down for 22 days (not found)
ChestUCI homepage down for 6 days (a 110mb.com site)
Deep Saros homepage down for 3 days (not found)
GreKo homepage down today (a 110mb.com site)
Igor Gorelikov Tools homepage down for 6 days (a 110mb.com site)
InmiChess homepage down for 17 days (no response in 60 seconds)
Lyapko Utilities homepage down for 58 days (a 110mb.com site)
Toledo Nanochess homepage down for 6 days (a 110mb.com site)
Vitruvius homepage down for 3 days (not found)

Wiki Changes

Myrddin
- John Merlino has updated his engine page
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:engines:myrddin:index

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

CrystalDiskInfo 5.2.0
open source hard drive monitoring/warning/alarm system for Windows using SMART technology
http://crystalmark.info/?lang=en

Gentoo Linux 20121221
independent distro; desktop: AfterStep, Blackbox, Fluxbox, GNOME, IceWM, KDE, LXDE, Openbox, WMaker, Xfce: #29 in popularity
http://www.gentoo.org/

MySQL Community Server 5.5.29
free (Community Server Edition only!), cross-platform, very popular open source SQL database
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/ (download)
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/news-5-5-29.html (changelog)

PHP 5.4.10 Stable
PHP 5.3.20 Stable
PHP is a very popular open source scripting language; it is used for web applications mostly
http://php.net/ (homepage)

ROSA 2012 "Desktop.Fresh"
Mandriva-based Linux distro: KDE desktop; #20 in popularity
http://www.rosalinux.com/

TortoiseSVN 1.7.11
Win32/64 Subversion (version control system) client
http://tortoisesvn.net/

Vuze 4.8.1.2
open source Java-based BitTorrent client formerly known as Azureus
- silent update, version number unchanged
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/index.php

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