Engine Updates

Firenzina 2.4.3 (UCI)
C source; mp; Win32/64, Android; supports Robbobase egtbs; engine is based on Fire, which is an IvanHoe derivative
- "my tests show between +3 and +6 Elo improvement"
- this release only supports Win64 with SSE4.2 and popcount instruction
http://github.com/Censor/Firenzina (code repository)
http://www.firenzina.org/ (homepage)
http://www.firenzina.org/Firenzina_2-4-3_xTreme_x64_popcnt_sse4-2_Intel_2014-01-27.zip (direct link)

Lozza 1.13 (UCI)
JavaScript source
- NOTE: engine requires using jsUCI program (by Edmund Moshammer), available separately
- added untuned mobility to eval
http://op12no2.me/toys/lozza/lozza.js (source code)
http://op12no2.me/posts/1818 (UCI stand-alone instructions)

Sjaak II, Beta 4 (WB/UCI)
C++ source; Win32/64, Linux32/64, Mac32/64; variants
- NOTE: there was a silent update to the download file, version number remained the same
- Windows builds require extra dlls (included in download)
- variants now always get assigned a "parent" variant (usually "fairy")
- better detection of mating pairs
- fix a potential crash for variants that start without a king on the board
- fix a bug that caused moves to be truncated to 3 characters on 32 bit systems
- better evaluation in variants with capture-the-flag victory conditions
- more selective/restricted search in variants dominated by forced captures
- fix an issue with parsing the UCI movelist
http://www.eglebbk.dds.nl/program/chess-download.html

Chess News

Arasan Testsuite v18
- contains a set of 250 chess problems
http://www.arasanchess.org/arasan18.epd (direct link)

Aquarium 2015 Chess GUI (UCI)
commercial chess GUI
- available as a pre-order only
- official release date: December 1, 2014
http://chessok.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_43&products_id=665

Chess Programming Blogs

Nothing new today

Wiki Page Changes

Private Engine List
- added Yaka
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

4MLinux 10.1
independent distro; JWM desktop; #41 in popularity
http://4mlinux.com/

ActivePerl Community Edition
free cross-platform Perl distribution including the most popular Perl libraries
- Perl 5.20.1.2000
- Perl 5.18.4.1803
http://www.activestate.com/activeperl/downloads

BitTorrent 7.9.2 (build 36618)
freeware; the original bit torrent program; for Windows only
http://www.bittorrent.com/

Calibre 2.12.0
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/

Comodo Dragon Internet Browser 36.1
Windows only; free; based on Google's Chrome browser, with improved security and privacy
stops cookies, no web spies, prevents browser download tracking, etc
- there is also an IceDragon version, which is a security-enhanced Firefox browser
http://www.comodo.com/home/browsers-toolbars/browser.php

Git 2.2.0
cross-platform, distributed version control system that is free and open source
http://git-scm.com/

Groovy 2.3.8
open source jvm dynamic scripting language; it is a superset of the Java language
http://groovy.codehaus.org/ (homepage)

Q4OS 0.5.21
Linux distro based on Debian Stable; Trinity desktop; #49 in popularity
http://q4os.org/

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