Engine Updates

Chronos 1.9.8 beta (WB)
Win32/64
- new Win64 build
- restructuring of the version "1.9.7 Optimized"
- minor changes in futility pruning
- minor changes in lazy evaluation
http://sites.google.com/site/chronosce/Home (homepage)
http://sites.google.com/site/chronosce/news/chronos198beta (annoucement & link)

Houdini x64 8 CPU development version (UCI)
Win32/64, mp; Ippolit derivative
- fix a SMP bug (more prominent with more threads)
- fix a hash collision bug (more prominent with smaller hash tables)
http://www.cruxis.com/chess/download/Houdini_DEVEL_x64_8_CPU.zip (direct link)

Protector 1.3.5 (UCI)
2 revision(s) to the C++ source code today (current = rev. 299), no new build
- eval & search change(s)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/protector/ (project site)

Redqueen 0.4 (UCI)
2 commit(s) to the C++ source code (commits= 238), no new build
- 237: search functions improvement
- 238: search functions improvement
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redqueenchess

NOTE: New Cluster Toga source code released. It is a PhD project of Kai Himstedt
- this is only useful if you have a cluster of computers
- your real name and email address are required in order to download the source
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/TIS/index.php/phd-projects/79
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/TIS/file-download/email-file.php (direct link)

Chess News

Harry Schnapp books
- the Harry Schnapp opening books have re-appeared at Le Fou numérique
- the small HS books have re-appeared at Arena site, too
http://americanfoot.free.fr/echecs/hsbook.htm

Down/Problem Chess Websites
Alex homepage down for 45 days ("Temporarily Unavailable")
Amundsen homepage down for 50 days
Brama homepage down for 79 days
Cylone homepage down for 6 days
Demon homepage down for 6 days
Dika homepage down for 80 days
Feuerstein homepage down for 2 days
Fire homepage down for 6 days
Flux homepage down for 18 days
InmiChess homepage down for 7 days
Mizar homepage down for 12 days (no download page)
Mscp homepage down for 9 days
Nesik homepage down for 54 days
Numpty homepage closed until further notice (41 days)
RobboLito homepage down for 6 days
Sissa homepage down for 46 days
Toga II 2.0SE homepage down for 6 days
Wilhelm homepage down for 29 days
BBChess homepage back up

Wiki Changes

Chess Engine List
- added Cluster Toga as a Source-Code-Only engine
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_engine_list

Chess News List
- added Harry Schnapp books
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_news_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

Vala/Genie 0.9.1
the Vala language resembles C# and the Genie language resembles Python
the common language compiler outputs OO C code using the GObject library
not yet at version 1.0, but some large apps are written in Vala/Genie
http://live.gnome.org/Vala (Vala + download)
http://live.gnome.org/Genie (Genie)

VirtualBox 3.2.4
open source general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware
runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris as host
install several guest operating systems onto the same computer
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Guest_OSes (list of guest operating systems)
http://www.virtualbox.org/ (homepage)
You can be the guy with all the operating systems! (screenshot)
http://www.virtualbox.org/attachment/wiki/Screenshots/snapshot-details.png

NOTE: Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will arrive in July

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