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MacChess 3.0.e PPC, 2.5.1 68K
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~History of MacChess
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1997-10-11
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History of MacChess - Wim van Beusekom
======================================================================
TOBBER Atari Rotterdam 1989
I entered my TOBBER (Atari) chess program in the Dutch Computer Chess
Championships in 1989 and 1990. These were organized by the CSVN
(Computer Chess Association Netherlands).
In 1989 there were 14 programs and I was 11th with 2.5 points out of 7.
in 1990 there were 16 programs and I was 10th with 3 points out of 7.
After this I stopped programming for a while.
======================================================================
MacChess 1.0 Rotterdam December 1994
In April 1993 I began converting TOBBER to an Apple Macintosh.
MacChess 1.0 is nearly identical to TOBBER (Atari). On a Classic II
MacChess 1.0 is comparable to the Kasparov TEAM-MATE chess computer
and on a Centris 610 to the Mephisto MMII.
MacChess 1.0 was developed in THINK C,
the interface has been written in C and
its search routines were written in assembler.
In October 1994 I visited the 14th Dutch Computer Chess Championship
and was inspired to play again at the 15th Championship in 1995.
======================================================================
MacChess 2.0 Rotterdam December 1995
In November 1995 I entered the 15th Open Dutch Computer Chess Championship.
There were 20 programs and I was 12th with 5.5 points out of 11 games.
MacChess ran on a Macintosh Centris 610 (20 MHz).
This was the best result to date.
MacChess 2.0 was tactically improved by using null-moves and better
move ordering techniques.
Positional play and end games are still weak.
======================================================================
MacChess 2.5 Rotterdam June 1996
I slightly improved the chess engine, and made many enhancements in the
user interface and import/export facilities. The only changes between
MacChess 2.5 and 2.5.1 were some minor bug fixes.
Major New features:
- Sliding pieces
- selectable board patterns & a new piece set
- PGN/EPD import/export
- separate mating module
- batch position analysis.
- greatly enhanced game review capabilities
======================================================================
MacChess 3.0 Rotterdam December 1996
I entered the 16th Open Dutch Computer Chess Championship this November.
MacChess placed 7th out of 20 programs with 6 points in 11 games.
MacChess ran on a 200 Mhz Power Macintosh with a 604e processor
supplied by Apple (Thanks!).
This was the best result to date. The games are in the folder DOCC 1996.
MacChess 3.0 is stronger than MacChess 2.X because it thinks much
faster - it is now PowerPC native. MacChess 3.0 runs 13 times faster
on "stock" Power Macintoshes than MacChess 2.X, which should make it a
full rating class stronger. (People who use Speed Doubler to speed up
MacChess 2.X on their Power Macintoshes will "only" double their speed
by switching to MacChess 3.0.) Though MacChess 3.0 is faster than
MacChess 2.X, it isn't much "smarter" - positional play and end games
are still weak. MacChess 3.0 REQUIRES a Power Macintosh - if you
don't own a Power Macintosh, MacChess 2.5.1 is the version for you.
======================================================================
MacChess 3.0.e Rotterdam October 1997
The primary addition in MacChess 3.0.e is ExaChess compatibility
(The "e" in 3.0.e" is for ExaChess). ExaChess lets you play MacChess
against other ExaChess compatible Macintosh chess programs automatically.
Currently available opponents are: Crafty, GNUChess and ZZZZZZ.
To download ExaChess Lite (which includes ZZZZZZ), access:
<ftp://ftp.pitt.edu//group/chess/UTIL/exachess.sit>
Be sure also to get Exner's AppleScripted versions of GnuChess:
<ftp://ftp.pitt.edu//group/chess/PROG/gnumac.sea>
...and Crafty:
<ftp://ftp.pitt.edu//group/chess/PROG/mcrafty.sit>
====================================================================
MacChess 4.0 Rotterdam December 1997
The plan is to release MacChess 4.0 for Christmas! The engine should
be stronger, and the following new features should be present:
(already checked out):
1. Analyze Game... [ Analyzes a game and suggests improvements]
2. Analyze Player vs Player [Continually analyzes the board for you]
3. Next Best Move: Option menu: [now does 3rd best, 4th best, etc.]
4. Player Name... : Option menu: Fill in a players name.
5. Add Save Game As ...
6. Easy Level settings are now:
- Saved with the game.
- Saved in the Preferences.
MacChess 4.0 will be distributed on AOL, Info-Mac, and Pitt.
If you haven't seen it by Christmas Eve, you should be able
to download it from Richard Fowell's MacChess Web page:
http://members.aol.com/Macchess/
====================================================================
Postal address: Wim van Beusekom
Hogenbanweg 72d
3028 GP Rotterdam.
The Netherlands
email address: beusekom@knoware.nl