I am not the owner of Houdini, nor do I have any commercial affiliation with it -- just putting that out there. I use Houdini 1.5a, which is free for use . . . Houdini 2 is already out, I think.

As for Houdini playing at a 3500 level, I think that if you give it enough time to think on each move, it already does play at that level of skill... if I give it a week of uninterrupted thinking on each move, who knows what it would come up with?? :)

Call me obsessive, but I've decided to post a sample game of Houdini playing White, in every King's Gambit mainline that I know of. Stay tuned. . . 

Houdini defied the stereotypes surrounding chess programs and unleashed a quick combination in this game:

This game differs from the previous games in that Dragon actually tries an attack of its own. Houdini survived a pawn down, but that suddenly didn't matter when Dragon pushed its luck too far, allowing its opponent to completely turn everything around.

I find it really funny that in almost every game so far, Houdini would have been quite happy with a draw once it got out of the opening . . .

Houdini plays the Muzio Gambit... an old favorite of mine! And I have no idea what is going on here. All I know is, Houdini turned this one into a miniature.

Last game - force bishop trade by 57. Be5!, resulting in K+P vs. K+Q+2P. Not much of an endgame.

Yeah, that one is hopeless..

I hope I'm not boring those still watching with multiple posts. Haha.

Ever had a game where you were doing well against someone 600 points higher than you, and then you blew it all? Watch this one, then.

you should try the cochrane gambit

Haven't heard of that one. Could you post the mainline please? I'll get to it as soon as I can :)

well it starts e4 e5 nf3 nf6 nxe5 d6 nxf7

Got it. It'll be on here within the next half hour, unless my mother realizes I'm not actually working on an essay!

So far, Dragon has yet to win or draw a single game. Perhaps I should switch to Anmon instead, to get better results... hahaha.

What strikes me most about Houdini's playing is that it always seems to build off the position already there--most chess programs do that at least some of the time, but Houdini does it every time it moves a piece. That is why it is so difficult to win: when you play against Houdini, you play against the position itself.

Okay, I'm done spouting philosophical nonsense. Houdini just made a resounding win with the Cochrane gambit, mostly due to Dragon's positional incompetence. Should I try the Halloween Gambit next? XD

you are using a less than top level engine against Houdini. WHen I sort out my engines, I sort them into A Class and B Class - B Class meaning engines that rarely do well against A Class. stockfish and Critter are a couple free A Class engines I recommend for better results

Trust me. I know chess engine ratings quite well. I'm a fanatic of chess engines...

I'd also add Komodo 3 to your list.

But I am pitting Houdini against Dragon because A) I would like to see if there is any opening that would give Dragon a chance to defeat Houdini, and B) because Dragon's inferiority often creates some really interesting tactics :)

Dragon will never win against Houdini, AnMon stands 1/400 chance of winning too, you should use Critter 1.4, it'll get great results against Houdini. On my laptop Critter is actually better (something to do with the processing output). I'm just saying, no matter what opening you give Houdini it'll win, coincidentally you should give it the Halloween gambit. ;)

Good engines to compete with Houdini are: Critter 1.4, Stockfish 2.2.2, Rybka 4.1, Igorrit 0.86, Strelka 5.5, Fire 2.2, Saros 3, Vitruvius, Robbolito/IvanHoe, Komodo 3 or 4, maybe Hannibal or Naum 4 at a push. (I'm an engine freak ;) ) Good luck and nice games :D

As I said, I'm an engine freak too. :D

yes i just gave two basic examples there are many more

try dragon against Houdini with a bad opening like the parham or something. that would show if dragon is so far down that he cant even win against a bad opening, because he is facing houdini after all