Shredder Chess iPhone App

Have you tried it? If so, what do you think of it? If not, why?

P.S. $9.99 for an iPhone app is like $99.99 for a boxed app. iTunes has me preconditioned to not want to pay more than a few dollars for anything. 

•  I like to test all programs, that´s why i spend the money. I think the only new on shredder is the GUI (nice one) and the adaptative streng (good one). I agree this are not enought to make sense for many people to buy it. :) Byeby Ousland 7 minutes agoDelete
•  Thanks, Ousland. :) Adaptive strength is not that important to me (I prefer to measure my improvement against a non-moving target), so I'll pass for now.by DeepGreene 10 minutes ago
•  @DeepGreen: In your case the only thing shredder will add you (with your programs) can be the elo calculation and the adaptative level. Glaurung I´m sure I strong enough for 99% players. PD: I have not seen clocks on shredder, there is no timeby Ousland 37 minutes agoDelete
•  Shredder has a huge lack: no pgn save on the phone, only email option. After that is fantastic. Strong engine (no need to talk about), Fantastic GUI, ELO adaptative level and calculates your elo. Fantastic for a version 1.0. I will anwer any questions you have. Byeby Ousland 39 minutes agoDelete

Well, I must admit - I finally broke down and bought the darn thing (so now I have ChessGenius, Glaurung, Deep Green & Shredder. 

I *love* the Shredder app.  If there were a royal decree that I could only have one chess app installed, Shredder would be it.  You not only get what is likely the toughest engine on the platform, but you get a puzzle regimen as well (for me, that's been two separate apps till now).

Shredder makes a couple of assumptions about the 'serious' user - mainly, that they'll be using their computer to manage and review their chess games.  As Ousland says, there's no significant ability to have a database of saved games on the device itself, so you have to rely on the 'email PGN' capability.  Fortunately, in my case, their assumption is mostly correct.

I'm enjoying the adaptive engine strength far more than I thought I would. 

The UI is interesting.  It's not as slick as some of the others, but it's got some unique touches I like a lot.  The little gauge that shows whether the advantage is leaning toward white or black is fun to watch - although strictly speaking, it's a bit of a 'cheat' if you want to be a purist.

The thing I miss most is that that app doesn't relay any information about openings.  It doesn't announce them (like, say, ChessGenius) or show its own book preferences as percentages (like Glaurung).  That's not a huge deal, however.

Overall, I think it's a great app - which is good, considering it's at the high-water mark as far as pricing goes.

the key is the adaptative engine for me the best adaptative engine.

Puzzles are no as good as chess quest, but are very good. I love the posibility to use the engine to analyce the puzzle and to play agaisnt the engine in puzzle position

For me Glaurung for ever!!! :) but for fun i use adaptative AI Shredder 

:)

i like the shredder app. its auto level adjuster and ELO estimater are really cool. plus it is without a doubt the strongest engine on the iphone in my humble opinion.

I had tried to pit it against Glaurung yesterday and Glaurung crashed on me. but I did it again today and Shredder won.

Glaurung was set at its 100th level and thirty seconds per move, and Shredder at its 2400 ELO setting, thinking 5-30 seconds per move, usually about 15.

[White "Glaurung"]
[Black "Shredder"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 b6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Qe2 c5 6. c3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. a3
Be7 9. O-O Rc8 10. Nc3 Na5 11. Nb5 Nb3 12. Rb1 a6 13. Nc3 b5 14. Be3 Qc7 15.
Qd1 Na5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 Nc4 18. Bxc4 Qxc4 19. Ne5 Qc7 20. Rc1 g5 21. Bg3 d6
22. Nd3 Qd7 23. f3 O-O 24. Qd2 Nh5 25. Bf2 Bf6 26. b3 Bg7 27. Be3 f5 28. exf5
exf5 29. a4 f4 30. Bf2 g4 31. Ne1 g3 32. hxg3 fxg3 33. Be3 Qe7 34. f4 Rce8 35.
Nd1 Nxf4 36. Bxf4 Bxd4+ 37. Be3 Bxe3+ 38. Nxe3 Qxe3+ 39. Qxe3 Rxe3 40. axb5
axb5 41. Rd1 Rd8 42. b4 Be4 43. Rf4 Rf8 44. Rg4+ Kh7 45. Nf3 Bxf3 46. gxf3
Rexf3 47. Rxd6 R8f4 48. Rd7+ Rf7 49. Rd5 R3f5 50. Rd3 Rf4 51. Rdxg3 Rxg4 52.
Rxg4 Rg7 53. Rg2 Rxg2+ 54. Kxg2 Kg6 55. Kg3 Kf5 56. Kf3 Ke5 57. Ke3 Kd5 58. Kd3
h5 59. Ke3 Kc4 60. Kf2 Kxb4 61. Kg3 Ka3 62. Kf4 b4 63. Kg3 b3 64. Kh4 Kb4 65.
Kxh5 b2 66. Kg6 Kc3 67. Kf5 Kd2 68. Ke6 Kd3 69. Kd5 Ke3 70. Ke5 b1=Q 71. Kd6
Qb7 72. Ke6 Ke4 73. Kd6 Qb8+ 74. Kc5 Qc7+ 75. Kb4 Kd4 76. Kb3 Qc3+ 77. Ka4 Qb2
78. Ka5 Kc5 79. Ka4 Qa2#
0-1

now I posted this next game in another thread pertaining to chess apps on the iphone but I think its relevant here also. its a game of Shredder vs. tChess.

Shredder won this one also. tChess was set at 30 seconds per move, Shredder at its 2400 ELO setting, thinking 5-30 seconds per move, usually about 15.

[Site "iPhone 3G"]
[White "tChess"]
[Black "Shredder"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7 8. d4 d6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Qxd8 Rfxd8 12. Nd5 Rd7 13. Nxe7+ Rxe7 14. c3 h6 15. Bc2 Rd8 16. Be3 Red7 17. Bc5 Nh5 18. Red1 Nf6 19. Rxd7 Nxd7 20. Be3 Nf6 21. Re1 a5 22. Re2 Kh7 23. Rd2 Rxd2 24. Bxd2 g5 25. Be3 b4 26. Bd2 Kg7 27. h3 Nd7 28. Ba4 f6 29. cxb4 axb4 30. Be3 Nf8 31. Bb3 Na5 32. Bc2 Ne6 33. Nd2 Ba6 34. Ba4 Nd4 35. Bd7 Kf8 36. h4 Ke7 37. Bg4 Kd6 38. f3 Bc4 39. b3 Bd3 40. Kh2 Nb5 41. Bf5 Nc3 42. Bg6 Nxa2 43. Bf7 Nc1 44. Nc4+ Bxc4 45. bxc4 Nd3 46. hxg5 hxg5 47. c5+ Nxc5 48. Bd2 Nd3 49. Ba2 c5 50. Bb1 Nb2 51. Be1 Nac4 52. Ba2 Na3 53. Bd5 Nd3 54. Bd2 c4 55. Kg1 b3 56. Bc3 b2 57. Bxb2 Nxb2 58. Kf2 c3 59. Bb3 Kc5 60. Ke2 Nb5 61. Ke1 Nd4 62. Bd1 Nxd1 63. Kxd1 Kc4 64. Ke1 Kd3 65. Kf1 c2 66. g3 c1=Q+ 67. Kg2 Ne2 68. Kh3 g4+ 69. Kxg4 Qg5+ 70. Kh3 Qxg3# 0-1

I did a game against chess genious as well.

I had it thinking 30 seconds per move, and Shredder at its 2400 ELO setting, thinking 5-30 seconds per move, usually about 15.

[White "Genius"]

[Black "Shredder"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3 e5 8. Be4 exd4 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. cxd4 Rg8 11. g3 Qd5 12. f3 Ba6 13. Be3 Qb5 14. Qe2 Qa4 15. Qd1 Qb5 16. Qe2 Qa4 17. Qd1 Qb4+ 18. Qd2 Qxd2+ 19. Kxd2 Bb4+ 20. Kc2 O-O-O 21. Rc1 Rge8 22. Bf2 Kb7 23. h4 Rd5 24. h5 Bd6 25. Rh4 Rg8 26. g4 f5 27. Re1 fxg4 28. Rxg4 Rxg4 29. fxg4 Rg5 30. Re4 f5 31. Nf3 Rg8 32. Re3 Rxg4 33. Nh4 Rg5 34. Rb3+ Kc8 35. Rc3 Rxh5 36. Rxc6 Bb7 37. Rc3 f4 38. a3 Be7 39. Nf3 Rh3 40. Nd2 Rh2 41. Be1 Bf6 42. b4 Bxd4 43. Rc4 Be3 44. a4 Rh1 45. Bf2 Bxf2 46. Rxf4 Rh2 47. Kd1 Be3 48. Rf8+ Kd7 49. Nf1 Rf2 50. Rxf2 Bxf2 51. Ke2 Bd4 52. Kd3 Be5 53. Ne3 h5 54. b5 h4 55. Ng4 Kd6 56. Nf2 Bg2 57. Ke2 h3 58. Ng4 Bg3 59. Ne3 Kc5 60. Nf1 Bf4 61. Kf2 Kb4 62. Kg1 Kxa4 63. b6 cxb6 64. Ng3 Bc6 65. Nf1 Bb5 66. Kf2 Bxf1 67. Kf3 Bd6 68. Kf2 Bc4 69. Kf3 h2 70. Kg4 a5 71. Kg5 h1=Q 72. Kg6 Bd3+ 73. Kf7 Qd5+ 74. Kf6 Qf5+ 75. Kg7 Qf8# 0-1

so based on this I say shredder has the best engine of them all. it took less time to think than the others and still won. even if you perfer one of the others you'd have to at least say shredder holds its own quite well.

combine this with its ability to estimate your ability and automatically adjust itself to be hard enough to challenge you without smoking you, and I say its well worth the money and I highly recommend it. 

I'd be interested to see the results of a Shredder vs Fritz bout.  I wouldn't be surprised if the best thing about the current Fritz app is the engine itself.  Maybe we can arrange an unrated game or two to let them have it out sometime.

if you're talking about the iphone version of fritz, I hated it so much I deleted it.

I wish I could get my money back and I wouldn't buy it again, if it could beat kasparav with 1 second thinking time on a 1970's calculator.

it has literally no features other than maybe its music playing but I can play music on the iphone with the ipod function while playing shredder.

it also seemed slow and clunky and I didn't like the way it looked or anything. I just flat hate it.

but yeah if a person here wants to pit them against each other and post it, I'd be curious to see the results.

you only need one iphone. just open one app, make a move and when it moves open the other app, make the move, see what it does and then go back to the first app. be prepared for frustration though. fritz does not start up very quickly.

I'm not sure I have your patience, but I might give it a try.  :-) 

Also, call me an optimist, but I never delete a version 1.0 when the updates are free. 

... Speaking of updates, I just got the 1.1 update for Shredder:  improved move entry, some new configuration options (optionally getting rid of the evaluation gauge, for one), and game load/save.  This is good stuff.  I love this app. 

Liking Shredder 1.1 for iPhone as well.  One small annoyance is that the in-game listing of moves is done in long algebra.  I also like the fact that you can turn off the position gauge. 

Nice feature on the puzzles: after you've foudn the solution you have the option to play the position as either color.

If anyone does an unrated match with one iPhone app against another, let me know and I'll post a news item about it.

Here are two games Shredder vs Glaurung.  Glaurung won both.  First was on 30 sec per move for Glaurung, second on game in 30 min + 5 sec per move.  Glaurung's book variety was set to high, play style at default for both.

Site "Shredder for iPhone / iPod touch"]
[Date "2009.05.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Glaurung. 30 sec @ 100"]
[Black "Shredder"]
[WhiteElo "-"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4
Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bd2 a5 11. Bd3 Qe7 12. Rfd1 Rd8 13. Rac1 e5 14. a3 Re8 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 exd4 17. Bh7 Kh8 18. exd4 g6 19. Re1 Qf8 20. Rxe8 Qxe8 21. Re1 Qd8 22. Bxg6 fxg6 23. Qxg6 Qf6 24. Re8 Bf8 25. Rxf8 Qxf8 26. d5 Qg7 27. Bc3 Qxc3 28. Qxh6 Kg8 29. bxc3 cxd5 30. Qg6 Kf8 31. Ng5 Ne5 1-0

[Site "Shredder for iPhone / iPod touch"]
[Date "2009.05.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Shredder"]
[Black "Glaurung - Game in 30+5 @100"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "-"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be3 Bb4 7. Nxc6 bxc6
8. e5 Nd5 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Nxd5 Bxd2 11. Qxd2 cxd5 12. f4 O-O 13. c4 Bb7 14. Rc1
Rac8 15. Rc3 Qb6 16. Rb3 Qc6 17. cxd5 Qxd5 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Ra3 f6 20. exf6
Rxf6 21. Rxa7 Rc2 22. Rxd7 Rxf4 23. Be2 Rxb2 24. a4 g6 25. Rd8 Kg7 26. Rd7 Kh6
27. Bf3 Rxf3 28. gxf3 Rb1 29. Kf2 Rxh1 30. Kg3 Ra1 31. Ra7 Ra3 32. Rf7 e5 33. Re7 e4 34. Re5 Rxf3 35. Kg2 Rf5 36. Re7 Kg5 37. Kg1 Kf6 38. Rxh7 e3 39. Rc7 e2 40. Rc1 Bc4 41. Kg2 Rf1 42. Rxc4 0-1

More over who win I love glaurung´s style

I haven't got Shredder, but having looked at both sides of the argument here, I think I'm going to get it.

OG

I don't think you'll have any regrets. :)

Good!

OG

I used Shredder Lite on the iPhone and really liked the UI layout.  I bought Shredder HD for the iPad and was disappointed with the UI.  There are two tool bars.  One at the top and one at the bottom.  Unfortunately, I need something from each of them and I find myself hunting for the right icon.  If the layout was like the iPhone app, they would always be at the bottom. Maybe I'm being picky.  Perhaps I should have purchased the iPhone app and used 2X to play on the iPad.

I also have HIARCS for the iPad and like its layout.  However, I enjoy the way Shredder incorporates puzzles and allows easy play from the position after solving the puzzle.