Chess computer

I am a beginner player and have been playing the chess computer here on Chess.com.  I have been playing it on medium level and at times it plays better than me and we have a good game but most of the time it will suddenly give away a queen (and sometimes other pieces as well) for no reason at all and then let me win easily.  This is so annoying.  What I would like to find is a computer that plays more realistically at a beginner level.  Is there a good computer aimed at beginners?  I would like to learn quickly.

Personally I dislike playing computers. Beginner and advanced computers both just play so different from people. I think you'll improve better by playing other people, or even playing advanced computers from a winning position.

Thanks AnarchyBrian - I think you are right, but the problem is finding people to play with.  I can't play fast at all so feel unsure about playing blitz chess on here.  Maybe I should just take the plunge.  How many games do you reckon I need to play before I move out of this beginner stage?  I can't seem to get past the opening yet without being a piece down or in a weaker position than my opponent.  I'm better once there are less pieces on the board but by then it's too late!

I'll agree with AnarchyBrian; You'll learn faster if you play people slightly stronger than you and get them to do a post-mortem analysis with you after the game.

It's really tough to find an engine in the 800 to 1200 range that plays like a real person; A few engines come close. The problem is, these engines can't tell you what you did wrong - You have to sleuth out this information on your own. If you're interested in having an engine that you can play against occasionally, I can suggest a few, but it helps if you're somewhat computer literate.

The best advice I can give you if you want to learn quickly (and play slower games) is to join the Chess.com group titled "Dan Heisman Learning Center".

I think in the opposite way than everybody here, but after all it's good to have some variety of opinions, right?

Firstly, you could search for softwares that allow you to play against engines of various strenghts. I'm using Lucas Chess (free), which has a rated mode with opponents from 800 up to 3300 Elo.

Also, the engines here (at least up to Computer-Hard) drop a piece for no reason, as you said. That also happen in Lucas Chess (if you're playing against an engine rated under 1400), but the point is: if you are able to win against those weak engines, then your rating will rise and you'll face more complicated tactics on your games (From 1400 to 1900~2000, I guess). After you break the 2000 mark, The (similarly rated) engines will almost stop to make tactical blunders and you'll be expected to rely on positional knowledge to win and improve.

And...that's my unpopular opinion. I'm making the experiment during this year and I'll make a "report" after that. Well, after 3 months and 50 slow games played I'm preferring the engines, hehe.

Yeah, if you still wanted to go the engine route, one of my suggestions would be Lucas Chess. ( http://www-lucaschess.rhcloud.com/index.html ), although I don't care for some of the "features" like limited hints, and making you work up to stronger engines.

Another option would be to download a GUI of your choice and install specific engines of your choosing.

A decent GUI is Arena ( http://www.playwitharena.com/ ). There are other GUI choices, though.

A couple of engine choices:

1) Ufim 8.02 - ( http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/details1/Ufim.html ). Install into your GUI as a UCI engine. You can then configure the engine's rating from 800 elo to much higher. (Don't expect these ratings to be very accurate.)

2) Delfi is a commercial engine, but the free download can be set to 1000 elo. ( http://www.msbsoftware.it/delfi/ ). In the "Free Delfi" section, look for the delfi.zip download link.

A couple of commercial choices might be Shredder or HIARCS. (Even the lowest HIARCS setting might be a bit strong for you, idk.)

hey guys thanks so much for all the helpful advice.  I think what I want is something that plays average/weak moves consistently rather than strong moves followed by blunders which is unrealistic.  Escher I agree about needing the post mortem which in an ideal situation is with a real person over a real board.  But the computer is much more relaxing than playing a real opponent!  So maybe a mixture of everything is a good way forward.  I will check out your recommendations and see where I get to.  I have taken the plunge and started some correspondence games on here so that i can play real people but at least have time to think!

thanks long_quach - I don't think DOS is compatible with my computer, although it sounds good.  I have started on Lucas chess and will see how it goes.

Yeah, I wouldn't try too many software packages at first; It can be too overwhelming. Get familiar with Lucas Chess first. Later you might want to try other stuff.

But just remember that a lot of the old DOS software is still usable, even if the GUIs tend to be a little primitive. (There's Chessmaster 2100 & 3000, Rexchess, Fritz 1, Fritz 2, Fritz 2.5, old Rebel programs from Ed Schroeder, and I uploaded a copy of WChess 1.05 in the Chess.com Downloads area.) If you use the D-Fend Reloaded front end for DosBox, DosBox will be MUCH easier to use. The D-Fend Reloaded/DosBox combo should work on any Windows PC from XP to present.

if you don't like short games, but don't like the way correspondence takes weeks or even months for one game, go to live and start playing 15|10's, or 30 min. or even 45|45. these games are not rushed like the bitz games are.

yeah G-man I think that is the answer.  The correspondence games are too slow - they will be good once I have reached a basic level, but for now I need to play a lot of games to learn and improve.  I will try the live games.  What does 15|10 and the other time options you mention mean?  I think I probably need 20-30 minutes to play. (that is 40-60 minutes in total for a game)  Escher - the DOS won't load with WIndows 7 64 bit.  I'm not sure what the D-Fend Reloaded is but I will have a look at the weekend when I have a bit more time.

Be careful people your gonna create cheaters with this info.

"gonna create"? That ship has already sailed.

Yeah, give D-Fend Reloaded a try when you get some time. It pretty much eliminates the need to mess directly with DOS.

P.S. 15|10 means game in 15 minutes (per side) with a 10 second per move increment.