Yet another on line chess program

Are there different levels on blitz? I'm not sure since I put level 10 on unlimited, then change to blitz and there is no longer a number on the brain.

Well I played it a bunch of times on level 6 using Shredder for the iPhone.  Finally I narrowed it down to where it beats Shredder at a level of 1564 but loses to Shredder on a level of 1602.  Then I realized that it can go to level 10.  So I don't have the energy to test that.  But if you wanted to see what its ELO might be, then you can do what I did.  Get the program and as you play vs Shredder, Shredder will keep increasing your rating and changing its own.  Eventually it will come to a point where you will know about what the rating would be (according to Shredder).  

I am very impressed.  I wonder how you programmed the logic in there. I have done a little programming, but am baffled with how you would do this.  I think the other chess programs out there have consultant grandmasters to help program the 'chess logic' in there.

One thing I noticed (and this is no big deal at all) but Fun Chess automatically gives you a Queen when you move a pawn to the 8th rank. It doesn't allow you to choose.  This might have been mentioned before and perhaps you have a setting in the interface to allow us to pick that.  So if that has been covered, pardon me.  

Are there different levels on blitz? : Not really. I couldn't work out a user interface that was simple enough to use. I figured users could either change the level or play it in tournament conditions.  I even removed the undo move button at one point but, after a few games against it, realised I make to many mistakes when entering moves.

Finally I narrowed it down to where it beats Shredder at a level of 1564 : Thank you for your hard efforts and the result is much appreciated. I think that's about the correct level for the default level. Some players will be stronger and others weaker but the majority of players will be in that ball park. One of my efforts is to add an interface to the chess servers so it can play by itself and get graded that way but unfortunately it's just one of many directions I'm going in at the moment.

I think the other chess programs out there have consultant grandmasters to help program the 'chess logic' in there : That's probably where I'm going wrong, mine just has me any any feedback you guys give. If anyone knows a grandmaster who's sitting around bored in Streatham London then please give them a prod :)

automatically gives you a Queen : it's on my list but I'm wary of making the interface more complicated. I personally can't think of a time when I queened a pawn to anything other than a queen but obviously it should be possible.

Sorry about continually asking about the strength but it's really my only way of judging progress. Perhaps I should get a fancy new phone with shredder on it.

I'm put the latest version of Fun chess 14.1 out there for you guys to try. It features the following:

• You can now queen pawns to knights etc
• You can set the level while playing on the clock
• The appearance has been improved
• It plays stronger now (gut feeling is 50-100 ELO stronger but I haven't have time to verify)

I still have a number of things to do to make it play stronger still but I have to work out how to code them. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome as always.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Just played against level 6 at bullet speed. It managed to survive to an ending only one pawn down. I can also confirm that I was given the opportunity to underpromote.

I particularly like the Darth Vader "Impressive!", gets me every time.

That's not too bad against your ranking. I assume you're just clicking the clock and playing a timed game. If you change the level to something higher and then start the clock then it will still play withing the time limit (say 5 minutes) but it will use it's time much better. I've noticed it's not too strong in pawn endgames so I'm working on that at the moment - have you noticed any particular areas where it needs to improve? How do you find the interface on the timed games? is it what you'd expect?

If anyone knows a fitting audio clip for when it beats you then PM me and I'll put it in.

Just released Fun chess 14.2.

It's playing a lot stronger now and it's understanding of endgames has also improved. I've also added a fun audio clip for when the program hopefully wins. Everything apart from the abilty to copy the game notation has now been included.

As always, feedback (+ve or -ve) is always welcome.

Mike

I just played the new 14.2 on level 7 and it seems weaker than the original version on level 6 !

I just played the new 14.2 on level 7 and it seems weaker than the original version on level 6 ! There are different levels to suit different skills and normally a 1500 player would be about right for the initial level 6 but obviously you're stronger than your rating implies (or my program was having a bad day). I'm in the middle of getting the program to play on the chess servers etc which means I'll be able to get a solid idea of progress (or lack of) without asking for your feedback. It is very helpful to see the moves though as this allows me to see where it's making mistakes.

level 9 plays much better now : that's good news. Thanks for taking the time out to play it.

From your combined feedback I can assume the program is playing anywhere between 1400 & 1950

  I played level 6 twice and I'd guess 1400 at the most. It's an amazing accomplishment, though, well done! It hung some pieces and in the second game it gave me a pawn in the first couple moves. It's fun and that's the important thing, as Darth says "Impressive".

I really appereciate what your doing cause dispite the problems I find I still say to myself (this guy created a new original engine on this day and age) and thats very cool

I went back to the drawing board and tried to improve the strength all round. This took a fair bit of effort so I'm hoping it's going to do better against you guys. It certainly beats the old version quite solidly. The front end has also been improved a little.

The new version is Fun Chess 15.1

All feedback is welcome.

Just beat it on the white side of a Caro Kann, the computer sure loves to grab material.  I sacked a pawn an than a piece for a huge lead in development.  Managed to mate with its king on g8 and  rook on h8 lol.

looks great!

I posted a game but I see it didnt show wish chess.com would hurry up and become compatible with explorer 9 but anyway it lasted long but I had a pretty easy game even thought it was the grunfeld (defense I have difficulties with) might want to up it's book. just typed out the game.

                                               Me vs. Fun chess 15.1 Lv.6

 1.d4/Nf6 2.c4/g6 3.Nc3/d5 4.cxd5/Nxd5 5.e4/Nxc3 6.bxc3/c5 7.Rb1/Nd7 8.Bd3/cxd4 9.cxd4/Bg7 10.Ne2/0-0 11.0-0/Nf6 12.f3/Qa5 13.Bc4/Rd8 14.Qb3/e6 15.Rd1/Qb6? 16.Qxb6/axb6 17.Rxb6/Ra4 18.Bb3/Ra6 19.Rxa6/bxa6 20.Bc4/Bb7 21.Be3/Rc8 22.Bd3/e5 23.Rb1/Ba8 24.Bxa6/Rc2 ?? 25.Rb8+/Bf8 26.Rxa8/Rxa2 27.Bh6!/Nd7 28.dxe5/Ra3?! 29.Bxf8/Ra1+ 30.Kf2/Nxf8 31.Bb7/Rb1 32.Bd5/Rb2 33.e6/fxe6 34.Bxe6+/Kg7 35.Ra7+/Kh6 36.Bg8/Rb6? (36...Rb8) 37.Nf4/Rb2+ 38.Kg3/g5 39.Nd5/Kg6 40.Bf7+/Kg7 41.Bh5+/Kg8 42.Nf6+/Kh8 43.Ra8/g4 44.Rxf8+/Kg7 45.Rf7+/Kh6 46.Rxh7+/Kg5 47.Nd5/gxf3 48.h4#

as you can see all the big mistakes were caused by the computer thought needs more tunin.

Thanks for trying it out folks. It's obviously a bit dissappointing from my side but such is life. Thanks to those who posted their games as that helps me work out where it needs to improve but I get a feeling I ought to stick this project on a back burner now.

Mike

PS : You can easily underpromote pieces - the piece will flash when it promotes, if you click the piece it will cycle through the various options (knight, rook etc).

The new version 16.1 is a little stronger now. If you have a few minutes then please give it a game. This program is a personal project so please don't expect it to play like Kasparov. My goal is to make it easy to use, fun to play and hopefully get the strength to around 1850-2000.