Kasparov, Chess, Computers and Innovation!

Recently I watched a pretty investing video of Kasparov talking to authors@Googlers.
He talks at length about chess, computers and innovation.

At the start of the video, the host talks about Kasparov’s article in the NYTimes. In that long article, Kasparov gives a nice insight  into the world of chess and computers.

In particular, the following point struck me:
“Like so much else in our technology-rich and innovation-poor modern world, chess computing has fallen prey to incrementalism and the demands of the market. Brute-force programs play the best chess, so why bother with anything else? Why waste time and money experimenting with new and innovative ideas when we already know what works? Such thinking should horrify anyone worthy of the name of scientist, but it seems, tragically, to be the norm.”

Here is a link to that article. Worth reading!

This reminds me of Larry Page’s legendary 10x comment. 10% increment is not enough. Make it 10 times better!

Anand on Peter Nielsen switching to Magnus Carlsen

After his last round victory over Naiditsch, Anand was asked the most important question regarding his trusted second Peter Nielsen working with Magnus Carlsen.

Anand’s response:

“Peter and me spoke last year and he mentioned that he had an offer from Magnus. We discussed a little bit…came to a reasonable agreement.
I mean there is nothing complicated, he is working for Magnus. He has worked with Magnus in the past.
He was two timing (not exactly the expression I am looking for!) but he was working for both of us round about 2006-2007 and then ofcourse he has been a big part of my team.

No I am fine with it. We thought lets do Wijk Aan Zee for old time sake and he will switch to Magnus and thats what happened.

We agreed it and like I said and the very fact that he came to Wijk Aan Zee, I can say it was amicable and I will leave it at that.“

Update to “Magic of Tal” pgn puzzle set

I have updated the “Magic of Tal” pgn puzzle set with the following changes:

  • Removed some puzzles which did not make much sense
  • Added some puzzles
After the cleanup, the puzzle set now has 275 puzzles in all (down from 300).
If you have already purchased, you should see a “Download” button when you click “Get more puzzles”.
Categories
ichess

iChess v3 released!

iChess v3 has been released!
This is a major release with lots of new features and design.

☆ Buy new Puzzles from within the app. Currently KID Saemisch & Tactics from July 2012 are on offer. More coming soon.
☆ Good alternate moves are no longer marked as failure. Uses Analyze This app in the background.
☆ Redesigned UI plus fritz style board theme.
☆ 3 move limitation removed. Now make all moves OR only the first.
☆ Some existing puzzles did not make sense and have met their end. They have been replaced.
☆ Reset scorecard option added. Now nobody can see how much you suck in Tactics.
☆ Other bug fixes and enhancements.

Note: The new permission READ_PHONE_STATE is required to secure the In-App purchases using the unique device id. NO phone data is accessed!

Categories
android

How to use ‘Talk to Move’ feature in ‘Chess Book Study’ app

Why ‘make’ the move when you can speak the move!?

Chess Book Study is the ONLY Chess app for Android that has a ‘Talk to Move’ feature.
You simply hold the mic and speak out each move.

Steps:
1. Enable ‘Talk to Move’ setting from the app settings.
2. Hold the on-screen mic, speak one move and release the mic
Speak piece   square    OR     source square   destination square

Sample moves:
e4 = hold the mic, say e4 OR pawn e4 OR e2 e4, release the mic
Nf3 = hold the mic again, say knight f3 OR g1 f3, release the mic
0-0 = say king g1 OR e1 g1
0-0-0 = say king c1 OR e1 c1
Bxf6 = say bishop f6 OR g5 f6

Note:
* Only English algebraic notation supported. Let me know if you need more.
* No Internet connection required. All offline!
* This is an experimental feature and may occasionally cause the app to freeze/crash. Disable this feature if you face any issue.

Categories
analyzethis

AnalyzeThis just got Stronger, Better & Prettier

Today’s AnalyzeThis update brings the most powerful open source engines, Stockfish 2.2 and Critter 1.6, at your finger tips!

What’s new in v1.2
☆ Critter & Stockfish just became even more stronger! Critter upgraded to 1.6 and Stockfish upgraded to 2.2.


☆ Start/Stop engines. Now you have the power to simply turn off one engine, while the other engine is digging deeper into the position. Lesser battery, better results!


☆ Increase/Decrease engine primary variations/lines. Wish to try some more variations from the engines? Just press + and the engine will provide you with additional primary variations.


☆ Edit board added. Now you can set pieces manually

☆ Copy game as PGN. Future versions will have direct PGN Load/Save support. Till then, you can manually Copy the game as PGN using this feature and paste in your favorite program.


☆ Takeback and move Forward buttons! Yes, yes I know. The existing method was not always intuitive and would also cause false touches. Now, you have dedicated buttons that get out of your way (hide themselves), so that you can just focus on the position!


☆ Other enhancements and stability fixes. Show/Hide board coordinates. See App Settings.

Chess Book Study v1.5 released

Today was an exciting release. Chess Book Study v1.5 has an interesting ‘Talk to Move’ feature!
Yes, you just speak the move and it will be played on the board! 
If you wish to try, please enable it from the app settings.

What’s new in v1.5

☆ Talk to move! Careful in public, people may think you are crazy. Enable it from the app settings.
How to use


☆ Option to Hide board and read the book in full screen. Especially useful on small screen phones. Now you can read the book commentary without the board getting in the way

☆ Open any Web sites like chesscafe.com, chessbase.com etc and follow the moves on the board. Many of these sites publish games without a javascript board. This makes it difficult to follow, till now!

☆ Paste FEN. Especially useful to copy from websites like chesscafe (they always have a fen string underneath the diagram)

☆ Copy game as PGN. Future versions will have direct PGN Load/Save support. Till then, you can manually Copy the game as PGN using this feature and paste in your favorite program.

☆ Zoom out to upto 50%. User Carl mentioned that some of his PDFs are too big on a 7in screen. Well, Carl, you can now zoom out to 50%

☆ Option to show coordinates! With coordinates on, its easier to follow the moves, especially for newbies.

☆ Takeback/Forward buttons! Yes, yes I know. The existing method was not always intuitive and would also cause false touches. Now, you have dedicated buttons that get out of your way (hide themselves), so that you can just focus on the position!

☆ Minor enhancements and bug fixes – Resize board option has moved to the Settings. Clear Board option is now in the Edit Board popup. Also, “Black Move” option has been added to Edit Board popup which can be enabled if the position you are setting up is with Black to move.

PS. For the above features to work properly, you need to upgrade EBookDroid (customized for Chess Book Study) 
(Talk to Move is an experimental feature and may cause occasional freezes/crashes. If you face problems, please disable the option and report to me 🙂  )

Categories
Uncategorized

Email from Chess World Champion Vishy Anand.

He is going to try my chess apps on his Android phone!
#seventh #heaven

Categories
analyzethis android ichess

New ‘Analyze This’ app and updates to iChess & Chess Book Study

Today, I am happy to release my 3rd Chess app for Android devices, ‘Analyze This’.
Its a unique app which gives you the power of two Chess engines, simulataneously!

As soon as you fire the app, Stockfish and Critter, two well known strong open source engines, start chewing the position and provide instant analysis.
If you find an interesting position while reading a chess blog, just paste the FEN notation in ‘Analyze This’.

Note: It is NOT an app for playing against the mobile.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pereira.analysis

      ‘iChess for Android’ and ‘Chess Book Study’ apps have also been updated. These two apps now have engine support via Analyze This.

Just long press on the board and click Analyze This option. Stockfish and Critter will start providing you instant analysis.

iChess for Android finally has landscape mode support aaand a new app icon!

Categories
android

Free British “Chess” Magazine in pdf format

The British Magazine “Chess” is available as a free download with 29 pages and 13 annotated games in pdf format.
Ideal for use with Chess Book Study!
#android #chess

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6942