MyChessAppsiChess v3.6.1 was released today with the following changes:
* You can now reset the Bird view and start solving afresh! (See Bird View screen – Menu – Reset). This will not affect your score
* If your puzzles PGN has a comment, then iChess will show it underneath the board.
* Better Fritz color
* Better support for foreign language PGNs
* Fixed some puzzles
* Other enhancements under the hood!
v2.5 of Chess Book Study Android app was released today! [FREE / PRO]
Chess Book Study Store!
Chessdom Chess Insider PDFs/PGNs are now available for purchase from inside the App!
Read GM Analysis and reports of the historic Candidates 2014, European Individual Chp or the Gashimov Memorial. More coming soon…
You can even copy the PDF/PGN and view them on your Computer!*
(Please upgrade Ebookdroid (Chess) app to see the extra Menu option. Else use the Quick Action menu > Store)
Annotation Editor
You can effortlessly add annotations and comments to multiples moves from a single screen!
Settings
Promote Variation
In the Notation view, tap an already selected move or touch and hold to see more options, including the Promote Variation option.
Bug fixes and Misc changes
This release also includes some bug fixes and PGN library changes.
Play Store Links
[FREE / PRO]
* The files are stored on your sdcard. (/sdcard/Android/data/com.pereira.booknboard{.paid}/files/)
Review previous puzzle – Swipe left to right
Load next puzzle – Swipe right to left
Load Bird view and tap on any number to load that puzzle
No! Once Paid, your purchase remains with you forever, just like the Paid app! So even if you buy a new device or reset the existing device or uninstall-reinstall iChess Free again, you should no longer see Ads.
(IMPORTANT: You should be using the same primary email account on your device with which you made the purchase, else it wont work.)
As you know, iChess is great for solving the pre-shipped puzzles as well as any PGN-puzzle file that you may have.
One minor unplanned feature, which was released in v3.1.3 is the support for studying Chess openings.
You make moves for the winning side while iChess plays the other side.
Here is how you can do it:
1. Prepare a PGN file with your favorite opening lines. This will be your opening repertoire.
It is better to have each variation as a separate game in the PGN. For your preferred side, mark the game as won, in the PGN. Say you like to play the Kings Indian with Black. Then save the full or partial game and mark it as 0-1 (in the game header).
(This is the most important step for any serious Chess player and once you have your repertoire PGN ready, it can be used for many other functions within Chessbase PC software.)
2. Open the puzzle file in iChess.
3. Now just like regular puzzles, iChess will ask you to make the best move. One additional feature is that, if the game result it 0-1 (Black wins), then iChess will automatically make the first move for White. You make the best move for Black.
Ofcourse, you can use a Hint and all other iChess goodies!
This can be a good opening workout and imprint your favorite variations in memory. (Note: Even the top players need to “memorize” their opening lines”)
This nice little feature can also be used for Solitaire or Guess the Move kind of Chess. Load a PGN with master games and try to guess the moves for the winning side!
Note: Currently, iChess does not give points for every move you make, but only for the complete game.
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.
What’s new in v1.5
☆ 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 🙂 )
Whats new in this release?
☆ Open puzzles file in PGN format from SDcard! (thanks to user Brandon)
Note that your PGN file should have a move for every puzzle so that iChess can provide you hints or assess your move.
Bird view is also supported!
☆ Added nearly 150 positions from recent GM tournaments played in the last 2 months featuring top GMs like Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Polgar, Svidler, Nakamura etc
☆ Shows game information like White/Black/Event and Date.
☆ Corrected moves for some positions (thanks to user Ulrike)
☆ Added extra moves to positions which previously had only one move
Note: If you are upgrading from v1.6 to v1.7, your Master level (ONLY) Bird view will be reset. Sorry!
This is because of a bug in v1.6 which is now fixed.
Bird view from Normal and Advanced level will be maintained
Some users think “iChess” is too Appleish.
True it is, and for that matter any English word that starts with an ‘i’!
I chose this name for several reasons:
1. ‘i’ is the reverse of ‘!’ which as a chess player knows stands for a good move.
2. Many app publishing websites do not allow special characters like ‘!’.
3. ‘i’ also sounds similar to ‘eye’; and training your tactical eye is the main focus of this app!
