Category: Software Releases

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MadChess 3.2 Released

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I have released version 3.2 of my chess engine. The main feature in this release is a sophisticated limit-strength mode, including adjustments to chess knowledge, search speed, chance of erring or blundering, and severity of blunders. MadChess, in limit-strength mode, excludes moves it considers unreasonable (dumb moves even a chess novice wouldn’t play). I have extensively documented the settings and technical implementation of MadChess’ limit-strength mode in The MadChess UCI_LimitStrength Algorithm. I also provide a Limit-Strength FAQ. MadChess 3.2 is slightly stronger than the prior release. I estimate it has gained 60 rating points, climbing to roughly 2770 Elo at… Continue Reading

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MadChess 3.1 Released

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I have released version 3.1 of my chess engine. I worked on the engine over the last year occasionally, when I had time in the evenings. Slowly, I’ve added about 100 Elo points of playing strength compared to the prior release. This release includes strength improvements achieved by Singular Move, Threat Evaluation, Pawn Structure Evaluation, Move Legality Performance Improvement, Logarithmic LMR Based on QuietMoveNumber and ToHorizon, and evaluation of piece mobility, king safety (including x-ray moves), and threats using Safe Squares. It also includes code quality improvements such as Color Agnostic Code, Removed Endgame King Safety Evaluation, Code Style Refactor… Continue Reading

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MadChess 3.0 Released

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I have released version 3.0 of my chess engine. This is a complete rewrite of the engine using bitboards. I began the project two and a half years ago and worked on it sporadically, with long stretches of inactivity. I didn’t work on MadChess at all in 2019. Life got too busy, personally and professionally. Gradually, I improved MadChess’ playing strength, surpassing the previous version, and crossing the 2600 Elo threshold. Considering MadChess 3.0 doesn’t have a sophisticated evaluation function, I’m satisfied to have reached that milestone. I’ll likely pursue evaluation improvements in a future version. I have written MadChess… Continue Reading

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MadChess 2.2 Released

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I have released version 2.2 of my chess engine. Source code and Windows binaries are available on the Downloads page. MadChess 2.2 is about 50 Elo stronger than version 2.1. It includes the following improvements. Added best move estimation. In principal variations where the cached position does not specify a best move, MadChess will search at reduced depth to obtain a best move. Then it completes the full depth search, searching the best move first. This is called Internal Iterative Deepening (IID) in other engines, though I find the name misleading. It’s recursive but not iterative. Added endgame piece location… Continue Reading

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MadChess 2.1 Released

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I have released version 2.1 of my chess engine. I built this version of MadChess using .NET Core, Microsoft’s new cross-OS development platform. I have provided source code and binaries for Windows on the Downloads page. I do not have access to a Linux or Mac machine. If you are feeling adventurous and would like to build Linux or Mac binaries, please refer to Getting Started with .NET Core on Windows / Linux / MacOS for instructions on how to build .NET Core applications. I have configured the MadChess project to build a self-contained application. All binaries required to run… Continue Reading