"Opening Pro": A chess-openings reference on your iPhone

The Opening Pro app ($1.99 from Gaussian Knights - view in iTunes) is not the only iPhone chess app to provide guidance through the theoretical thicket of chess openings (see below), but this is certainly the app's primary purpose.   As such, its user interface provides a more robust set of features for finding, selecting, managing and reviewing your favourite openings than anything else in the Store today.

The app provides the opening moves for more than 1700 book openings - all of which are categorized in the search/selection menus by ECO code and opening name (often including moves in algebraic notation).  You can either drill down through "Opening Systems" (for example, [B34 - B39]  1. e4 c5: Sicilian Defense Accelerated Dragon) to get to the individual opening you want to explore - or you can search directly by opening name or variation name (including any chess notation that may be included in the name).

Once you've selected an opening, you can quiz yourself by playing through the game, making moves for either white or black.  Once the opening moves are complete, you are alerted; at this point, you can keep playing against the built-in AI, which iPhone chess enthusiasts will be happy to know is none other than Tord Romstad's excellent 'Glaurung' engine.

Conveniently, the app remembers the openings you've reviewed recently and allows you to maintain a list of your own favourite openings; both of these lists can be accessed easily without performing a new search.

Again, the focus here is very much on openings practice.  As an iPhone chess opponent, the app is relatively "bare-bones" from a features standpoint.  The UI is not configurable, and your control over the engine is limited to a single setting to determine whether Glaurung takes 1, 2, 5, 10 or 30 seconds for each of its moves.  The lack of 'handicap' settings makes sense in the context of the app's main purpose; after all, why hone your openings only to the point where you can achieve early middle-game equality (or better) against a dumbed-down opponent?

What strikes me as a bigger and more relevant gap is that, in the current version, you cannot display the engine's analysis.  Having a visible evaluation from Glaurung on moves made after going out of book would really add a lot of value here.  (Pretty please...)

In any case, $2 isn't too bad for a Glaurung-based openings-book trainer.  I'm going to try picking all my repertoire openings as favourites, and I'm already looking forward to future updates.

Here are a few notes on how Opening Pro compares to two other apps that provide openings assistance:

Opening Pro
# of opening moves in book:  Unknown.  "Over 1700 openings in total!" according to publisher
Pros:
          - Price
          - ECO catalog or text-based searching
          - Maintains recent openings and user favourites

Cons:
          - Other chess features are simplistic or non-existent
          - No engine analysis option once out of book




tChess Pro
# of opening moves in book:  Approx. 15 000
Pros:
          - Openings Library allows opening to be selected before game
          - Shows multiple opening book options per position, with percentages from 125000 GM games

Cons:
          - ?






Hiarcs
# of opening moves in book:  "1.2 million positions and moves"
Pros: 
          - Deepest opening book on the platform
          - Integrates view of book options on main screen
          - Includes notation ("!", "?", etc.) to indicate Hiarcs's book evaluation of the options

Cons:
          - Cannot pre-select an opening (although you can enter the appropriate moves manually for both sides and then activate the AI at any point you wish)
          - Opening name is shown only when first non-book move is played



Cheers!

Blogging Better Chess?: Resolutions for 2010

As '09 draws to a close and 2010 looms, there's a buzz in the air.  By "air," I'm really referring more specifically to the world of chess blogs, and by "buzz" I mean a renewed enthusiasm for sharing advice, ideas and personal experiences related to that noblest of goals:  getting better at chess.  After all, with the end of the Mayan calendar just around the corner, it really only makes sense that folks would want to start brushing up on their endgames.

So why spend perfectly good leisure time blogging about training instead of actually training?  Well, for one thing, establishing a sense of community around a shared goal can make the endeavour seem a lot more fun; also, once you've declared yourself and your intention, there's that whole "public accountability" thing nipping at your heels and prodding you along.  Finally, blogging allows you to contribute to a process by which a larger group shares new ideas and develops collective insight into what's working and what isn't:  obviously a force for good.

For instance, witness the recent birth of the ACIS (Adult Chess Improvement Seekers) of Caissa, rising out of some comments made on the Confessions of a Chess Novice blog and sparked to a flame by Blunderprone here (and here and here) and by Robert Pearson's blog here.  ACIS of Caissa - pronounced "a kiss of Caissa" (if only by me) - represents a blogging circle of improvers whose methods are completely diverse:  a quality that will surely invigorate the group, encourage its members to think broadly, and help avoid the stultifying effect that can sink groups whose raison d'etre is bound to a single methodology.

Then there is Farbror's call for a thoughtful chess resolution for 2010, in which he also leads by example and suggests making the process public via blogging.  Well, I'm a big fan of goal-setting, so that struck a chord with me as well.

So I'm throwing my hat in.  Here are my goals and training plans for 2010 (some of which have already gotten an early start), using Farbror's goal-promise-penalty format:


Goal 1:  By 2011 be able to articulate my plan at any point in any game I play (Focus areas = strategy, endgames)
A lot of goals could probably be related to measurable stuff like ratings, etc.; however, my focus is more about dispelling a feeling of being lost in situations where material and position is about equal and I'm just shifting my weight around on the board as I wait for my opponent to err.  If I lose a game, I want it to be because my ideas were relatively inferior, and not because I had none.  Sure, achieving this goal will probably improve my play, but more importantly, it will enhance my enjoyment of the game.  Win-win.


Goal 2 (secondary):  Complete basic repertoire blueprint for Black  (Focus area = openings)
... because I can't just keep resigning every time someone plays 1. d4.

(I'm actually putting off doing any serious repertoire work at the moment because the possibility of a new computer in early '10 might open some doors for me in terms of how I store and study my openings.  ...More on that subject another time perhaps.)


Chess Promise 1:  Weekly Chess Training (6+ hours) and Keeping a Weekly Training Log
With respect to this promise, I'm trying to follow my own advice from an earlier post on how to avoid aimless training:  I'm thinking hard about where I most want to improve (focus areas) and giving emphasis to the training methods that best serve those goals - without allowing myself to become bored.  I re-tool (or at least re-evaluate) about monthly.  At the moment, my focus is on endgames and strategy, but I also always keep some tactics in the mix to stay sharp.  As such, my training looks like this, priority-wise:

1.  Study Silman's Complete Endgame Course.

2.  Skim-read Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess.  (I'm planning to dive in to the analysis and lines more deeply when I've put down the Endgame Course.)

3.  Endgame problems

4.  Tactics problems

5.  Computer sparring

What I haven't managed yet is to firmly affix these activities to a concrete schedule.  Be that as it may, I can't say enough about the importance of keeping a training log.  For one thing, mine has shown me that I actually spend more time on chess than I thought!  For another, it makes my efforts seem more concrete and helps me to be retrospective when comparing my goals to my actual practices.

For my training log, I now use a Google Docs spreadsheet; feel free to have a gander if you're interested in doing something similar.  (And yes, I use my log to track my running and weight as well, but that's obviously an aside.)


Chess Promise 2:  Participate in an official, rated event in 2010
It's time to conquer my fear of score-sheets, start the clocks and get real.  My buddy and I are already playing "tournament rules" (clock settings, touch rules, writing down moves) for our formerly-casual OTB games.  Eye of the tiger, people..  Eye of the tiger.  More on this later, for sure.


Penalty for Failing:  A self-deprecating blog post?
That was the best I could come up with...  I'd actually prefer to think in terms of how I'm going to reward myself, but maybe the answer is the same either way.  For good or bad, my ability to act my plan (or not) will define its own rewards and/or penalties, I guess.

The notion of a critical blog-post retrospective, however, does get me to thinking about how blogging might factor into - or alongside - my 2010 efforts.  I'll have to play it by ear at first.  But rest assured, if I don't think it's going to hold interest for an audience larger than me, I'll try to save it exclusively for my spreadsheet.  On the other hand, if I happen upon a useful bit of practice methodology, a really great book that I want to review, or maybe even moments of drama at a real-live chess tournament, I'll probably chime in.

How about you?

Cheers!

A Simple Defence against Aimless Chess Training

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
-- Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Self-directed students of chess face two common problems:  The first is finding enough "spare" time to set aside for training at all.  The second, which probably afflicts newer players to a greater degree, is about direction - in other words, how invest that hard-won time.

From time to time, I've experienced dejection from burning up that time without clarity of intent - and consequently going in circles.  This aimlessness has several symptoms, including (for me, anyway) the recurring delusion that buying yet-another chess text, or messing around with yet-another new piece of training software will suddenly cause the clouds to open, illuminating the golden road to self-improvement.  Often, these are just (expensive) distractions from the real business of practice - which first requires a conscious alignment of action and purpose.

So nowadays, about every couple of months, I do some consciousness-raising - first focusing on what I'm trying to achieve and only then on the question of how.  It's an extremely simple exercise (in fact, for many it's probably in the "goes-without-saying" category), but even so, it's made me feel a lot better about how I spend my training-time:

• Prioritize focus-areas
• List candidate training activities
• Determine which activities serve which focus-areas
• Allot time to activities using priorities

(The first two steps are probably interchangeable in terms of order.)


Case Study:  "Bob" the self-taught chess improver
Let's say Bob is a 1500-ish player who is able to devote four hours a week to bettering himself - one hour on Saturday and three on Sunday.  Additionally, he plays weekly OTB games with some friends and always has a handful of games going online.  He has a modest chess library and some helpful software available on his computer or online.


1.  Prioritize focus-areas:

Instead of just cycling through his activity-options, Bob needs to consider the question posed by that old Microsoft slogan - "where do you want to go today?"  In other words, Bob has to think a bit about the current focus of his study.  To get the ball rolling, he considers the "Four Pillars of Chess Smartitude" (patent pending):  Openings, Tactics, Strategy and Endgames.  (Broadly speaking, these four areas cover at least 95% of relevant skills and knowledge Bob can develop.  However, you could certainly include others - like 'time management' or 'calculation'; whatever works for you.)

At the moment, Bob feels like he's got a decent handle on opening principles and usually makes it into the middle-game at equal or better against his opponents.  He knows he needs to develop a better repertoire some day, but he reckons it can wait.  His real problem, he feels, is with planning, so perhaps strategy deserves the lion's share of his time...  But what about endgames?  Bob has always hated endgames and although most of his games are still still won and lost on middle-game tactics, he knows he needs work in this area.  Tactically, he feels pretty good, but he doesn't want to get rusty either...  So.

All Bob has done so far is to articulate what he wants, at present, from his training - an act of "Know Thyself" that is both simple and essential.


2.  List candidate training activities:

Bob has done his due diligence by assessing his focus and now moves along to the smorgasbord of activities on the chess-improvement menu.  He has a number of resources at his disposal, so he decides to list his options out in a brain-storming map:

One thing to note here is that Bob is as specific and granular as he can be at this stage.  Options like "reading books" or "computer time" are too general and would cause confusion in Step 3.


3.  Determine which activities serve which focus-areas:

Bob has done a good job of setting out his objectives and listing his activity-options, and now he needs to connect the dots.  Based on his own experience, he can make an educated - if somewhat subjective - guess about how each of his candidate activities serves the areas of focus represented above, represented graphically here:

Again, this is no exact science, to be sure.  It is not so easy to draw clear lines between openings and tactics, strategy and endgames, etc. However, with a little experience, we can make informed judgments about which kinds of activity are most relevant to which focus-areas.

Of course, the chart above is just for illustration.  Practically speaking, it's probably more useful to note that most training activities (apart from sparring/playing) do tend to focus on one "pillar" each.  With that in mind, Bob can steer clear of spreadsheets and simply combine steps 2-3 in his notebook, intuitively grouping activities by focus areas.

4.  Allot time to activities using priorities:

So with reference to the silly charts, all Bob has to do now is make a pie similar to the chart in Step 1 by applying time values to a mixture of the bars (activities) in Step 4.  We know he wants to spend about half his time on strategy, almost no time on openings and to split the remainder more or less evenly between tactics and endgames, so perhaps...

Sat 01:00 pm - 02:00 pm:  Study Silman's 'Endgame Course'

Sun 09:00 am - 10:00 am:  Tactics problems

Sun 10:00 am - 12:00 pm:  Make tea & study 'My System' & make notes

That's one possibility anyway.  For variety, Bob could move things around, play a sparring game on his computer, or pick alternative activities from his notes that serve the same ends (i.e. the same focus-areas).  The point here is not to create a straight-jacket; the point is that Bob has liberated himself from the guilt and distraction that might otherwise flow from his brand-new book on the English Opening, still sitting unopened on the shelf.  Modest though it may be, Bob has a plan.

Even in an extreme case (many activity options & multiple focus-areas), this is far from rocket surgery.  (The trickiest bit is getting the time allotments balanced.)  Indeed, the whole thing (minus silly charts) could probably be done in ten minutes. 

Simple though it may be, it's all too easy for some people (i.e. me) to let the planning slip and lose sight of the larger context of training activity - with disheartening results.  So try to keep your level of consciousness high where your intended focus manifests as an action plan, and have fun getting better.

Here are a couple of other suggestions that might help keep your training morale up:

• Re-prioritize & re-schedule!  Can't stand My System anymore?  Finished it for the second time?  Bored?  Burnt out on puzzles?  Suddenly curious about learning the Pirc?  Well, move along then.  Re-tool your system to keep your level of interest high.  As long as you stick with a given 'program' long enough to derive some value (I'd say at least a month or two, but it depends on how much time you invest per week), there's no reason not to mix it up and stay fresh.
  
• Keep a log!  It could be as simple as a Day-timer scheduler in which you note your focus areas and training schedules, log your activities or even keep a more detailed journal which records some of the things you learned.  (Blog it, for that matter.)  Some sort of log can make past efforts more concrete and help maintain your forward momentum.
• Set some milestone-goals and celebrate your achievements!  Focus-areas discussed above aren't really 'goals' because you never really 'achieve' them.  But that doesn't mean you can't set some concrete goals along the way (e.g. beating a computer opponent on a certain setting in a certain time, getting a certain rating or accuracy percentage in online tactics training, etc.) and then log your victories before setting even loftier goals.

The Kings of iPhone Chess

I've long been a bit nuts for hand-held chess technology...  Back in the 20th, I played so many games on my Novag Sapphire that I eventually blew out the LCD.  More recently, I got a Palm Z22 PDA exclusively as a hand-held chess computer.  Nowadays, however, my Z22 isn't seeing much action anymore - as my focus has turned increasingly to the growing selection of chess apps available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Truly, iPhone chess has blossomed over the past year or so.  Where there used to be only 1-2 very simplistic offerings, there are now dozens of chess apps - and an increasing number that are both high in quality and focused on the needs of more serious players and learners.  Thanks to the affordability of these apps, I've tried many of them...  Some have been deleted after a couple of hours, while others have become fixtures on the "chess pane" of my app library.

More than once, I've tried to name my "one true favourite" - but without much lasting success:  The best of the iPhone chess apps each have their own very individual merits, which keep me coming back to them for different reasons.  I could maybe tell you which are my top two or three, but it would probably be more fun to describe the attributes of each and let you decide.  To that end, I've described my six most-preferred apps below.  With confidence, I think they are collectively the elite of iPhone chess apps - making most of their peers in the App Store look like mere patzers.

Of course, the list reflects my own biases:

• First, I'm not too worried about the strength of the chess engines powering these apps.  They are all quite capable of kicking (my) butt and of giving helpful analysis.  If you do care, I'd guess that Hiarcs and Fritz are the toughest customers in the lot, but that's not based on anything terribly scientific.  
• Second, the list below favours apps that are, first-and-foremost, instructive computer opponents and analysis tools.  With one notable exception, I do not use iPhone apps to play chess with other carbon units.  So if you think this list is useless because I never once mention Chess with Friends, at least you were warned.  :-) 
  
• Third, I work in software for a living and I am passionate about elegant user-interface design and usability.  (Interface-design is a MUCH bigger deal to me than engine-strength, I assure you.)  If it's hard on the eyes or confusing, it's not here.
  

Ok...  Before shining a light on some of the interesting differences between these wonderful apps, here's a list of what you should generally expect from an iPhone chess opponent-&-mentor.  Unless otherwise noted, all of the apps described below include this basic feature-set:

• Play as White or Black, or computer vs. computer "auto-play"
  
• Two-player (or 'watch' or 'enter moves') mode - with or without analysis, the app simply allows you to enter moves for both sides.  (This feature is important not only to enable "pass-&-play" chess between two users, but also to allow you to use your iPhone as a casual game recorder.)
• Handicap features & levels (to weaken the computer's play for different player skills)
  
• Hint feature (note that in most cases, the hints are using the same level-setting as the engine's played moves - so if you are playing a handicapped difficulty level, you'll probably get likewise handicapped hints.)
• Position set-up features
• Switch sides during play
• "Coach" feature - this is a blunder-warning feature that can be turned on or off; as with 'hints' the coach is generally only as sharp as your configured handicap permits.
  
• Save game & load previously saved game (most apps allow you to save multiple games); also, remember current game when app is closed
• Email game (as PGN text)
• View computer analysis (some apps allow you to view the computer's thinking as you play; for others, analysis is visible only in a different 'mode')

Now on to the apps, in no particular order...  For each, I've included a link to the uQuery product page (nothing that will open iTunes, I promise), current pricing information, an overview, a list of 'best qualities' and of 'potential drawbacks.'  Of course, the drawbacks are 'potential' because not everyone will find fault with the same things I do.  :-)

Shredder   ($9.99)

At the high end of the pricing scale, Shredder nevertheless earns its keep, and has garnered very high ratings among its user-base.  One of the 'big name' chess software brands to enter the iPhone arena, this app is true to its pedigree:  The user-interface is simply excellent, it plays fantastic chess, and you get 1000 chess puzzles thrown into the bargain as a very nice bonus.

Shredder features an option to adapt its own strength to better match yours after each game, and it keeps a record of your rating and rank as you progress.  Add to this the ability to manually adjust the app's playing style, and Shredder makes for a very adaptable and rewarding opponent.  Shredder's analysis mode is nicely integrated and fun to watch.  There are a number of board/piece options to choose from, and they all look very smooth.

Blitz players may be disappointed that there are no clocks here, and learners will need to look elsewhere for guidance about openings theory.

Best Qualities:
+  Attractive, logical user interface minimizes 'drilling' through multiple menus & screens to get what you want
+  One of few apps that will resign or consider a draw offer
+  1000 timed puzzles are included to help you hone your tactics
+  Shredder tracks both your rating and puzzle stats
+  After each game, the adaptive strength option can auto-adjust Shredder's playing strength to provide the perfect match for your level of skill
+  Graphical gauge shows at a glance Shredder's evaluation of who is ahead; it's great for openings experimentation or casual sparring, but can be turned off for a more serious game
+  Analysis feature is easy to access and includes graphical arrows on the board to show what the engine currently believes is the best next move

Potential Drawbacks:
-  No openings-book features for learners:  Shredder does not show book moves, opening names or ECO codes
-  No ability to configure time constraints for a game
-  Font for move list and analysis may require a bit of squinting for some, as it's quite small

tChess Pro   ($7.99)

tChess Pro is an amazing little app.  "Little" only because it's the only app to weigh in at less than 1MB; it nevertheless sports some truly unique features in addition to the basics.  What marks this app most for me is its creativity and its focus on features for learners.  A good example of both, the "openings library" provides an excellent way to practise and learn about various openings as you play.

It's a good-looking app, especially if you like slick, dark-coloured themes, and the implementation of access to most-used features is, for the most part, excellent.  (For instance, whereas many apps force you to go back and forth through a game one move at a time, tChess can quickly expose the whole move list, and you can relocate simply by tapping the relevant move.)

The app is updated quite frequently, and has seen the addition of some excellent features in the time I've had it.  My favourite?  The very original "cut-&-paste" PGN feature, which nicely complements email export, providing a handy way to get a game IN to the app without having to manually enter every move.

(If you don't mind an engine that's about 700 Elo weaker and can live without some of the more advanced features, you can enjoy tChess Lite and save yourself $7.00.)

Best Qualities:
+  Extremely usable interface
+  Interactive "Learn Chess" course is built in for those new to the game (nice!)
+  Innovative openings-library features allow users to hand-pick a book opening at the beginning of a game, and also to view a break-down of commonly played move options (from a collection of master- and GM-level games) in a wide variety of opening lines
+  Unique "cut-&-paste game" feature allows you to easily 'import' (or export) games as PGN using your device's built-in clipboard
+  Only app that supports blindfold chess!
+  Option to view engine analysis during play
+  Wide variety of difficulty modes and settings:  Levels (1-12), Use available time, Fixed search time, & Fixed search depth
+  Rich time controls, including up to three time 'stages' (X moves in Y minutes, or Game in X minutes) with discrete Fischer increment options
+  Well integrated analysis mode - lines are readable and the thinking time per position is user configurable rather than infinite (to avoid undue drain on your battery)
+  Records detailed statistics about your performance against each level of difficulty (which can always be reset)
+  The lower handicap levels seem believably 'human,' and really do offer less experienced players a decent chance of winning once in a while

Potential Drawbacks:
-  If you don't like the board colours or piece set, too bad - they can't be changed
-  Engine strength at each level is not characterized in Elo points anywhere
-  You may need a treasure map to find the Resign and Offer Draw functions

Deep Green   ($7.99)

If iPhones came with a chess app "out of the box," I think it would look a lot like Deep Green.  No other chess app so effectively utilizes iPhone's potential as a game platform.  Beautiful graphics and original sound-effects complement other options like "call-outs" (small speech bubbles allowing the pieces themselves to announce "check," etc.), and create an engaging chess experience.

However, in its current version, the app still lacks some of the basic features sought after by serious chessers (see below).  There are plans to address these desires in a version 2, but so far, there is no ETA for that update.  One of the serious chess features that is most certainly NOT missing is a decent engine:  Deep Green plays to win.

Interestingly, Deep Green is the reincarnation of a popular, if short-lived, chess application that was originally written for the Apple Newton.

If you want a closer look at the super-model of iPhone chess, you could check out Deep Green Lite as a test drive.  It will cost you nothing and includes ALL the features of the full version - except the ability to remember where you are when the app restarts (so don't play if you're expecting a call).   :-)

Best Qualities:
+  The user interface is a work of art - no other app looks or sounds quite as polished.
+  The game-play experience is focused on pure fun - but without creating annoying distractions
+  Comprehensive help system
+  Nifty slider-based "play-back" mode
+  "Concentration" levels allow the program to make occasional human-like mistakes
+  A perfect app for casual play

Potential Drawbacks:
-  Although gorgeous "as is," the look-&-feel cannot be significantly changed via user options
-  No openings-book features for learners
-  No visible analysis or 'coach' (but does have a basic 'hint' feature)
-  No ability to save multiple games, or to export games by email

Hiarcs   ($9.99)

As a long-time fan of Hiarcs's Palm application, I eagerly anticipated its arrival on the iPhone.  And for the most part, I wasn't disappointed.  The engine is ridiculously strong; even the handicap levels seem stronger than they should be.  The app's opening book is best-in-class.  Better yet, the app can (optionally) show you its built-in book options to help you develop your own repertoire.  (It's not as interactive as the tChess openings library, but on the other hand, the Hiarcs book is quite a bit deeper.)  Moreover, like Shredder, Hiarcs has an adaptive strength feature that will assign you a performance-based rating and adjust its own strength to better match yours after each game.

Mind you, I didn't get everything I was hoping for with the first version of iHiarcs...  The Palm version is capable of handling games with multiple variation lines, a capability notably absent in the iPhone version.  I'm hopeful this will be added in a future release, as it would represent a much-desired first in the field of iPhone chess.

To be honest, I am also a bit underwhelmed by the Hiarcs interface - especially if you compare it to Shredder or tChess, which have similar feature-sets.  The piece sets here are a bit grainy and the board colours are too saturated for my taste.  I was also a little thrown to discover, for instance, that if you want the computer to move, hitting the button labeled "Move" is entirely the wrong approach.  Finally (and this may sound funny, I realize), the app moves too darn fast:  It's as though its responses are practically simultaneous with my own moves.  Am I supposed to be intimidated by this, or what?  :-)

Anyway, certain quirks and undocumented behaviours do take some getting used to, but Hiarcs is a power-house and a great option, especially for advanced players.

Best Qualities:
+  Choose to display a variety of move-options (with evaluations of "!" and "?") from the app's very deep opening book as you play - once the game is out of book, the options are replaced by the opening's name and ECO code
+  Difficulty is easily set to match a skill "class" or a particular Elo score
+  Similar to Shredder, has an "Adapt Strength" feature that adjusts the engine strength after each game, based on your performance to date
+  Very configurable engine - allows user to configure playing style (Solid, Active, Aggressive) and opening-book variety (Off, Wild, Surprise, Dynamic, Tournament)
+  Option to view engine analysis during play
+  Wide variety of chess-clock pre-sets for blitz and rapid games (up to game-in-30-minutes with a 5-second delay)

Potential Drawbacks:
-  User interface is a bit less polished than in other apps, particular at this price point
-  Clock settings are not manually configurable - pre-sets only

(By the way, if you want to get a 'feel' for the Hiarcs interface - or if you just want to enjoy a very robust, and completely free, chess app for serious players - check out Glaurung.  Although there are many particular differences, much of the look-and-feel aspect of Hiarcs derives directly from Glaurung.  Incidentally, by rights, Glaurung probably deserves its own spot on this list - simply because it's a whole lotta chess app for no money.  The truth is simply that I don't use it much since getting Hiarcs.)

Fritz   ($6.99)
Weighing in at over 18MB (more than twice the size of Hiarcs, the next largest app on this list), Fritz for iPhone is not exactly lean, but it's definitely mean.

Gammick Entertainment licensed the engine from Chessbase and have also used it in Fritz versions for game console systems like the Wii.  The fact that the iPhone version shares a certain design vision by these console versions has perhaps resulted in a user interface that is just a bit much.  Of course, other users may differ.  In any case, I take particular exception to the sound effects, and the less said about the built-in "music" options, the better.

Still, it's a generally good-looking app that includes most of the information you would want to see at a glance (captured pieces, clocks, etc.).  The configurable Help system can also indicate threats, which may be helpful for those new to chess.  However, there is no 'Coach' feature in the current version.

The engine strength can be configured to one of 11 different levels, represented in Elo points from 400 ("Novice") up to 2320 ("Grand master").  You can also configure whether the engine will resign or accept draws relatively early, relatively late, or never.  You can also configure the clocks for a "Blitz" or "Long" game, or play with unlimited time.

At any point, you can jump to the "Analyse Game" screen which allows you to review the game move-by-move, as Fritz displays and constantly re-calculates a single line of analysis.

If you want a glossy interface and a very strong opponent, Fritz provides good value for $3.00 less than Shredder or Hiarcs.

Best Qualities:

+  The user interface?
+  "Show Threat" feature to help newer players stay out of trouble
+  As you play, graphical arrows can indicate the most common book moves in the opening

Potential Drawbacks:
-  The user interface?  :-)
-  The "coach" feature may be missed by some users

Chess.com   ($0.00)

The recently-introduced Chess.com app is a bit of an odd choice for my list, since it is arguably the only app mentioned so far where vs-computer play is not the main focus of the app.  However, it does include a flexible computer opponent and a highly configurable, attractive interface.

But the chess.com folks didn't stop there.  There are four major parts to the app:  computer play, online correspondence chess, a tactics training regimen, and even a library of instructional videos that can be viewed right on your device.  For the record, you really need a membership at Chess.com to enjoy the full benefits of the other (non-computer-play) features, but with a basic registration (which costs nothing and can be done quickly through the app), you have computer play and unlimited correspondence chess against other Chess.com members (some 750 000 of them).

Oh, and I almost forgot to emphasize this:  the app is completely free.

So to keep things somewhat fair, let's just forget all that ".com" stuff and focus on the "Play Computer" aspect.  Once again, this a good-looking app - cosmetically about on par with Shredder, and with an even greater range of options (9 boards x 9 piece sets).  Feature-wise, the computer opponent provides all of the usual capabilities, including a nicely integrated view of the computer's thinking (if desired) and different clock options - all in all, a pretty amazing product, seeing as they're giving it away.

Best Qualities:
+  Integrated analysis view
+  High-quality, very configurable look-and-feel
+  Select engine playing style, from “Passive” to “Suicidal”
+  A wealth of other learning tools & online play against other users (membership has its benefits!)

Potential Drawbacks:
-  Version 1.0 still has a few kinks, but they should be resolved very shortly
-  Configuring difficulty may seem a bit simplistic to some:  In addition to the playing style configuration, there are ten straightforward levels - simply numbered 1 through 10.  There is no reference to Elo or rank equivalents here.


Well, there you go - those are my "big six."  There are some other apps out there I respect almost as well as these - Glaurung (strong & free), Chess Genius (showing its age, but still the only app that can download PGN databases from the Internet) being two of the most noteworthy.  And where would I be without ChessQuest and Chess Problems, the two best dedicated tactics apps in the Store??... But I digress.

I'd say that as far as iPhone chess opponents are concerned, the perfect app has yet to be written.  When that day comes, I'm sure the app will have Hiarcs's brawn, tChess's thoughtfulness & Deep Green's good looks.  It will support annotation and variation lines.  It will analyze my games, inserting natural-language advice and then emailing me the results.  The in-game coach will speak to me directly, using the voice of Stephen Fry or Cate Blanchett (user option).  It will make mistakes I can take advantage of only by improving my own tactics.  It will have a sense of humour.

Until that day, I'm happy I've got the chess team described above in my back pocket.  I hope this has been somewhat useful in choosing one or more partners of your own.  I apologize in advance if I've neglected a great app or been unfair in my representation of the ones above.  Feel free to yell at me in the Comments.

Cheers!

Chalkmate!!

Uncommon Goods has an interesting chess-set for sale here.  It doesn't include a board, but you can draw your own, using one of the white Bishops perhaps...

Honestly, I can't see parting with $20 for a set this disposable.  Also, can you imagine what your chess bag would look like after a few days?  ;-)

On the other hand, it might be fun chipping one of my opponent's Bishops down to a pawn when he isn't looking.  According to the site, the set is especially meant to appeal to kids, which makes sense.





















When it comes to my own kid, I think this set just might be under the tree this year:

Heck, it's only $10 more than the chalk one and every bit as outdoor-friendly.

Two Chess Variants I've Played & Two I'd Never Heard Of...

I received a couple of coupon codes from the folks over at Chess House and took an opportunity to re-visit their site to see what was new.  Before long, I ended up in their "variants" section.  Normally, I don't have too much time for variants, which is understandable given Lord Byron's maxim that "Life it too short for chess"... much less bughouse.  But I have played a couple--namely Seirawan (or Sharper) chess and 960 (or Fischer-random).

960 is cheap and easy to learn; it's just chess but without the benefit/drawback of openings theory.  Take a normal chess set, use one of the 960 valid patterns for piece-placement on the back rows, and you're off.  (Well, ok, there are a few rules to learn regarding castling and such, & if you're interested you can check them out here.)

Seirawan chess requires an additional two pieces (the Elephant and Hawk) to be added to the usual cast of characters--but it's played on a standard board.  Whenever you move one of your normal pieces off the back rank, you may on the same turn drop either of the new pieces in the vacated bank-rank square (which itself can be quite deadly on an open file or diagonal).  The new pieces are somewhere between a Rook and a Queen in terms of potency:  On a given turn, the Hawk may move either as a Bishop or as a Knight, whereas the mighty Elephant may move either like a Rook or a Knight.  Their inclusion in the game has the same defenestrating effect on openings theory as in 960, & there's a lot more 'heat' on the board early in the game, which often leads to pretty spectacular tactical fireworks.  (Seirawan pieces can be purchased here.)

To be honest, though, my 'variant' chess games are few and far between, vastly in the minority of all the chess games I play.  In part, that's an output of the fact that 'classic' chess is my priority:  I still consider myself an improving player, & to further that end I employ computer analysis and chess databases to learn from my mistakes.  From this perspective, a game of Seirawan chess is a relatively idle pastime--a 'throw-away' game that is done & gone when it's over.

But that aside, the reason I like these two variants while resisting others that alter the board dimensions is that larger boards tend to change the strength of the chess pieces in disproportionate ways--in general, to the disadvantage of the Knight.  But last night, I came across two new (to me) games that I'd genuinely like to try...


First, Plunder Chess doesn't change the size of the board or introduce any new pieces.  Instead, it adds a new dimension to the way pieces move:  When one piece captures another, it can 'plunder' or steal the captured piece's movement ability, to be used once in a chosen future move.  For instance, if your Knight captures an enemy Rook, you may steal that Rook's movement, allowing your Knight to move like a Rook one time in the future.  The set consists of a specially shaped but otherwise conventional chess-set, and a set of fitted 'collars' than can be affixed to the pieces.  Of course, the collars show which pieces have plundered move capabilities (and which pieces' moves they've plundered).  I'm not sure why the graphic shows each army as having two Kings, but there's maybe more here than meets the product description.  Anyway, it sounds like a blast.


The second variant that looked (very) interesting is called Shuuro, and this time, the board IS bigger--quite a bit bigger actually.  (To add value, there's a conventional chess board printed on the underside of the Shuuro board.)

There are a couple of innovations here that I think make this variant a winner.  First, there are eight cubic "plinths" that are arranged on the board randomly at the start of each game--to represent terrain, etc.  These act as insurmountable obstacles to all pieces except one--you guessed it, the Knight, who can not only pass over them but also use them as uber-outposts by standing on top of them (a position vulnerable only to attack by another Knight).  For me, this amply repays the Knight for the deficit of being a short-range piece on a larger 12x12 landscape.

The second difference is the potential variety of the opposing chess armies, both from game to game and relative to each other in a given game.  At the outset of a Shuuro game, opponents agree how many "points" they will each have to expend on their armies (eg. each player gets 800 points for military spending), and then use a point-piece system (for example, a Queen is worth 110 points, a rook is 70 points and a pawn is 10) to select their own tailor-made army.  For people who think standard chess games are a bit too 'vanilla' and want more variety, I think this variant would be a godsend.

Anybody played either of these?  If so, what did you think?

D&D, then & now

I was in the book store the other day and I wandered over to see if there were any interesting new chess books in the Games section.  There weren't, but they had a shiny new set of manuals for D&D (4th edition, I think it was), and I spent about twenty minutes thumbing through the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Player's Handbook, and my old favourite:  the Monster Manual.

Back in the day (read "the early 80s"), I was nuts about AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, as it was called).  I went to a handful of SF/fantasy conventions--pretty much exclusively to play in and host single-session adventures, and among my own regular group, I was the Dungeon Master.  Gosh, I spent hours and days constructing maps on graph paper in school, which worked out really well because, hey, I looked like I was working--and that was better than the usual dead-eyed stare of a chronic day-dreamer.

The game was a great creative outlet and a powerful venue for escapism; for four or five of us, D&D had the power to collapse entire weekends in ways that not even video game consoles have managed since.

Then I went to university, got in with a different crowd, and eventually started to cultivate a healthy obsession with chess.  Even as my interest in D&D started to wane back then, a contributing factor was the appearance of some game materials that seemed to me to be... "unpure" somehow.  Character classes started multiplying.  Monster-Manual-type books kept coming out that defined an ever larger and increasingly strange menagerie of nasties. ("What the hell is an aurumvorax!?  Should we retreat or throw rocks at it??", etc.)

Ultimately, there was even a book that gave stats for the gods & goddesses of different pantheons--in case, I suppose, your 87th level Paladin-Ranger-Druid decided to go kick Thor's butt because a thunder-clap woke him from a really excellent dream one stormy night...

Whatever.  For me, there is nothing better than when a modest party of adventurous mortals stumbles into a forgotten graveyard, concealed by swamp, and then gets attacked by a gang of mossy zombies.  Good times!

Anyway, as I poured over the newer guide-books the other day, I found that my nostalgia for the goofy artwork and simple fantasy genres of the 70s and 80s version (back when the brand was owned by TSR) waxing pretty large.  The zine-like artwork seemed somehow to illustrate that the ability to create worlds was open to all--and more dependent on imagination than talent.

By contrast, the new edition actually left me a bit cold.  I don't even know why, fully--but I think it's got to do with the spirit of the game.  The artwork's too glossy, maybe--and perhaps with too much emphasis on urban intrigue.  The monsters?... well, you can still find most of the classics, but for me, the extra-dimensional cyborg aliens are not really a welcome touch.  The whole thing seems like an attempt to retro-fit a dark, ironic version of World of Warcraft into a game you can play with dice.

Maybe it's simply that the current offering marks such a dramatic (maybe even intimidating) departure from the game I fell in love with, waaaay back when there were probably still a few real dragons lurking around.  ;-)

Anyway, there's no saving throw against time and progress, and I don't really mean to criticize the current version.  (With my total lack of real experience of the new game, I've certainly got no right.)  But the new books certainly gave me a great excuse to pause and reflect (for the first time in a long time) on one of the most important--even formative--pastimes of my late childhood.

I only wish I'd held on to all that stuff.  Nowadays, I don't have a 20-sided die to my name--and with current commitments (to chess, for one), I don't think I've got the time (or the cash!) to start over with the new version.  Maybe my son can introduce me to 6th or 7th edition in a decade or so...

Anybody out there old enough and faithful enough to have transitioned from the AD&D of yesteryear to the D&D of today?  I'd love you hear your thoughts.

Cheers!