Thanks Android Game Users!

-
The last few weeks, I received many very kind emails as well as positive comments at the Android Market about my games. This has been a very nice contrast with the sometimes rough comments or emails I also get (constructive feedback is always welcome, but please study the rules of the game before you complain :-)). So I just wanted to say thank you to all that took the time to write a nice email or comment!

Comments

Unknown said…
Just beat chess for andriod for the first time! (on beginner, but anyway) thanks!
August 20, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Chess for Android is a nice-enough chess-engine to be sure, but some aspects could and should be improved:

1. No opening book: This is the program's greatest weakness! 1. e4 e5; 2. Sf3 Ld6??? in "expert mode" Come on! At least some routine openings like Spanish, Sicilian, English, Queen's Gambit et al should be included, they would add greatly to the overall strength.

2. Levels. Expert=30 secs. Ahhh, ok! For a quick game on the sub that's good enough, but why not include e.g. a 40moves/2 hours tournament mode just in case.

3. No way to print, save games etc. Every game is lost after you've completed it. Not good!

4. Strength. Since there is no real tournament mode the overall strength of the program is hard to evaluate. I just beat the program on the "expert level" rather handily, without having to think more than 15 sec on each move. Since I'm just an average player, say 1,600-1,700 ELO, it shouldn't be so easy. My HTC Magic has a powerful-enough processor.

A long way to go. But very nice layout (smart move to include trackball support!).
August 22, 2009 at 2:31 AM
Aart Bik said…
Hi Anonymous,
I agree with you on all points, especially adding a small opening book would be interesting. Now I just have to find the spare time to do it :-)
August 22, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DGT Pegasus

-
Image
The DGT company kindly shipped me a beautiful DGT Pegasus electronic chessboard, which is a nice compact board with a Bluetooth connection. After a few fun hours hacking, I have implemented the proper connection with Chess for Android and will release this support soon on Google Play . A few features include: When connected, pressing the Bluetooth icon displays the board's trademark information The brightness slider in the board connection dialog can be used to dim the LEDs The optiona. move coach cycles through all possible destination squares The "Steady LED" checkbox will slow down the transitions between LEDs
Read more

Connecting Chess for Android to a Remote Server

-
Image
I have received several questions on how to connect Chess for Android running on an Android device (e.g. a phone) as client to a remote chess server (e.g. a powerful desktop), so I decided to write a small document with detailed instructions. What you will need: The server software from Bernhard Wallner's chess utilities , suited for your server's operating system (if, say, your desktop runs Windows, you will need to download the Windows version). You do not need to download the client software in this case. The network enabled version of Chess for Android . On the server, start the engine server software, and construct a new row for every engine you want to run remotely. Assign a name, port number, and select the full path to each engine binary (an executable that runs on the server). You can also supply command line options for starting the engine. Check the active checkboxes and click start when done. This yields something similar to the screenshots below. Here, I have s...
Read more

Chess for Android: UCI Engine Options

-
Image
The UCI engine setup dialog in Chess for Android was developed a long time ago when there were not many chess engines available for Android. As a result, I opted for a simple dialog that featured a few, commonly used UCI engine options only (such as hash table size, number of threads, endgame tablebases). However, the options that I picked almost ten years ago no longer serve the wide variety in options of the many chess engines available for Android. Therefore, I decided to re-implement the UCI engine setup and do what the UCI protocol specification actually intended: the GUI should parse all options and build a dialog that allows the user to change them. For engines with only a few options, this yields a concise dialog, as illustrated below with BikJump v1.8. For engines with many options, this yields a more elaborate, scrollable dialog, as illustrated below for Leela Chess Zero. In any case, however, the new implementation gives the user full access to all options! Expect...
Read more