Aart's Blog

Don Dailey and Larry Kaufman's Komodo version 3 is now available for Android (ARMv5TE) at UCI engines for Android . A quick one second per move tournament ended in favor of the previous version 2.03 (possibly because Don fixed the movetime command to honor the given time exactly; previous versions would sometimes use more time, which may have skewed estimates of their strength a bit). 1   Komodo32 2.03 AB  +50/-18/=32 66.00%   66.0/100 2   Komodo32 3 AB     +18/-50/=32 34.00%   34.0/100

I just released version 2.9.4 for Chess for Android, available from the Android market or as direct download . This version introduces the much requested "infinite analysis" mode for an imported UCI engine, in which the engine reports its analysis of positions without actually making moves. To enable this mode, change the level to free play, as shown in the following screenshots. If an UCI engine is imported, its analysis of the current position will appear below the board. The user can freely play through previous games or make new moves. When at the end of a game still in progress, pressing the ">" button will play the best move found by the UCI engine. Changing the level, or unloading the UCI engine will exit the "infinite analysis" mode. Although the feature may seem simple, it was actually far from straightforward to implement, also because not all UCI engines behave the same for the "go infinite" command. Please let me know if yo

Lucas added the  movetime command to DoubleCheck (the stop command is still lacking) which enabled conducting a few quick 1-second per move matches to determine the strength of the engine. DoubleCheck 1.1 - Komodo32 2.03 AB  +0/-10/=0  0.00% - GreKo 8.0         +0/-10/=0  0.00% - gaviota v0.83.0.3 +0/-9/=1   5.00% - RedQueen 0.9.8    +0/-9/=1   5.00% - Jazz v444 JA      +1/-7/=2  20.00% - BikJump v2.1P     +2/-4/=4  40.00% - ZCT-0.3.2500      +4/-5/=1  45.00% - Chess for Android +6/-0/=4  80.00%

I compiled Lucas Braesch's DoubleCheck 1.1 for Android (ARM) and put it on the UCI Engines for Android website . The engine works reasonably well in Chess for Android. However, because the UCI command movetime is not implemented yet, it plays almost instantaneously, making matches to determine its strength less useful at the moment.

Jim Ablett kindly ported Gary Linscott's engine GarboChess 3 to various platforms, including Android. I also made a dynamically linked binary available at the UCI engines for Android website . As can be seen in the screenshot below, the UCI engines does not provide many options, but it plays strong. Below the results of several quick matches on a Nexus S using random book opening play, one second-per-move, 32MB hash, and 8MB tablebases cache with the 3- and 4-piece Nalimov, Gaviota, Scorpio, Robbobases endgames on SD card. GarboChess3  - Stockfish 2.1         +0/-10/=0    0.00%  - Komodo32 2.03 AB      +0/-10/=0    0.00%  - IvanHoe-Beta v999947c +0/-10/=0    0.00%  - Pepito v1.59          +3/-4/=3    45.00%  - GarboChess3 JA        +2/-3/=5    45.00%  - GNU Chess 5.07.170.7b +7/-3/=0    70.00%  - Gaviota v0.83.0.3     +7/-3/=0    70.00%  - Rotor 0.6a            +6/-2/=2    70.00%  - RedQueen 0.9.8        +9/-1/=0    90.00%  - BikJump v2.1P         +9/-0/=1    95.00%

To test recently released versions of Android engines, I conducted a new tournament between the top UCI engines on a Nexus One using a random book opening play, one second-per-move, 32MB hash, and 8MB tablebases cache with the 3- and 4-piece Robbobases endgames on SD card. Congrats again to the Stockfish team!                        1         2         3         4         5 1 Stockfish 2.1            *     54.0-46.0 60.5-39.5 64.5-35.5 65.5-34.5 244.5/400 2 Komodo32 2.03 AB     46.0-54.0     *     46.5-53.5 52.5-47.5 66.0-34.0 211.0/400 3 Critter 1.2 32-bit   39.5-60.5 53.5-46.5     *     51.5-48.5 58.0-42.0 202.5/400 4 RobboLito 0.085e4l   35.5-64.5 47.5-52.5 48.5-51.5     *     62.0-38.0 193.5/400 5 IvanHoe-Beta 999947c 34.5-65.5 34.0-66.0 42.0-58.0 38.0-62.0     *     148.5/400

Richard Vida released Critter 1.2 for various platforms, including ARM-based Android devices. Below you can see some screenshots of this UCI engine running in Chess for Android . To get a rough idea of the strength of this new engine, I conducted a few quick matches with other engines on a Nexus One using a random book opening play, one second-per-move, 32MB hash, and 8MB tablebases cache with the 3- and 4-piece Nalimov, Gaviota, Scorpio, Robbobases endgames on SD card. More games upcoming. Critter 1.2  - RobboLito 0.085e4l     3.5 - 6.5  +2/-5/=3   35.00%  - Komodo32 2.03 AB       5.0 - 5.0  +4/-4/=2   50.00%  - Stockfish 2.1          6.0 - 4.0  +4/-2/=4   60.00%  - GNU Chess 5.07.170.7b  7.0 - 3.0  +7/-3/=0   70.00%  - Gaviota v0.83          8.0 - 2.0  +7/-1/=2   80.00%  - Rotor 0.6a             9.5 - 0.5  +9/-0/=1   95.00%  - Toga II 1.4.1SE        9.5 - 0.5  +9/-0/=1   95.00%  - RedQueen 0.9.8        10.0 - 0.0 +10/-0/=0  100.00%  - BikJump v2.1P         10.0 - 0.0 +10/-0/

The new Komodo has been heavily tested by many chess fans, and Larry and Don had to make a few bug fixes. You can find an Android binary of the latest version 2.03 at the usual place . Quick tournament on a Nexus S: 1   Komodo32 2.03 AB  +34/-23/=43 55.50%   55.5/100 2   Komodo32 2.01 AB  +23/-34/=43 44.50%   44.5/100

Another tournament between the top engines on a Nexus One, 32MB hash, one-second per move.                      1           2           3                                    1 Stockfish 2.0      ***         48.5 - 51.5 59.0 - 41.0 107.5/200 2 RobboLito 0.085e4l 51.5 - 48.5 **          50.0 - 50.0 101.5/200 3 Komodo32 2.01 AB   41.0 - 59.0 50.0 - 50.0 **           91.0/200

Don Dailey and Larry Kaufman released version 2 of their chess engine Komodo. You can find an ARM-based Android binary on UCI engines for Android . The new release seems stronger than the already impressive previous version. A quick one second-per-move, 32MB hash tournament on a Nexus S against Komodo1.3 resulted in 73 vs. 27 in favor of Komodo2. 1   Komodo32 2AB     +58/-12/=30 73.00%   73.0/100 2   Komodo32 1.3 JA  +12/-58/=30 27.00%   27.0/100 The new Komodo scored 48.5% against Stockfish 2.1 under the same settings. 1   Stockfish 2.1  +38/-35/=27 51.50%   51.5/100 2   Komodo32 2AB   +35/-38/=27 48.50%   48.5/100