38
votes
Why don’t chess engines use Node.js?
Here is a link comparing C++ to Node.js from this question on Stack Overflow.
To answer your question: C++, while more difficult to write, is way faster than basically anything else.
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34
votes
Why don’t chess engines use Node.js?
Node.js isn't a language; it's a framework on top of JavaScript.
It's also not fast, certainly not compared to compiled languages like C++ or Java.
Nor is JavaScript easier to use than compiled ...
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30
votes
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Is there a good program to play chess online in ubuntu?
On ubuntu, you can download Firefox, Chrome, or any other browser of your choice. From within that browser, go to lichess.org, chess.com, or chess24.com, create a free account, and play against others ...
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29
votes
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Why can a chess move improve the chance of winning, according to the computer?
If the computer was capable of evaluating every line of play right to the end of the game, the evaluation would never change. Indeed, the evaluation of every move would be either "win", "lose" or "...
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27
votes
Why don’t chess engines use Node.js?
To add onto the comments: Node.js and Python are higher-level languages/frameworks, used as "glue languages" for machine learning frameworks that just serve as human-friendly wrappers to ...
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26
votes
Is there a good online opening training software?
2018 update:
It seems lichess.org offers a lot of the features you're looking for. On lichess, go to tools then choose Analysis board:
The editor allows you to import FEN, PGN or edit the board ...
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24
votes
Why does Lichess only tell me my "inaccuracies", "mistakes", and "blunders", and not e.g. my "brilliancies"?
It's really hard to tell what a brilliancy is. For example, you might try to say that a brilliancy is a move that's much better than any other move on the board. Well, if you offer me a queen ...
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23
votes
Is a Finite State Machine a good way to model chess?
Yes, I think so.
You'd have all possible board positions as states (so lots of states, but finite).
The starting position as an initial state. Legal moves as links between the states (so the "...
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21
votes
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Chess software to analyze games
One of the problems with chess-analysis software for weaker players is that it just shows the strongest move per the computer, without any explanation why. There are some programs, like the ChessBase ...
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21
votes
Is a Finite State Machine a good way to model chess?
Finite state machines can be described as the recognizers of regular languages. You could perhaps identify chess with the set of all possible game records. For example f3e5g4Qh4# (the fool's mate) is ...
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20
votes
Why does Lichess only tell me my "inaccuracies", "mistakes", and "blunders", and not e.g. my "brilliancies"?
Here's why computer analysis (on any platform) can not find brilliant moves.
They don't exist.
Now, I recognize that this seems very counter-intuitive, but bear with me. This has to do with the ...
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20
votes
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Render a chessboard from a PGN file
You can use the SVG rendering functionalities of python-chess. This will allow you to create a SVG-formatted visualisation of any board position loaded using python-chess.
FEN to SVG
For example, ...
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17
votes
App which transforms chess moves into chess positions
What you're looking for is software/website that allows you to load or import PGN files.
The Lichess Analysis board, for example, supports exactly what you want: https://lichess.org/analysis -- below ...
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16
votes
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Is there a freely available online 7 piece Endgame tablebase?
Original Answer:
7-men Lomonosov is free as an Android application.
Update - September 2018:
7-men Syzygy is available for free. Also available from Lichess.
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16
votes
Are there positions which cannot be properly analyzed by any computer?
8/3k4/2p5/p2p2p1/P2P2P1/2KB4/8/8 w - - 0 1
In this position the engine gives advantage of around +2.5, but as you can see, this position is a draw as there is no way for white king to enter into ...
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15
votes
Is there a good online opening training software?
www.chessable.com just launched. This should be exactly what you are looking for. You can import pgns and can train the opening using space repetition.
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15
votes
What would be the elo of a computer program that plays at random?
Right at the bottom of the Computer Chess Rating List for the 40/4 time control is Brutus RND, an engine that simply selects random legal moves.
http://www.computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/404/cgi/...
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15
votes
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High-quality (not bitmap) diagram software
As thb pointed out, you need vectors. I suggest you use a python-chess to generate SVG vector images.
Prerequisites:
Python 2.6+ or 3.3+
Python-chess:
Install form pypi using pip: pip install ...
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14
votes
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What is Syzygy tablebases?
Tablebases are databases of endgame positions, with few pieces left on the board (say a 5-man tablebase, which consists of all legal positions with 5 pieces on the board in total, including kings, say ...
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14
votes
Why does Lichess only tell me my "inaccuracies", "mistakes", and "blunders", and not e.g. my "brilliancies"?
You are being compared to perfection
Your every move is being evaluated by a chess engine with super-human playing-strength. The default is to compare your performance to its own super-human ...
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13
votes
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How to download Stockfish and install it on the Fritz/ChessBase GUI?
First download StockFish. You click on the button shown in the below image and choose "Save as". It will be saved as .rar file, which you can open with WinRar, 7Zip or similar utility...
Then you ...
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13
votes
Is a Finite State Machine a good way to model chess?
may the game of chess be considered a finite state machine?
Yes; this is a good insight.
A FSM is an abstract model of computation with the following characteristics:
The machine begins in a known ...
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13
votes
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Downloading Games From Lichess
Lichess has an API which can also be used to download games. For example:
https://lichess.org/api/games/user/{username}?max=3&color=white
This will download 3 most recent games played by {...
- 1,144
12
votes
Is PGN split utility available anywhere?
As of 2017.04.01, pgn-extract (version 17-38) does provide variation splitting functionality via its --splitvariants flag. So, if you want this in a Windows/Linux/Mac OS environment it is available. ...
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12
votes
What are good ways to check blunders after the match?
Lichess.org has a free browser-based game analysis tool that allows you to copy and paste your PGN file for online analysis.
It's powered by Stockfish, and the analysis automatically:
Annotates the ...
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12
votes
Are there positions which cannot be properly analyzed by any computer?
I just saw this example composed by Jim Plaskett:
[FEN "8/3P3k/n2K3p/2p3n1/1b4N1/2p1p1P1/8/3B4 w - - 0 1"]
It's a famous endgame problem.
I left Stockfish running for a few minutes and so far the ...
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12
votes
How do people use chess software to improve their practical skills?
I know that I, for one, have used them to tell me why a line not mentioned in the books is bad. Most books show you all viable lines of play and maybe a few dubious ones, but a book can't mention all ...
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12
votes
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Why is Apronus allowing the White king to castle through an attacked square?
I happen to be the author of the chessboard editor under discussion. Let me clarify the issue.
This editor is supposed to enforce legal moves but it has a bug which prevents it from being able to ...
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12
votes
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Am I misunderstanding the --materialz option on pgn-extract, or is it not quite working right?
This is a bug due to sloppy copy-and-paste of code on my part and failure to test games involving promotions. If you wish to apply the fix yourself to the source of v21-08 (and earlier) then in the ...
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11
votes
Accepted
Which interface protocol should I implement for my chess engine?
There're only two protocols - UCI and Winboard. Winboard is an old protocol and not really being used nowadays. Crafty is the only major engine still supporting the Winboard protocol, but it's only ...
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