Posts Tagged play chess
How Do Computer Chess Programs Work In Online Chess
Posted by in General on November 1, 2009
When online games were introduced in the World Wide Web, they open up opportunities for computer programmers to develop different versions of online games. Among the many online games that are developed, online chess games are the most popular. Although the programming of chess game is some kind tricky but the concepts of online chess are easy to understand. Evidently, online games would not materialize without the computer chess program.
Computer chess programs are used in tournaments like the one that was created by Larry Atkin, the Odessa. This program symbolizes the pattern of the eight by eight arrays of numbers that is equivalent with the pattern of the chessboard. Positive and negative numbers represent the chess pieces. Most computer chess programs are consist of modules that include evaluation function, quiescence function and generator. However, despite of these features of the programs, still it cannot calculate the millions chess positions involve.
Understanding the module is important for you to use properly the chess program. As stated, evaluation function is the first module that observes the possible move that a player can make from the original position. It also provides list of the possible situations and the corresponding move. The next module involves an algorithm that determines the concepts and strategies. It acts like playing the real chess that requires both players to respond in every move in chess openings, king’s safety as well as in defenses. On the other hand, the quiescence acts in evaluating the end position and the other possible move. Just like in the traditional chess game, every move from the opening to the end game is significant in winning the game.
Aside from Odessa, other computer chess programs emerged and developed with different new ideas. Kaplan created a program Turbostar as the product of his brute thinking. Because of his special knowledge in computer programming, he decided to improve the chess program with his ever-changing concept. He was a national master and a Junior Chess Champion when he created Turbostar. Up to this writing, the chess program created by Kaplan is still being used in playing online chess.
However, because of the innovation in technology, more powerful computer chess programs override those previously created. Fujitsu LLC developed a chess program SPACE that is considered as super computer that can process around 1.3TB raw details. It has also the capability to analyze the over 4 million games all over the world.
Time will come that because of the ever changing improvements in technology, thousands of computer chess programs would be created that would match or even surpass the ability of humans. Like what had happened before, it is more likely possible that a computer would defeat human player in a chess battle. However, although computers can work fast but they are not perfect. As a product of human knowledge, computer programs also have weaknesses that are inevitable. Indeed, man is gifted with talents and skills to develop chess programs that help chess players to understand the challenging game of chess.
Three simple ways to improve your chess skills
Posted by in General on September 29, 2009
It will not be an exaggeration to say with confidence that the more experienced you become in the game of chess, the better will be your quality of life.
Chess is also referred to as a war game or a battle of the minds. The expertise in the game of chess will not only help you become a better player and say “checkmate” quite often to the opponent, but also will help you take vital decisions in life guided by your mind. This is one reason this game of chess is surviving the test of time and technology and will continue to the King of Games as long as the humanity derives lessons from it for a better and organized life.
Chess is one of the easiest games to learn. All you need to know before playing the game is about the pieces, the arrangement of the pieces in the board, the basic movement of the various types of pieces, their capabilities and other simple rules of the game. One can learn these simple things in less than a couple of hours and start playing it. This is probably one reason that we find 9 out of 10 people aware of the game and have played it at some part of their life, but did not manage to go beyond the level of a novice or a beginner and lost interest in the same.
The unique feature of this turn-based game is that there is no room for luck or chance. As a player, you will be responsible for the fate of the game and you cannot throw blame on others for a bad result. If you ensure that you do not commit a mistake, then you are likely to avoid losing the game and manage to settle for a draw.
The first and foremost thing to improve the chess skills is to reduce the percentage of losses and replace with either wins or draws. As a new player or beginner in the game, you are bound to make mistakes. Mere understanding the rules of the game or learning the game will not guarantee you any success in this noble game. It is but imperative for a beginner to play as many games as possible, without worrying about the losses. What you should do to improve the skill is to learn from the mistakes. You lose the game only because of your mistakes and nothing else stops from winning the game or settling for a draw with the opponent.
Having gained the confidence in the game, the second thing one should try to do is to learn and master the theory of chess. No two games look alike in the game of chess though the game is being played for more than 1500 years now. The existence of the innumerable possibilities for any given move or given situation is what makes the game more challenging, fascinating and interesting. One should try to learn and grasp the theory behind the moves, the objective of the pieces and the positional influence of the pieces. How one can do that? Analyzing your own games played previously, or referring to chess books and literature in this context will be of immense use in this regard. Playing out the old games of grandmasters and trying to find the reasoning and motive behind every move played by those grandmasters is one way of gaining expertise.
The third thing one can try to do to improve the chess skills is to invite players with a relatively higher skill than you for a game of chess. An experienced player will have more variations in store and can play much better than you can. While you will lose most of the games played with experienced players, you can stand to learn new ideas from those games.
Now, learning chess and improving the skill set has been made much more easier, thanks to the contribution of the computer and the Internet to this war game. Anybody having a passion for the game and wanting to lead a better and organized life can learn the game of chess through the computer, play chess online with the computer or with a virtual partner in online chess site and gain the much-needed experience.