Critter

the top chess UCI engine from Slovakia

26. 06. 2012


Downloads

current versions

Critter 1.6a Windows 32/64 MP downloads 93411
Critter 1.6a Linux downloads 19785
Critter 1.6a Android downloads 11291
Critter 1.6a Mac downloads 5277

Thanks to Jeremy Bernstein for the Mac OS version.

Tento update opravuje niektore chyby z verzie 1.6
- mrznutie motora na dvoj-socketovych systemoch
- zdvojene vypisovanie variant v rezime multiPV
- obcasne padanie pri analyze s tablebazami
- kontrola rozsahu hlbky pri pouziti prikazu "sf store"
- linux verzia bezi aj na starsich distribuciach
ako bonus som pridal UCI parameter "king safety weight"

This is a bugfix release. The following bugs were fixed:
1) engine freezing with dual-socket systems
2) same line displayed 2x in multipv mode
3) occasional crashes with tablebases
4) proper range checking of the depth parameter in "sf store" command
5) linux version now runs on older distributions

as a bonus there is a new UCI option for king safety weight.


Critter

Originally Critter was developed in Delphi, but Delphi has not still 64bit compiler.
That is why the program from version 0.42 was rewritten to C++ using a BitBoard technology.
Such concept gives possibility to reach top performance.
Gaviota table bases are used. Richard thinks GTB is a better choice for developers than Nalimov, because it has a more liberal license.

Critter byl původně vyvíjen v Delphi, ale bohužel tento kdysi špičkový nástroj značně upadl a dodnes nemá 64bitový kompilátor.
Proto byl Critter od verze 0.42 přepsán do C++ s použitím BitBoardové technologie.
Tato perspektivní koncepce umožňuje dosáhnout špičkový výkon.
Jsou použity tablebase Gaviota, protože ve srovnání s Nalimovem mají liberálnější licenci.


The author

Taken from Frank Quisinsky's interview  http://www.schach-welt.de/interviews/richard-vida  

Richard Vida was born in 1977. He has studied computer science and now he's working as software developer/consultant.
His first encounter with computer chess was back in 80's microcomputer era, playing against Colossus 4.0 on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
Since then for many years he wasn't interested in chess at all (except for occasional games in our local pub) until he started working on Critter in late 2008.
Since then he became addicted to chess programming  

Richard is a weak chess player. It was a sort of satisfaction when his program was good enough to win consistently against his stronger playing friends.
Critter is not yet mature enough to have a distinctive playing style and relies more on tactics.

Richard Vida doesn't think he could make a living from computer chess. It is only a hobby and Critter will be always free of charge.  

Richard has not done any GUI-specific tweaks. He is using mainly Arena for normal games. For ultra fast engine-engine matches he developed a custom auto tester  

 

Základní informace jsou převzaty z rozhovoru s Frankem Quisinsky  http://www.schach-welt.de/interviews/richard-vida  

Richard se narodil 1977, vystudoval informatiku a nyní pracuje v softwaru. První setkání s počítačovým šachem bylo ZX Spectrum a legendární Colossus 4.
Na Critteru začal pracovat v roce 2008 pro zábavu, komerční verzi neplánuje.

Richard je slabý hráč a tak ho těšilo, že silnější kolegy porazí aspoň jeho program.
Fruitem nebyl příliš ovlivněn, protože v době jeho publikace se programováním šachů ještě nezabýval.

Critter je UCI motor; pro běžnou práci používá autor Arénu a kromě toho pro velmi rychlé testy má vyvinutý speciální autoplayer.
Program nemá specifický šachový styl, je spíš založen na taktice.