Engine Updates

Michel Van den Bergh builds
GNUchess 5.07.8b MVdB (WB)
Win32 exe with C source; look for Jim Ablett to make a build soon
- Crude LMR implementation. It seems to increase the strength of GNUChess somewhat
- Fix of IsLegalMove{}. Sometimes it happened a pawn got stuck on the 8th rank (this was related to killer moves)
- Fix of st command
- Do node counting at beginning of search. This is easier
- Also: previously there was a bug which made GNUChess count many nodes twice. As a result the reported nps was too high by a factor of almost two
- Help string for sd command was mangled.
http://alpha.uhasselt.be/Research/Algebra/Toga/gnuchess-release/

Ifrit j1_8 (UCI)
Win32; C++ source (Russian language comments)
- In the course of zero (for draws?) added dynamic reduction
- In the course of zero (for draws?) added check for zugzwang
- The line option write only in the main (pv) search
- Including the extension to the main exchanges (pv) search
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fandchess2006.narod.ru%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru&tl=en

RedQueen (UCI)
another commit to the C++ source code (commits= 76), no download yet
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redqueenchess

Scorpio 2.3 Beta (WB)
Win32; no source code
- First use of BitBoards in Scorpio
http://dshawul.googlepages.com/home

Down chess websites
Averno geocities site down permanently, no more homepage
Brutus site down for 4 days
Chaturanga geocities site down 12 days, maybe gone forever?
Crafty Chess Interface down today (exceeded bandwidth limits again)
DanChess geocities site down permanently, no more homepage
Eden site down for 2 days
Fimbulwinter site down for 4 days (fixing viruses?)
Frenzee site has no content for 17 days
GreKo site down for 3 days (403 error)
Smirf site down for 3 days
Zebra Chess down for 19 days

Note: GEOCITIES is closing on October 26, 2009.
There are a lot of free engines hosted there that might disappear forever!

Wiki Changes

Chess Engine List
- added RedQueen as a source-code-only engine
http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_engine_list

Bonus Notifications (recent releases of free stuff)

Format Factory 2.15
free multi-media converter; convert all popular video/audio/picture formats to all others
CD/DVD ripper; ipod/iphone support. Audio/video joining/repairing.
Be careful you don't install eBay shortcuts or Ask toolbar by mistake!
http://www.pcfreetime.com/index.html

FreeFileSync 3.1
open source folder comparison and synchronization tool. Recommended.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/

Meaning of Colors

Red = New or Warning
Green = Updated
Gray = Info Only

Engine List: http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_engine_list
Chess News: http://computer-chess.org/doku.php?id=computer_chess:wiki:lists:chess_news_list