# Chess/Computer Chess

If you\'re interested in chess and wish to improve, you might want to
consider installing a chess program onto your computer to help train
you. Some programs are dedicated to certain areas of the game (such as
endgame or opening study, or tactical exercises), while others allow you
to input your games into a database and have the computer analyse them
for errors and suggestions.

Most regular tournament players usually have some sort of chess engine
installed on their computer. These engines are programmed to find the
best possible moves in any position given to them and determine who is
ahead by means of algorithms. When plugged into an interface, you can
either play directly against the engine or submit vary widely in quality
and playing style. Some are commercial, others are freeware and
available to download over the internet. Due to advances in technology
in the 21st century, some of these engines have become so strong that
even the best human players in the world have difficulty beating them,
even on an average-speed home computer. A non-Master will probably never
be able to beat - or even draw - a strong engine unassisted. In a sense,
having a good chess program running over your games is almost like
having a Grandmaster on hand to discuss your games with you.

Engines are not all the same. Depending on how it\'s programmed, it may
favour moves that are attacking and tactical, while others prefer solid,
positional moves and don\'t take as many risks. Formerly, commercial
engines were the strongest, but now some freeware engines are just as
good or even better.

Online

If you don\'t want to install your own engine, you may play against one
on a free online service. Be aware that these do not play at full
strength and may not be allocated a lot of thinking time. In summary,
they do not play at the highest level they can play at.

-   lichess.org features the powerful
    Stockfish engine in levels 1 through 8 (Glicko-2 ranges 1500 to 2361
    \-- near Grandmaster), with 50 to 400 ms thinking time. You may set
    up positions using the Board Editor.
    You may analyse the games afterwards with Stockfish at nearly full
    strength, with 2 seconds of thinking time for each move.
-   GameKnot features a
    proprietary engine at levels ranging from \~1000 Elo rating to 2200+
    (Grandmaster) Elo rating. Allows setting up a position from the
    Games DB. Does not
    offer a takeback option. Requires a Java Runtime.
-   The Shredder Chess
    website
    features the engine of the same name on easy, medium and hard
    levels. The hard level is particularly difficult for players of all
    skills.
-   Chess.com allows for users to play against other users, or against
    bots. Post-game review is also available for users to analyze their
    games.

Interfaces

Before you can use an engine, you first have to run it through an
interface. There are many that can be used, the most common of which are
listed:

-   \"Fritz\" interface - This is one of the most popular interfaces in
    use by professionals today. It generally comes prepackaged when you
    buy one of the commercial engines sold by ChessBase (Fritz,
    Shredder, Hiarcs, et al.). As such, it\'s considered commercial,
    although older versions of the interface may be released as
    freeware. (Be aware though, that there may be compatibility problems
    in this case.)
-   Arena = This is the most common
    freeware interface. It is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux.
-   Chessmaster - This interface comes prepackaged with the King chess
    engine. There are multiple training tools available as well, such as
    an openings book, tactics exercises, etc., so you don\'t have to
    purchase a separate program to do this. However, it may be harder to
    install independent chess engines to run underneath this interface.

Engines

Freeware:

-   Stockfish = Very strong
    open-source engine, consistently ranked as first or second strongest
    in the world.


