Month: August 2011

The iPhone Evolution

The iPhone evolution described in infographic:

You have to bear in mind, though, that the iPhone 5 (or the 5th generation–that is, as it’s still indefinite what they’ll call it) specs are based on rumors circulating the web so far. Even the picture and form isn’t certain.

It’s good to see how the iPhone evolved through the years in just one look.

The Chess Explorer by Hiarcs

The Hiarcs page right now goes:

HIARCS Chess Explorer is an exciting new chess product which is under development and we hope will be available in the autumn 2011. More details on the new chess explorer application will be posted here when they are ready. We hope chess players of all chess abilities who really wish to explore and improve their chess will like the new HIARCS chess explorer software.

For me, this leaves more questions than answers:

  • Is this a GUI alternative to Chessbase’ Fritz 12?
  • Is this thing available for Windows and Mac?
  • Is this Hiarcs answer due to Sigma Chess not available to support OS X Lion?
  • Can I install other competing engines?
  • Will it have intuitive interface for game analysis?
  • Will I become a better player with this software?
  • Will this be free or shall be sold for a hefty amount?
  • Do you think it can beat Houdini?

I can go on and on, even with stupid questions, but really, that page is not helping a lot. Hope Hiarcs can come up with a concrete answer and hopefully fill that bridge for a good native chess program for the Mac.

The New KFC Queuing System

For dinner today, I went to the nearest branch of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to indulge myself in my favorite large Hotshots plus rice. As it always happened in any KFC I was expecting a long queue at the order counter, but to my surprise this time there was none.

It appears they employed a new queuing system so that 3 or 4 counters are only taking orders while another dedicated counter for serving them. And I believe they got it right. Continue reading

What Goes into the Minds of Grandmasters?

A Grandmaster makes the best moves because they are based on what he wants the board to look like ten or twenty moves in the future. This doesn’t require the calculation of countless twenty-move variations. He evaluates where his fortunes lie in the position and establishes objectives. Then he works out the step-by-step moves to accomplish those aims.

— Garry Kasparov (on his book “How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves, from the Board to the Boardroom)

Raptor is a Great FICS Desktop Client for Mac

Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), which can be found at www.freechess.org, is a great way to play chess online for free. Besides being free, another great thing about FICS is the presence of a huge community, so that you’ll always have someone within your playing level to start a game with. It is also highly moderated by system and human moderators so that trolls and cheaters are quickly identified and acted upon accordingly.

I used to connect to FICS via Winboard or BabasChess on my Windows machine. But now that I’m on a Mac (specifically on an Intel, Mac OS X Lion 10.7, Macbook Pro 13″ Early 2011), these two programs don’t just seem to work. Good thing I stumbled upon a comment from one user in the FICS group in Facebook about Raptor Chess. Continue reading

Mac Desktop Client for FICS

UPDATE: I actually already found a great FICS client for Mac: Raptor Chess.

If you have have read in my previous post, I’ve been a Mac convert for sometime now. And I would like very much to test the computing power of a Mac upto its full potential.

I also liked playing chess on FICS or freechess.org. And I have been looking for Apps or programs that can be a desktop client for connecting to FICS. In my Windows days, my favorite was Winboard, though I sometimes used BabasChess. Continue reading

Chess on a Mac

Admittedly, Chessbase’ Fritz 12 is the best program for the PC. The Fritz 12 (or even the Deep Fritz 12) engine may not be the strongest computer chess engine out there, but the Chessbase interface is able to deliver on its purpose. I use it widely when analyzing games and studying openings. I load my favorite engines like Rybka, Houdini, Stockfish, etc., to test some of the more stronger engines.

But the problem is it’s only available in PC. When oh when can they be able to make a program for the Mac? I’m a Mac convert now, and there really are a lot of Mac users who are anticipating this from Chessbase. Although I already paid for the licensed copy of Fritz 12 for Windows, I’ll be willing to shell out another for the Mac — for as long as it will natively run on the Intel Mac. Continue reading