Rybka 3 – Computer Chess World Champion

Rybka 2, the world’s strongest chess program, leads all ranking lists clearly, with ratings well above Elo 3000. Now Rybka 3 is here, with a dramatic improvement of at least 80 Elo points. Rybka, which translates to "little fish", is the shooting star of computer chess and the reigning world champion, having won its title in Amsterdam 2007. But strength is not everything. Today the main use of chess software is interactive analysis. Rybka's superior playing strength helps you to quickly assess a position. But analysis with Rybka 3 is much more than just evaluations and best moves. In the user interface designed by ChessBase, Rybka 3 introduces several ground-breaking new analysis features: Monte Carlo Analysis yields precise evaluations by playing thousands of ultra-fast games in a few minutes in a given position. This is very much like using game result statistics, something human players do when choosing their opening variations. Monte Carlo Analysis can be used in any position, but generally it's most useful in two types of positions:

• Endgames – engines often give high scores to drawn endgames (and sometimes low scores to winning ones). Monte Carlo recognises fortresses and other no-progress situations. It's also good in rook endgames, which are another computer problem.
• Positions where one side has made a big material sacrifice for slow compensation (i.e. not just tactics). For instance you can find lots of piece sacrifices in famous grandmaster chess games which no computer will correctly appreciate and which Monte Carlo gets right.

Hiarcs 12

For nearly 20 years HIARCS has been among the very best chess programs in the world. Ever since its first World Championship success in 1991 HIARCS has maintained its position as one of the world’s premier chess playing programs. As recently as December 2007 HIARCS further enhanced its reputation by winning the International Paderborn Computer Chess Championship in Germany ahead of a world class field.
HIARCS is famous for its human-like playing style and its ability to come up with the unexpected. Recent HIARCS versions are renowned for sharp attacking chess and a never say die attitude to their play. In HIARCS 12 this playing style has been positively enhanced through a new deeper search and evaluation of dynamic possibilities. It is capable of building deep attacking positions against the enemy king and executing exciting mating attacks. This new approach enables HIARCS to play interesting, distinctive aggressive chess while being sensitive to the needs of the position.
This has improved HIARCS in all phases of the game and even in quieter positions HIARCS 12 is able to be more selective about the variations it explores to achieve a better understanding than previous versions leading to much stronger play.
...

Fritz 11

You are holding Fritz in your hands, the program that for many years now has fascinated the chess world. It played against the legendary Garry Kasparov in New York and in 2006 beat world champion Vladimir Kramnik 4:2 in a big public match in Bonn, Germany. Millions of fans followed these great duels between man and machine and were delighted by the world class games that they produced. But don't be afraid - Fritz has a different side to its personality. The program will help you along during the game, with numerous sophisticated coaching functions, adjusting its playing strength to exactly match that of any opponent. It graphically displays threats and plans, and provides full opening statistics. For beginners Fritz will explains moves and positions, or warn you of dangers and of errors you are committing. It has instructive training modules and amusing handicap levels. For club and tournament players Fritz has long become a trusted friend and indispensable advisor, helping them to study their games and find new opening ideas for their next tournaments. A database with more than a million games provides the basis for state-of-the-art analysis. Even Garry Kasparov has used Fritz on a regular basis. How often have you attended personal grandmaster lectures or training sessions? With its Chess Media System Fritz brings the world's greatest chess players into your living room, in full high resolution video and sound and a synchronised graphic chessboard. Listen to Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viktor Korchnoi, Alexei Shirov or (former world champion) Rustam Kasimdzhanov while they explain important openings and ideas that lead to success. A host of famous chess teacher provide instruction in more mundane subjects, like opening traps, middlegame strategy, or endgame skills. Video running time: more than 14 (!) hours! Fritz makes it easy for you to play against other human beings, at any time, day or night. It provides you with a one-click connection to the largest chess community in the world, Playchess.com (1 year access). You can play quick and informal games at any level, take part in tournaments, or attend live lectures and training sessions. You can also watch great international events, which are broadcast live on the server, and you can discuss the moves with players and Grandmasters from all over the world. It is an experience you will not want to miss.

Shredder 11

No other program in the past years was able to win as many world championship titles as Shredder. The new version, Shredder 11, is stronger than any previous version, with its performance improved by about 100 Elo points. This was achieved by implementing more effecient search techniques and a new evaluation function which delivers more realistic assessments. Shredder still likes to go on the attack, but is not as speculative as previous versions. The evaluation of passed pawns has also been greatly improved. All of this leads to more reliable and realistic results during your analysis with the computer. A completely new feature is the "Opening Advisor", which allows Shredder to handle opening lines much better without the help of an openings book.

Junior 10

Junior 10 is the new 2006 Computer Chess World Champion. The program, written by the Israeli programmers Amir Ban and Shy Bushinsky, narrowly defeated its main rival, the many times world champion program Shredder, at the Computer Chess World Championship which was held during the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Junior impressed experts with its extraordinary dynamic play, and remained undefeated in this event. Junior 10 has its own special search techniques and evaluation functions, which makes it different to any other chess program. In the latest version we see the rigorous continuation of a development that a3ted with Junior 7 and has led to a unique and creative playing style. It a3ted with the famous bishop sacrifice on h2 in a match against Garry Kasparov and now has been honed to perfection in Version 10. In spite of their success in computer chess tournaments the programmers of Junior are not primarily concerned with beating other chess programs. Instead they have developed Junior into an instrument that enables human beings to gain new insights and understanding in the game of chess. A good example is the very pronounced understanding of compensation, which allows its users to explore new possibilities of sacrifice attacks and sharp dynamic play.
Junior 10 offers you 12 months of free access to the Playchess.com server. You also get the latest enhanced and improved Junior openings book.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Pentium III, 128 MB RAM, Win98 SE, Win2000, WinXP, DVD-drive, Soundcard.