Chess Tiger is a strong
chess program
In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest.
A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...
developed by Christophe Théron which achieved a number of tournament successes between 2000-2002. Although still commercially available, the
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
version has not been developed recently so has largely historical significance only. It is known for its high level of strength and as a trainer engine to help beginners improve their chess techniques.
Playing strength
The playing strength of Chess Tiger is inferior to better known programs such as
Fritz
Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin an ...
and
Shredder.
In 2001 Chess Tiger won a tournament in Buenos Aires
ahead of a number of top
grandmasters, and achieved a
rating
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both.
Rating or ratings may also refer to:
Business and economics
* Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...
performance of 2788
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
.
Chess Tiger won the French and Dutch Chess Computer Championships three times each.
Chess Tiger won the first Berliner Emanuel-Lasker Computerchess-Tournament in October 2001.
Playing style
Chess Tiger is designed to be particularly aggressive in its style of play.
While most chess engines tend to avoid gambits and sacrifices Chess Tiger actually prefers them.
Chess Tiger calculates very quickly even in relatively weak hardware environments which implies that the evaluation function is fairly 'light' and that therefore the balance between speed and positional understanding is weighted in favour of the former.
Example game
This game from the above-mentioned 2001 Argentina Masters Event sees Chess Tiger defeat the well known Grandmaster
Oscar Panno
Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Panno was the first top world chess player born in South America.
Panno won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future stron ...
. Panno sacrifices the exchange for a pawn early on, and although he gets a second pawn he struggles to fully coordinate his queenside pieces, finally falling for a tactical shot from Chess Tiger on move 34.
White: Chess Tiger
Black: Oscar Panno
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 b5 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Bb7 8.a4 b4
9.a5 Qc7 10.Na4 Nf6 11.Nb6 Nxe4 12.Nxa8 Bxa8 13.Be3 Nf6 14.O-O Bd6 15.g3 h5
16.Bb6 Qc6 17.f3 Bc7 18.Qd2 Bxb6+ 19.axb6 Qxb6+ 20.Qf2 Qxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Ke7
22.Rfe1 Rc8 23.Nd4 g6 24.Ra4 Nd5 25.Bxa6 Nxa6 26.Rxa6 Bb7 27.Ra7 Rb8 28.c4 bxc3
29.bxc3 Ba8 30.c4 Nb4 31.Rea1 Bc6 32.Kf1 Rc8 33.Rb1 Nd3 34.Rb8 1-0
Other platforms
A version of Chess Tiger is available for the iPhone
and other mobile devices running the iOS Mobile Operating System,
as well as for
Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
.
See also
*
Chess engine
In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest.
A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...
*
Computer chess
Computer chess includes both hardware (dedicated computers) and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysi ...
*
List of chess software
Chess software comes in different forms. A chess playing program provides a graphical chessboard on which one can play a chess game against a computer. Such programs are available for personal computers, video game consoles, smartphones/tablet com ...
References
{{reflist
Palm OS games
Chess engines
IOS games
Video games developed in France
Windows games