Best Chess

[andym1966]

Hi,
I'm running Ubuntu 6.10. What is the best chess game for Ubuntu? Do I have to install an engine and a GUI? Is there any simple program with both?

I installed 3dChess, but I don't want to play three games at once. I downloaded brutalchess but couldn't figure out how to install it... :(

Thanks,
Andy.

[earobinson]

I also have been looking for a good chess (me vs computer linux game)

[hikaricore]

My favorite is DreamChess (http://www.dreamchess.org/) it completely pwns me nearly every time but it's pretty. :)

[Tuna-Fish]

Hi,
I'm running Ubuntu 6.10. What is the best chess game for Ubuntu? Do I have to install an engine and a GUI? Is there any simple program with both?

I installed 3dChess, but I don't want to play three games at once.

It's not 3 games at once, it's one 3d game. MUCH more complicated. :)

I downloaded brutalchess but couldn't figure out how to install it... :(


Just install it trough your package manager(synaptic in ubuntu), then run it by typing brutalchess into terminal.

[UbuWu]

PyChess (http://pychess.googlepages.com/) :KS

It has a builtin chess engine but can also use others (stronger ones) that you install from the repositories. And it looks pretty!

[hikaricore]

Anyone ever played Quess?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/hikari_corgan/queslogo.gif

If it isn't obvious it's the original Quake + Chess. Real quake rules, decent intelligence for it's time, and I believe it even had a network play mode (but don't quote me on that, it's been awhile). I havn't had time to find a quake client for linux that will support Quess, but I used to love it. There's only a few places left where it exists online, this being one of them:

http://www.quaketerminus.com/addon.htm (somewhere towards the middle of the page)
or here: http://www.atomicgamer.com/newsFeed.php?id=36125

Aside from dreamchess that I posted a ways up the page this has to be my all time fave. :)

[UbuWu]

The next Ubuntu/gnome release will have a chess program (glchess) installed by default.

[Stealth]

The best chess games I seen (and look nice in Gnome) are:
pychess (http://pychess.googlepages.com/home)
BrutalChess (http://brutalchess.sourceforge.net/) and
glChess (http://glchess.sourceforge.net/) (integrated into next Gnome release i've heard)

[146lily]

Jose which is a java based program like Limewire and Frostwire is possibly the best. See link http://jose-chess.sourceforge.net/ . It uses the strong engine Toga 1.1 a which is similar to Fritz . It has database capabilities which enables you to download millions of pgn games and then replay them plus being able to store your own games and analyze the lot! The bottom line is it's good enough for strong club players!!! On the downside the java sometimes is buggy and Jose needs reinstalling.

Happy Xmas!

[neilp85]

I'm one of the Brutal Chess developers and I thought I would let you know we have a new release out (direct download link (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=139550&package_id=159434&release_id=473800)). Maybe in the future we'll be able to win this debate hands down.

[slimdog360]

I'm one of the Brutal Chess developers and I thought I would let you know we have a new release out (direct download link (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=139550&package_id=159434&release_id=473800)). Maybe in the future we'll be able to win this debate hands down.
Ive been playing it lately, its not bad, though the AI seems a bit funny. I cant really give you much more info on that, like I said though, it just seems funny.

[neilp85]

Ive been playing it lately, its not bad, though the AI seems a bit funny. I cant really give you much more info on that, like I said though, it just seems funny.

Our main focus has never really been on making a stellar AI. We just wanted one that could be decent enough to include with the game so that users weren't forced to download another engine to play against. However, the next release should include support to play against other engines and probably on some internet chess servers.

[Circus-Killer]

The best chess games I seen (and look nice in Gnome) are:
pychess (http://pychess.googlepages.com/home)
BrutalChess (http://brutalchess.sourceforge.net/) and
glChess (http://glchess.sourceforge.net/) (integrated into next Gnome release i've heard)

what i'de like to see is a chess game like the old battle chess game for dos. where the characters actually faught and stuff. that was cool. ;)

[hikaricore]

what i'de like to see is a chess game like the old battle chess game for dos. where the characters actually faught and stuff. that was cool. ;)

This might be what you're looking for from my previous post.

Sadly I can't find decent quake client that is compatible with Quess. It is seriously the **** tho. :)

Anyone ever played Quess?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/hikari_corgan/queslogo.gif

If it isn't obvious it's the original Quake + Chess. Real quake rules, decent intelligence for it's time, and I believe it even had a network play mode (but don't quote me on that, it's been awhile). I havn't had time to find a quake client for linux that will support Quess, but I used to love it. There's only a few places left where it exists online, this being one of them:

http://www.quaketerminus.com/addon.htm (somewhere towards the middle of the page)
or here: http://www.atomicgamer.com/newsFeed.php?id=36125

Aside from dreamchess that I posted a ways up the page this has to be my all time fave. :)

[neilp85]

what i'de like to see is a chess game like the old battle chess game for dos. where the characters actually faught and stuff. that was cool. ;)

This is the goal for Brutal Chess and most of the needed framework has already been implemented. Now we are seeking help from artists/modelers/animators to fully realize this goal.

[scrooge_74]

After reading this post I gave Brutal Chess a trial run. After compiling it try to run, but it seems I got a bug. The game comes up with no chess pieces, but they are there I just cant see them. i can move them

Sad I wanted to try something new for New Years :D

[slimdog360]

I really wanted to try the 0.5 release of brutal chess but how cow its hard to compile. It needs so many different things Ive just given up. After downloading the rpm of the SDL package I converted it to a deb using alien but it still wouldnt install. I suppose the 0.3 release will have to do.

If anyone wants to create a 12 page howto Id be interested or perhaps a deb for edgy would be even better.

edit: A quick update, I finally managed to comile sdl and freetype sucessfully. But for some reason I cant get the sdl-image package working. Im so close I can taste it.

edit again: I managed to get sdl_image installed properly by using an older package. The thing now is that brutal chess wont make properly. I can get it to comile but it stuffs up when I use the 'make' command. Here is a very small portion of what I get /usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘GLenum’ was not declared in this scope
/usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘GLint’ was not declared in this scope
/usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘params’ was not declared in this scope

The reason I dont post the whole message is that its massive, the top part gets cut out because the terminal cuts it out. And if I post the whole part of what I do get knoqueror crashes. But essentially it just says the same thing over and over again.

[scrooge_74]

But I am no expert compiling and I didn't have any troubles doing it, righr now I am able to get clubber by the AI.

[neilp85]

I really wanted to try the 0.5 release of brutal chess but how cow its hard to compile. It needs so many different things Ive just given up. After downloading the rpm of the SDL package I converted it to a deb using alien but it still wouldnt install. I suppose the 0.3 release will have to do.

If anyone wants to create a 12 page howto Id be interested or perhaps a deb for edgy would be even better.

edit: A quick update, I finally managed to comile sdl and freetype sucessfully. But for some reason I cant get the sdl-image package working. Im so close I can taste it.

edit again: I managed to get sdl_image installed properly by using an older package. The thing now is that brutal chess wont make properly. I can get it to comile but it stuffs up when I use the 'make' command. Here is a very small portion of what I get /usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘GLenum’ was not declared in this scope
/usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘GLint’ was not declared in this scope
/usr/local/include/SDL/SDL_opengl.h:6442: error: ‘params’ was not declared in this scope

The reason I dont post the whole message is that its massive, the top part gets cut out because the terminal cuts it out. And if I post the whole part of what I do get knoqueror crashes. But essentially it just says the same thing over and over again.

I would like to help you fix this problem so that we are able to provide the most complete documentation possible. Based on what you've provided, my best guess is that you don't have all the OpenGL dev libraries. You need to have the freeglut3-dev package installed to be able to compile. Hopefully that fixes your problem but if not PM me with output and log files from the ./configure step.

[scrooge_74]

I had the same problem when I was compiling the game, but I did install a bunch of libraries I was been asked for.

I do find the AI to be evil, but it seems to repeat a few moves every couple of games (or it is just I repeat myself and she knows what to do) :D

[neilp85]

I had the same problem when I was compiling the game, but I did install a bunch of libraries I was been asked for.

Do you happen to remember any of the libraries you installed? We're working on making a list of all packages that you need to have installed to compile in Ubuntu.

[scrooge_74]

Do you happen to remember any of the libraries you installed? We're working on making a list of all packages that you need to have installed to compile in Ubuntu.

I can't be 100% sure, but taking into account when I read this thread, and the logs on synaptic

I think I had to install the following packages:

cl-asdf (1.89-1)
cl-sdl (0.2.2)
cl-sdl-img (0.2.2)
cl-uffi (1.5.8-1)
common-lisp-controller (4.27)
libsdl-image1.2-dev (1.2.4-1)
libtiff4-dev (3.7.4-1ubuntu3.2)
libtiffxx0c2 (3.7.4-1ubuntu3.2)
realpath (1.9.27)

Sorry I can't be more specific

[rolando2424]

I use brutal chess... To bad it just don't have the "Brutal" characters (I'm using the repositories version).

[scrooge_74]

I use brutal chess... To bad it just don't have the "Brutal" characters (I'm using the repositories version).

What repository are you using? I had to compile it

[neilp85]

What repository are you using? I had to compile it

There is an older version that I wouldn't recommend using in the Edgy universe repo. We will be releasing a bug fix in next couple of days and hopefully a .deb package along with it.

[rolando2424]

What repository are you using? I had to compile it

Good question :D

I use some Portuguese repository :D

[hikaricore]

Good question :D

I use some Portuguese repository :D

If you run:

sudo aptitude download brutalchess

the text output will show you what server it's downloading from :P

this assumes the package is called brutalchess, replace that with whatever it's actually called :)

because we want to steal your repos muhahahaha

[rolando2424]

If you run:

sudo aptitude download brutalchess

the text output will show you what server it's downloading from :P

this assumes the package is called brutalchess, replace that with whatever it's actually called :)

because we want to steal your repos muhahahaha

http://pt.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/universe brutalchess 0.0.20060314cvs-2

I believe it's that?

Perhaps you want for me to put my repository list? :D

[hikaricore]

Aye this version is availible all the default universe repos. Thanks for pointing it out tho. :) I'm not sure if this is the version people were originally having trouble with, I'm testing it out now.

[rolando2424]

Well, with that version I haven't had any problem :D

[scrooge_74]

Do you happen to remember any of the libraries you installed? We're working on making a list of all packages that you need to have installed to compile in Ubuntu.

Hey there, had to make some changes so I reinstall the game but now I get this message

Video mode set failed: Couldn't find matching GLX visual

[neilp85]

Hey there, had to make some changes so I reinstall the game but now I get this message

Video mode set failed: Couldn't find matching GLX visual

What video card and drivers are you using. It could be that those aren't set up correctly. Maybe try installing the proprietary binary drivers. For an nvidia card check here (http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy#How_to_install_Graphics_Driver_.28NVID IA.29), ATI check here (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Installation_Guide). Post back if that works or not, would really like to get this one figured out.

[scrooge_74]

What video card and drivers are you using. It could be that those aren't set up correctly. Maybe try installing the proprietary binary drivers. For an nvidia card check here (http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy#How_to_install_Graphics_Driver_.28NVID IA.29), ATI check here (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Installation_Guide). Post back if that works or not, would really like to get this one figured out.

I have an Nvidia card, and after some learning I manage to get them working a while back. For no reason it stop working after I installed the latest version of the game.

The one I compile before New Year was working fine with the binary drivers](*,)

[neilp85]

Try reinstalling the binary drivers then and see if that fixes things.

[phossal]

How, in all those responses, is it possible that no one mentions xboard? xboard is a simple, fast, 2D chess board, which aliases as Winboard in Windows. It connects to the widely used free chess server freechess.org, where it's possible to find GMs. For playing alone, it uses gnuchess (or any engine you specify) to punish you.

At least check it out.

[DoktorSeven]

Even better, eboard and gnuchess (as its chess engine). Nice GTK based chess program.

Also supports crafty, sjeng, and multiplayer FICS (freechess.org).

[Campitor]

Hello all:

I tryied installing pychess from http://gnomefiles.org/app.php/pychess

downloading the deb file, using firefox and gedebi. But I get a complaint about a dependency:

Error: Dependency is not sitisfied: python-central.

If I do: sudo apt-get install python-central

I get an error about package not found.

Any help would be great. Thanks

Camp

[hikaricore]

Hello all:

I tryied installing pychess from http://gnomefiles.org/app.php/pychess

downloading the deb file, using firefox and gedebi. But I get a complaint about a dependency:

Error: Dependency is not sitisfied: python-central.

If I do: sudo apt-get install python-central

I get an error about package not found.

Any help would be great. Thanks

Camp

hmm...what version of ubuntu are you using? python-central is in the main repos for edgy, I sshed to my box at home a minute ago and was able to download it:

[hikaricore@devistate:/root/.fluxbox]$ sudo aptitude download python-central
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Building tag database... Done
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main python-central 0.5.6ubuntu2 [31.3kB]
Fetched 31.3kB in 1s (26.5kB/s)

I checked the dapper and dapper-backport listings on the html site tho, and didn't see the package. You may need to track it down from another source:

http://packages.debian.org/testing/python/python-central
http://packages.debian.org/unstable/python/python-central

[Campitor]

I'm running dapper. I've searched all over, and I found a deb package for python-central 0.5.5, buty pychess wants at least version 0.5.8. Can I install the deb package used in edgy? or will this cause some mayor no.no?

Edit:
I found python-central from debia repository: http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/p/python-central/ version 0.5.12.
when I try to install pychess, I get the following error from gedebi:

Setting up pychess (0.6.0.beta5-1) ...
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 1373, in ?
main()
File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 1367, in main
rv = action.run(global_options)
File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 870, in run
requested = pyversions.requested_versions_for_runtime(pkg.vers ion_field, version_only=True)
File "/usr/share/pycentral-data/pyversions.py", line 162, in requested_versions_for_runtime
old = old_versions(version_only=True)
File "/usr/share/pycentral-data/pyversions.py", line 62, in old_versions
return [v[6:] for v in _old_versions]
TypeError: iteration over non-sequence
dpkg: error processing pychess (--install):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1

I'm close to giving up...

Camp

[Gen2ly]

I have the similiar thing a ma bob going on. I installed python-central from Synatic 0.5.6ubuntu2, download pychess from gnomefiles and Debian Package Manager reports "... dependency not met... python-central". I'm paraphrasing. Oh well. :(

[nealklomp]

Jose seems pretty darn good and the easiest to get going.
thanks all.

[ricardisimo]

Way back on Win 98SE, I ran a couple of automated mini-tournaments on the Chessbase software with Crafty, Junior 6 and Fritz 6, as well as a few other "free" programs, and I distinctly remember Crafty running the table at the faster speeds (<5 mins.). I have to assume it's only gotten better since then, so any board that will run Crafty should be good. What is the best platform for Crafty?

Are there any apps available in Linux that have some of the same functions as Chessbase? Things like creating and printing out tournament tables, annotating games with graphics, or like I was doing: running all-AI tournaments on your comp while you sleep. The database functions are probably what I would most want; being able to download, annotate and store a kerjillion .pgn or .cbf (?) games, and then search through them for certain positions, results, themes, etc. Thanks.

[ricardisimo]

I just found tourney-manager in the repos, but it might a take some learning... no gui here.