ChessGenius for the Palm Computing® Platform
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ChessGenius is a world championship winning chess program for the Palm Computing® Platform. Superb playing strength and packed with features for beginners and experts. It runs on all Palm devices including all Centro, LifeDrive, TX, Z22, Tungsten, Zire, Treo, Tapwave and Sony Clie devices.

Version 2.3 with new features including Bluetooth play and display of opening name.. This is a free update for all registered users. Install over the previous version. No need to enter License Key again.
Download
Try before you buy! Download ChessGenius 2.3 and try it out for free.
Buy now (Register)
Please buy to unlock the full features. You will receive a License Key that will unlock the full features of the download. No need to download and install again.

  • Buy with PayPal. Instant fulfillment.
    If you have a PayPal account please buy ChessGenius with PayPal. Enter the HotSync User ID of your device then click the PayPal button. ChessGenius costs U.S. $9.95 including VAT/Tax. Your License Key key will be sent by email immediately.
    Note: To locate your HotSync User ID, do the following on your Palm OS handheld:
    1. From the main Applications screen, locate and tap on the HotSync icon.
    2. Note the name at the upper right - that is your HotSync User ID. It is case and punctuation sensitive.

Features of ChessGenius for Palm
  • Free updates
    Buy ChessGenius once and all future updates will be free.
  • Incredibly strong play
    Excellent play even on the 'instant' level
  • Forty playing levels (standard engine)
    Ten easy levels. ChessGenius makes deliberate mistakes
    Ten time based levels. Instant, 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, 5 sec, ... 3 mins
    Ten Blitz levels. Whole game in 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 5 min, .... 120 min. The Chess Clocks count down in these levels. You lose if you run out of time
    Ten Problem solving levels. Solve newspaper checkmate in x moves problems
  • Thirty additional playing levels (ARM engine)
    OS5 Palm devices support the ARM native engine. This has 30 playing levels. Ten Easy, ten time based levels and ten Blitz levels.
  • Game information
    The last moves of the game
    Chess Clocks. Total White and Black time and move time
    Main line. For example, the line may show:
    "1.03 05 cxd4 Nxd4 Nc6 Bb5" This means that:
    ChessGenius is winning by 1.03 pawns. Search depth = 5, and line of moves. ChessGenius is planning cxd4 and expects Nxd4 in reply etc
  • Set-up position
    Any legal position can be entered
  • Take back and Step forward
    Take back moves to start of game and Step forward to end of game. Easy take back and step forward with the 5-way Navigator/ Jog dial / scroll up/down buttons
  • Hint
    Let ChessGenius suggest your move
  • Players
    Play against ChessGenius, against another player or watch ChessGenius play itself
  • Analyze game
    Like 2 player mode but ChessGenius calculates continuously and shows its thinking. Useful for replaying games to see where mistakes have been made or for playing over an imported PGN Master game.
  • Infrared play option
    Play against another player who has ChessGenius installed on a Palm device using the infrared port
  • Rules of Chess
    Understands all the rules of Chess including, en-passant, under promotion, castling, draw by repetition and the 50 move rule.
  • Save and Load games
    Games can be saved and loaded as (PGN compatible) memo's. Games can be transferred between Palm and Desktop PC. For details see the FAQ page
  • Permanent brain option
    ChessGenius assumes that the human player will play the hint move and calculates its reply whilst waiting. It will play stronger.
  • Tutor option
    ChessGenius will warn if a blunder / weak move is played and give the option of take back.
  • Three board views
    Choose between three chessboard sizes
  • High-Resolution Support
    ChessGenius supports high resolution on Sony Clie's and on all Palm OS5 devices. It also supports the Handera 330
  • Show legal moves option
    If this option is enabled tapping a piece will show all the squares the piece can move to. If the piece has no moves all pieces that can move are indicated.
  • Championship
    The word 'Championship' is displayed on the small board view if you have not used Hint, Taken back moves or viewed the Main line. Can you beat ChessGenius without help?
  • Board coordinates option
    Coordinates can optionally be displayed on the chessboard.
New features of ChessGenius 2.3
  • Opening Name displayed.
    For example. Book B12 Caro-Kann defence. Requires OS5 and above
  • Bluetooth play.
    You can play against another player who has ChessGenius installed on a Bluetooth enabled Palm device
  • Next best move option.
    After ChessGenius has played a move "Next best" will force ChessGenius to take back its last move and compute the next best move. This is useful for forcing ChessGenius to play a particular opening and for analyzing positions.
  • Improved graphics.
    New piece set
New features of ChessGenius 2.2
  • New full screen display for all 320x480 models from Palm, Sony and Tapwave in landscape and portrait mode.
    Play on a big chessboard and see full game information!
  • Buttons for commonly used game functions.
  • Show last move option.
    Display of the last move made can now be disabled
  • Now easier to play a game with the black pieces.
New features of ChessGenius 2.0
  • ARM native chess engine
    OS5 devices can optionally use the new engine which supports hash tables. On a Palm Tungsten T3 with 400Mhz Intel XScale processor it runs 20 times faster than previous versions. It is around 400 ELO stronger. The original world champion engine is also included for full compatibility with older Palm devices.
    Note: OS5 or higher is required to run the ARM engine.)
  • Ability to switch between engines. (OS5 only)
  • Auto-off time can be adjusted.
  • Setup position allows castling rights to be set.
  • Option to view position count and positions searched per second




Actual Screen Shots

Portrait mode

Landscape mode


Awards


at PalmGear


rated by ZDNet

ChessGenius 1.0 was one of just five finalists in the 'Palm OS: Games catagory' in the '2000 ZDNet PDA SoftwareAwards competition'


rated by Tucows



"If you're looking for the strongest handheld chess program available, buy ChessGenius." Chris Kantack's LCD Chess Information Site. [More]

Comments by users:
I downloaded the new version and to my surprise I have seen that it now knows my pet opening Modern Benoni much deeper than the previous version. And all this without paying any extra penny. Purchase of the ChessGenius license has been my best spent money ever! Thanks.

One of the very best Palm chess programs, and my personal favorite. Now the strongest Palm chess program for those with a Zire or Tungsten and PalmOS 5.0, thanks to the ARM engine option.

"And man oh man... 25,165 positions/sec. That's nuts for a Palm unit! Love it, love it, love it."

"Chess has never been this much fun... Educational, occasionally exciting and useful. Every feature you've ever wanted from a chess game is here... plays a very strong game." (Palmtop User magazine issue 1)

"Your Palm chess program is quite incredible. A really good example of how to get a ship into a bottle! I can see that all of my future train and 747 journeys will be much brighter."

"This is one of the tightest programmed applications I’ve used, in terms of making the interface well-integrated with the purpose. Awesome!"

"This is not by a long shot the first chess program I used, but it is the most impressive. It is small enough to download quickly and takes up little space and whips me at chess consistently. It is humbling to have something I can hold in my hand be smarter than me."

"The only feature I need now is a higher IQ."

"Site after site has heaped praise on this program, and with good reason – it is the only alternative for the serious player who wants to play chess with his/her Palm device."See the full review

"I just wanted to say that I am a registered user of ChessGenius for the Palm, and I love this product. Rarely do developers succeed in creating powerful applications that are both simple in their execution and elegant in their interface. The full board view is beautiful!"

"Chess Genius has a good pedigree. It plays very well too, even on the faster levels. It impresses hugely, with a range of features that would fit well on a commercial desktop game."
(PalmUser magazine issue 3)


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Copyright © 2012 Lang Software Limited. All rights reserved. This page last modified November 2012