H. G. Muller wrote on Sat, May 17, 2008 01:50 PM UTC:
Note there are now many free computer programs that can play the 10x8
variants with the Capablanca piece set. Many do use the WinBoard protocol
to communicate their moves, so they can be made to play each other
automatically under the WinBoard GUI.
Pages with many links to downloadable engines you will find at
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/10x8.html and
[at another site.]
The results of a recent tournament of the WB compatible engines at long
time control (55 min + 5 sec/move), where each engine had to play each
other engine 10 times, over 5 different opening setups (Carrera, Bird,
Capablanca, and Embassy), led to the following ranking:
Rank Name Elo + - games score oppo. draws
1 Joker80 n 2432 96 83 70 80% 2110 0%
2 TJchess10x8 2346 83 76 70 72% 2122 4%
3 Smirf 1.73h 2304 80 75 70 68% 2128 4%
4 Smirf Donation 2165 73 73 70 53% 2148 9%
5 [other software]
6 Fairy-Max 4.8 v 2027 72 77 70 34% 2168 11%
7 BigLion80 4apr 1945 76 84 70 26% 2179 7%
8 ArcBishop80 1.00 1822 86 103 70 15% 2197 4%
Except for Smirf 1.73h, all the engines are available for free download,
from their various sources. In addition, there exist several programs with
incompatible interfaces, such as ChessV and Zillions of Games. Their level
of play is not thoroughly tested, as the incompatibility of their
interfaces makes it impossible to play them against each other without
assistance of a Human operator, which again makes it difficult to conduct
the hundreds of games necessary for reliable rating determination.
Compared to the ranking above, Zillions would rank at the very bottom.
[The above has been edited to remove a name and site reference. It is the
policy of cv.org to avoid mention of that particular name and site to
remove any threat of lawsuits. Sorry to have to do that, but we must
protect ourselves. - J. Joyce]