The Chess Lv.100 Lv.100
Dark Horse

Overall impression is good. I like the ELO rating. The program is incapable of creative thought however. I'm a new user and just beat it at the 70 level, which corresponds to an ELO rating of 1833. The way the program works is to wait for a mistake by the user and then strike hard. It will play for extra pawns, but not get deep into creative positions. You can see this mechanical nature when the program wastes moves. Once it starts doing so it is out of ideas. At that point the user can very gradually improve his position, without the program responding accordingly. I expect a higher level of play as the rating goes up, but I don't expect a significant change in the underlying idea. For chess players this could be a useful program as teacher to not make mistakes. Once the player gets the program in unfamiliar territory, through creative play, the level of opposition drops off fast. Maybe that's because the program doesn't give up. You have to play to check mate. Also, it could use a draw offer option. The only draws available now are through repetition of moves, but many positions are draws that don't need to be played through the end.