I use my own chess set to figure out my moves, then enter my decision into the
app. I do not play using the onscreen board.
If you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished!!
From: JT
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2017 9:54 AM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Some Questions About Shredder
Hi Evan & Jim H, and everybody else!
As far as setting time control on FICS, Jim H, you are right, you cannot set
time control based on number of moves. You can only set it for the entire game.
Jim Slagle worked out that you can approximate to the 30/60 time control we use
in our tournaments by setting game/1200 (that’s seconds) with a delay factor of
90. If you avoid taking a particularly long time on a move, this will generally
work. The other thing you won’t get, though, is remaining time once the game is
over. Well, more accurately, what it will give you as remaining time is pretty
meaningless.
As to the Evaluation numbers in Shredder, I finally figured out that if it
shows a + sign, it means white’s advantage. If it does not show the +, it means
black’s advantage. The number itself approximates pawns. For example, if
Shredder shows +1.29, it means that white has an overall advantage of roughly a
pawn and a quarter. It calculates based, not only on material equality, but
also on positional factors. It seems to be generally fairly accurate, as far as
I can tell. However, do not always take Shredder at his word. I was playing
Shredder, and I reached a point where I could promote a pawn. Yaaahooo! I
observed that if I promoted to a queen, he got some counterplay, but if I
promoted to a knight, I would promote with check, and, after he made the only
move he could make, I would fork his king and queen. Shredder told me he
thought I’d made a bad move when I promoted to a knight. And he was playing at
something like 1450 rating strength. I told him to shut up and continue. Two
moves later, when his king and queen were forked, he resigned. So, As Master
Ross has pointed out on more occasions than one, computer analysis is not
always to be believed.
I’ll tell you what, though, I’m loving Shredder. Are you guys using it with an
auxiliary board or are you just using the phone screen to help orient yourself?
All the best,
Jim T
From: usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Evan Reese
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 9:15 PM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Some Questions About Shredder
Hi Jim,
Well, after playing, and resigning, from two games, Shredder now says my ELO
rating is 996, and that it will reduce its playing strength from 1396, where I
experimentally set it from its default of 1400, to 1196. I’m done for tonight,
but I’ll see if I can tell the difference in its playing strength when I try a
game tomorrow.
I’m having a lot of fun.
Evan
From: Jim Homme
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 10:04 PM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Some Questions About Shredder
Hi Evan,
I'll take a stab at some answers. The numbers you talk about represent the
evaluation graph. It says who is ahead and how far it thinks they are ahead.
I don't understand how to read it. You can turn it on and off in the Settings
tab.
As for finding help, you can see Help in the Info tab. Almost at the bottom you
will see a link to a page of frequently asked questions and answers, and
another one to the web site of the deveeloper, where you can read more help.
As for how it said what opening you were using, it probably either contains the
ECO table of openings or looks it up. For more info
on that, google encyclopedia of chess openings or see Wikipedia about chess
openings. You can also see much of the same information at Wiki Books.
If you are interested, you could also get another chess game for your phone
called ChessWise. It has some different features than Shredder has. For playing
games, I like Shredder best. For checking out openings and end games, I like
Chesswise the best. The paid version of ChessWise lets you play using your
member profile on the Free Internet Chess Server, FICS, if you have one.
Unfortunately, though, the last time I checked, you couldn't set every time
control our group uses. I could be wrong about that, though.
Thanks.
JimWhen it says "This game can still be rated," I am unsure what that means.
On Feb 10, 2017, at 8:28 PM, Evan Reese <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hey Guys,
I just played my first game against Shredder. I went twenty moves before I
gave it up. But I’m going to start another one here in a minute.
I think I could get hooked on this app pretty quickly. I know it’s not the
same as playing against a human, but it’s a lot of fun and there are no points
on the line, as well as being great to be able to take moves back and get hints
if I want.
I just had a few questions.
Firstly, does anyone know what this Evaluation number means? It seems to
change every time I look at it. Currently it says Evaluation 3.68 after my 20th
move.
Also, is there a manual for this program that explains the various features?
I hit the About button and the Info button, but I didn’t notice any kind of
documentation. For example, I played White in this first game, and I did not
consciously try a specific opening because I don’t know any, but here it says
Opening C26. How did it get that if I wasn’t playing an opening? Another
example of a question would be that it says at the bottom right of the screen,
“This game can still be rated. Image.” Does anyone know how to activate that
with Voiceover. It doesn’t appear to be a button. I just brought up a Ratings
screen, and it says zero games and zero ratings, so how do I get it to start
rating me. Can I get an ELO rating from it?
Thanks for any advice.
This is truly a great app, and extremely accessible with Voiceover.
Evan
