Here's a review of the strongest chess program for the Macintosh
The HCS format book can be used by HIARCS 14 engines on Mac and PC. 'Hiarcs by Mark Uniacke comes in so many formats there is virtually no place you can't play a game against it. HIARCS is actually an acronym that stands for 'Higher Intelligence Auto Response Chess System', and it truly lives up the name. You simply do not see you. Mid-American Conference football teams must play at least three of the six games on their conference-only schedule to be eligible for the league title. Play begins Nov.
(at tournament time controls vs. other chess programs, at least).fow...@netcom.com (Richard A. Fowell)
Program Name: HIARCS 6.0 Mac
Type: Chess Playing Program (Commercial)
Requires: 68020+, System 7.1+, 640x400 pixels+, CD-ROM, 3MB RAM
List Price: $150
Street Price: $116 US ($58 US if upgrading from HIARCS 1.0 Mac)
Copy Protection: No
PPC Native: Yes
Publisher: Applied Computer Concepts Ltd.
HIARCS 6.0 Mac is the Macintosh version of the top PC program on the
November 1997 SSDF rating list [1], and HIARCS 6.0 runs even faster on
Power Macintoshes than on Pentiums [2]. HIARCS 6.0 Mac should be about
130 rating points stronger than (almost twice as strong as) the second
strongest Mac chess program, Chessmaster 4000 Mac [3]. HIARCS 6.0 Mac
was released in October 1997.
HIARCS 6.0 Mac isn't for everyone. Even the freeware MacChess provides
a master-strength opponent that few people can beat
(<http://members.aol.com/Macchess/>), and for $40, Chessmaster 4000
provides a nearly undefeatable opponent for most of us, with varied
opponent styles, tutorials, etc. (See review:
<http://www.imgmagazine.com/issues/vol5_issue5/chessmaster_review.html>)
Unlike Chessmaster 4000, HIARCS has no tutorials, a single 2D set, and
no 3D set. However, unlike the unhappy plethora of Chessmaster sets,
the HIARCS set is the legible 'diagram-style' style from chess books.
The increased strength and special analysis features of HIARCS make it
worth considering for serious chess players, however. For post-mortem
analysis and analysis of pet opening variations, an engine that is 130
points stronger than Chessmaster for something less than the cost of
entry to a major chess tournament is not unreasonable. HIARCS has
several special analysis features that Chessmaster lacks:
- Analyse W or B: A key reason for buying the best engine you can get
is to analyse your games to see where you can improve.
This task requires only the best move for your side
(White OR Black) in each position. Both HIARCS and
Chessmaster will analyse a game from a given position
to the end, and log the results to a file. However,
HIARCS gives you the option of analyzing for only one
side, while Chessmaster always analyzes for both,
which takes twice as long.
- Monitor mode: you move the pieces manually, and every time you move,
HIARCS immediately starts analyzing.This mode also
enables the 'k-var' option and the opening tree display.
- 'k-var' option: (HIARCS6:variations) Here, HIARCS displays the best
'k' continuations (k=1,2 or 3, set by the user). This
shows you not only the 'best' move, but the best
alternatives as well. Of course, the search depth for
any single variation is less, since the computer has
to work several variations in parallel.
- Opening display: In 'monitor mode', HIARCS displays (in addition to
its analysis) the list of responses in its opening
book for that position, followed by (what I assume are)
numbers representing the relative frequency that HIARCS
will choose these moves. HIARCS also displays the
opening name and ECO code whether in 'monitor mode' or
not. Chessmaster displays opening names, only. Since
the HIARCS books is advertised as having 143,000
positions in it, there is a lot of information here.
- Next best move: This makes HIARCS take back its last move and look for
the next best alternative. This is a more 'hands-on'
alternative to 'k-var', and also an interesting
way to force HIARCS to play a different opening line,
or to handicap HIARCS.
The HIARCS 6.0 interface follows the Macintosh guidelines for the most
part. Two exceptions: it uses cyclic (changing) menu items rather than
hierarchical menus for several options, and the position setup uses menu
commands for many things usually handled by buttons. However, it is much
more 'Mac-like' than Chessmaster's baroque buttons, sliders and
non-defaulting dialog boxes. The interface is a slightly improved version
of the HIARCS 1.0 Mac interface. The HIARCS 1.0 Mac demo is available at:
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/game/brd/hiarcs-chess-10-demo.hqx>.
(There is no demo version of HIARCS 6.0 Mac). The documentation consists
of a 4-page Mac-specific pamphlet, a quick reference card, and the
43-page HIARCS PC manual.
A thorough list of the HIARCS 6.0 Mac features can be found on the Web at:
<http://www.acc-ltd.demon.co.uk/mach6.htm>. Those familiar with HIARCS
6.0 PC will note that these features are omitted from the Mac version:
- database filter and non-PGN import
(try the freeware ExaChess Lite 1.1 for this, available at:
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/game/brd/exa-chess-lite-11.hqx>)
- variable hash table size (HIARCS 6.0 Mac uses a 256K hash table)
- book opening editor
- autosensor board support
- figurine notation support
- board/piece customization
(The adventurous can do this with ResEdit)
- colored text.
I put together a HIARCS 6.0 speed benchmark by taking 32 problems from
the LCTII test and running them for 4.5 minutes each to simulate
tournament time controls with thinking on the opponent's time. Note that
'Analyse EPD' only reports nodes used if the 'bm' (best move) or
'am' (avoid move) EPD tag is used, and HIARCS stops when it first finds
the solution. Note that this can lead to falsely high scores on EPD
problem tests, since HIARCS might change its mind given more time.
For this test, I used false 'best moves' in the test file to make HIARCS
think the full 4.5 minutes. Here are results for HIARCS 6.0 Mac and PC.
These nodes/second (nps) speeds are fairly consistent - when the speed
on each problem is normalized to a generic model created by averaging
the solution times across the machines, the standard deviation of the
nodes/second (nps) on a given machine was less than 4%. Note that the
second row here is a machine using a Newer Technologies upgrade card
(250 MHz 'G3' or 'Arthur' chip). Apple's new 266MHz G3 machines should
do pretty well here, too.
HIARCS 6.0 Speed on Macs and PCs
Machine Processor Mean nps Mean nps/MHz
Mac 9600/350 350MHz 604e 39,489 nps 113 Sys 7.6.1
Mac 9600/250 250MHz 750 36,197 nps 145 Sys 8 + Speed Doubler
Mac 7300/180 180MHz 604e 22,184 nps 123 Sys 7.5.5
AMD K6/200 200MHz K6 21,396 nps 107
Mac 20th Ann. 250MHz 603e 12,591 nps 50 Sys 7.6.1
Pentium 120MHz P5 8,273 nps 69
Mac 6100/66 66MHz 601 5,651 nps 85 Sys 7.5.1?
Mac Quadra 610 1,280 nps Sys 7.5?
Comparison between HIARCS 1.0 Mac and HIARCS 6.0 Mac
If you own HIARCS 1.0 Mac, you may be wondering whether it is worth
upgrading. Between the new engine and increased speed, Power Macintosh
owners should see a strength increase of over 200 rating points (150
if Speed Doubler was used before). This increase is largely due to the
increased speed of compiling to PPC native code (7-10 times faster than
68K code without Speed Doubler), and the rest due to a stronger engine
(60 Elo stronger than the HIARCS 4.0 engine based on SSDF results).
The strength increase is much less impressive for older Macs - just
that 60 Elo. In addition, there are the improved analysis features:
- k-var mode
- opening display of ECO codes and books alternatives
- game analysis for White/Black only (this didn't work in version 1.0)
- improved PGN import/export features
- improved EPD analysis features (recognizes 'bm' and 'am' codes for
problem tests)
There are also a number of other new features: a 'Max Time' option
(for fixed time/move, use Level:Infinite and this option), storage
of user annotations for each move, purge EPD file of annotations,
six levels of selectivity vs. three in v1.0, support for Fischer
Shuffle chess, English/German/French menus all standard, a larger
opening book, and a board pattern that displays better on B/W displays.
Conclusion
HIARCS 6.0 is the strongest Macintosh chess program, and has advanced
analysis features its closest rival lacks. HIARCS is expensive, but
cheaper (and stronger) than a good stand-alone chess computer. For
serious chess analysis, HIARCS is the best Mac chess program available.
Where to buy HIARCS 6.0 Mac
A list of HIARCS distributors is on the publisher's web site:
<http://www.acc-ltd.demon.co.uk/dist.htm>
The U.S. distributor ICD/Your Move Chess & Games is at
(800) 645-4710, <http://www.icdchess.com/>, email ICD@ICDchess.com
Another distributor to consider is the Gambitsoft site in Germany,
which quotes a 7-10 day delivery to the USA, and sells HIARCS 6.0 Mac for
$116 US ($58 US for upgrade from HIARCS 1.0 Mac) including shipping.
The Gambitsoft site is at: <http://www.gambitsoft.com>
Notes
Can You See Thinking During A Game Hiarcs Mac Os
[1] The SSDF rating list can be found at:
<http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-36794/ssdf/>
Note that, statistically speaking, HIARCS 6.0 is only 'first amongst
equals' - the difference between it and Rebel 9 is statistically
insignificant. Also, the newest versions of MChess, Fritz, Nimzo,
and others are not yet rated - they may be better.
[2] Based on a thorough (33-problem, 2.5 hour) HIARCS 6.0 speed benchmark.
On my 7300/180 (180MHz 604e), HIARCS 6.0 runs 10% faster than a 200MHz
AMD K6. The nodes/second/CPU MHz speed for HIARCS 6.0 on machines with
256K L2 cache was: Mac 604e: 123, AMD K6: 107, Mac 601: 85,
Pentium P5: 67.
[3] The Selective Search rating list at
<http://www.elhchess.demon.co.uk/ehss.htm>
estimated these Elo ratings on Pentium 100s:
HIARCS 6.0: 2536 +/- 16, Chessmaster 4000: 2408 +/- 51.
The HIARCS Mac menus:
FILE EDIT ANALYSIS VIEW
New Game [N] Undo [Z] Monitor [M] Show Analysis
Save Game [S] Cut [X] Takeback [T] Flip Board
Restore Game [R] Copy [C] Forward [F] Coordinates
List Game [G] Paste [V] Mark Position Sound
Export EPD Position Previous Position Flash
Import EPD Abort Edit Next Position Replay
Analyse EPD Clear Board Goto Move Language
Purge EPD Toggle to Add Goto Start [[] Game Details
Export PGN Move Number Goto End []]
Import PGN Castling Rights Goto Keypoint
Delete PGN Commit White Edit [W] Analyse Game
Save Preferences Commit Black Edit [B] Add Annotation
Quit [Q] Delete Annotation
GAME LEVEL HIARCS OPTIONS
Play Instant Move Now [ESC] Etiquette
Pause Average Resp. [J] Give Hint [H] Your Name
Swap Sides Adaptive Best Line Set Piece Chars
Fix Time White Preset TimeCtrl Auto Play Short Algebraic
Fix Time Black Change TimeCtrl Next Best Set Draw
Offer Draw New TimeCtrl Permanent Brain Move Rule
Resign Incremental Clk [K] Selectivity Max Depth
Adjudicate Game Infinite [I] Style Max Time
Optimise Best Play Book
Hash Table Current Rating
Variations Clear Rating
Shuffle Chess
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