Shredder Chess for the IPhone/IPod Touch

[Z. Lasker]

As I am still trying to feel my way through some basic tactics and strategy I was looking for a cheap chess program with good feedback.  I downloaded the Shredder chess application for my IPod Touch (a great b-day gift from my family) and have been thrilled.  The interface is very easy to use, allows for easy setup of positions, and gives move my move feedback that does a decent job of evaluating whole board position (by my humble estimation).  It also gives an estimate of ELO rank. Although I understand it can be off by quite a bit, it gives a nice gauge for progress. Additionally, it comes with a nice set of problems.  Total price tag is $8 if you happen to have an IPhone or IPod touch.  I understand they have a suite of programs for the computer, but I have yet to check them out.

[Capablanca]

I just checked out some screenshots and it sounds like a great buy. What's the maximum strength you can set it to? My guess is that it probably hovers around 2200, which is more than enough for some quick playing.

I have Shredder 9 for the Mac (they're in v12 right now) and it's fine. It gives += type of evaluation with some numeric values and is a good analysis tool. For Windows I use Rybka 3 and Fritz 11 (v12 just came out). I like Fritz because of its commenting when you set it to run a full analysis of a game. I wish I could add some to the program like "What a patzer move!" or "You don't understand this position, do you?". I find Fritz very easy to use, but Rybka can be a bit confusing. I still have to spend more time learning to use all its features. It's a bit like PhotoShop: you can do some great stuff with the program, but you need to learn how to use it.

[Z. Lasker]

The maximum set strength is 2400, but I'm not sure how strong Shredder really is in comparison to other programs, especially running on the iphone processor.

[Capablanca]

The maximum set strength is 2400, but I'm not sure how strong Shredder really is in comparison to other programs, especially running on the iphone processor.

Wow! 2400 seems way too strong for such a device. The iPhone processing speed is about 400 mhz. I guess the device can pipe most of that power to the app, but still sounds like a rating in ideal conditions. It would be interesting to set up a match between that app and others made for portable devices like Fritz for Windows mobile, Chess Tiger, etc. I bet they all suck at endgames since endgame hash tables are probably left out. Anyway, it sounds like you got yourself a nice app that would give most of us a run for their money. My guess is that under normal conditions the program plays at 2000-2200 strength, which is an expert strength and nothing to sneeze at.