chess program for kids

Forum: Apps
Topic: chess program for kids
started by: aveline

Posted by aveline on July 14 2004,06:41

ok this is totally off topic and has little to norhting to do w/DSL but i am really stumped.

my last post talked about G'Compris & how it does not have a chess program in it. i got to wondering if someone out there in DSL land would know of a very or fairly good chess program for kids who are under 8.

i do not know where else to look because google will return so many false leads it is not funny nor do i know how to search for this knowledge on the rest of the web or i would.

if no one answers this i won't be a bit surprised but if someone does i'd be deeply grateful. ideally the proggy would be for windows & linux but i dont' mind if its just one or the other.

if someone knows of a URL or anything too just for the info on where to find such a thing i would also be very grateful.

ty
aveline

Posted by cbagger01 on July 14 2004,11:47

< http://www.debian.org/distrib/packages >

< http://rpmfind.net >

Posted by aveline on July 14 2004,18:45

thx guess i'll start there. heh... out of curiousity if i chose a debian package where would i find information on using/installing it to a dsl system?

Posted by laughing_gas on July 14 2004,20:47

By saying you want a Chess game for kids do you mean you want a game which teaches Kids to play the game, or a program with a lot of eye-candy.

Either way, check out FreshMeat:
< http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=chess&section=projects >

Posted by cbagger01 on July 15 2004,01:28

For more info, read the "how-to" and search the forums for keyword "apt", choose SEARCH ALL FORUMS and search FROM THE BEGINNING or NEWER

In short:

Choose Enable Apt from the menu and wait for it to install.
To install 'packagename', open an xterminal and type:

sudo su
apt-get install packagename

to install from the Debian 'stable' package server.

If you want to manually install a package file that you have downloaded, type:

sudo su
dpkg -i packagefilename.deb

Or if you want the point-n-click way of installing debian packages, choose "Synaptic" from the Got Memory & Bandwidth menu.

HTH

Posted by Rapidweather on July 23 2004,02:02

I hunted around and found this one:
---
< http://packages.debian.org/stable/games/phalanx >
---
It seems that the dependencies are not too great to prevent an easy installation
on a DSL system, although I have not tried it yet. Hard to find a chess game just
for kids, but I bet some pretty bright youngsters can tackle this one if we set it up
on DSL. If I get some time, I'll run it off Synaptic, and if it works, I'll try and stick it
in my remaster, currently running about 65 MB.
---

Posted by RobF on July 23 2004,07:10

There are droves of chess playing programs available for Windows, both free and commercial. The pickings are much slimmer for Linux. The catch here is that you want a program that a kid under the age of 8 can play against and possibly win. Most chess playing programs try to get the edge over others by having the more powerful chess engine. Even if you totally dumb down these high-powered engines (provided you can), they still play quite well, much better than an 8 year old beginner. After all, at full strength some of these engines can beat Kasparov!

The only program that I can think of that can cripple its engine so much (and cripple it somewhat intelligently) that an 8 year old can beat it is Chessmaster 9000 for Windows (or perhaps its up to 10000 by now, if so you may be able to get 9000 for very little or 8000 for even less, they'll do). The current version will cost you around $30-40, older ones less (but check for compatibility with your version of Windows OS). It's quite nice and full-featured and flexible, and it has a pretty nice looking interface that your kids would probably enjoy. It has dozens of different playing personalities, anything from matching a complete beginner to matching a grandmaster. You get a lot of bang for your buck with Chessmaster.

Otherwise, running under Windows, there are quite a few good free programs that can be dumbed down but perhaps not as much as would be needed for an 8-year old. Your kids may never beat them for a long time. Examples: Arasan, Arena, Bringer, Fritz (e.g. the old version 5.3 that comes with the free Chessbase Light), ChessGenius Classic, NetChess 5 ($15), RDChess, Scid. Of these, Chessbase Light with Fritz may be your best bet. You can find all of these by googling with their name plus chess, perhaps.

There is not nearly as much running under Linux. Examples: Xboard running the engines Gnuchess or Crafty (these come with many Linux distros), Eboard, Knights, Scid (Scid runs under both Windows and Linux). Eboard and Knights are quite allright.

Then there is the possibility of having your kids play against other kids or low-rated adults on the Internet through the Internet Chess Club (ICC) or the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS). You can download their clients (the programs that enable you to play on the net via their servers) for free. The ICC accepts guests who can play for free but to fully utilize their offerings you have to subscribe (around $50/year). The FICS is all free but it's not quite as sexy as the ICC.

My advice would be to get Chessmaster 9000 and also check out the ICC and FICS.

BTW, phalanx is just a chess engine, not a complete chess playing program. Phalanx is quite nice but at full strength is rated around ELO 2200 and probably around ELO 1500 when maximally crippled. You're a good to outstanding chess player when you get into that range.

Robert

Posted by RobF on July 23 2004,07:33

Addendum:

You said that ideally you'd want a program that runs under both Windows and Linux. The only one I know of is Scid which principally is a chess database program and not all that easy to use, esp. for kids (fairly complex) but it can also be used as a playing program. It comes with its own engine scidlet plus crafty and gnuchess, and you can install any other winboard-compliant or xboard-compliant chess engine of which there are more than a hundred. Some of them are fairly dumb and thus suitable, e.g. Nero. You have to look up their ELO ratings. But all of this may be more technical that you'd be willing to get involved with.

Save yourself the trouble and just buy Chessmaster!

Robert

Posted by vabene04 on Aug. 11 2004,18:56

Xboard runs under windows and linux. But the engines are quite strong - crafty and Gnuchess (and Sjeng). Nice is eboard as Chessboard. It allows you to play via Internet.
I made a dsl with eboard and Crafty. I send it to the board (Maybe it will appear there sometimes). I also put Gnuchess there. But they are all quiet strong. But whats etter. To play agains a weak program and win or to train and learn to stay against a strong opponent?