(Free) draughts software

[Wishmaster]

Several people have created draughts videos of which many can be found on YouTube. Some nicer layout than others (like options to highlight fields or moves along the analysis.
Are there specific programs that make it possible to create such videos easily, or is this something that everyone just makes in their own way?

[sultan_Ratrout]

Hello All
This is taken from my guide to checkers families and rules
You can download it from here
download/file.php?id=2554

(IX) Sotwares and Applications (Many draughts variants)
[1] Softwares
WorldCheckers8 http://hwiegman.home.xs4all.nl/worldcheckers.html
Aurora Borealis http://aurora.shashki.com
Checkers-7 2.5 http://www.styleseven.com
Checkersland http://www.checkersland.com
Gigant Checkers http://members.chello.cz/pxmsoft
iXO http://www.setupgroup.com/xo_windows.php
Mad Checkers http://www.sapphiregames.com/madcheckers/
Cerberus Checkers http://home.planet.nl/~nagel580/
Zillions of games http://www.zillions-of-games.com [inbuilt]
Checkers Collection http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bi ... ow;id=2351
Checker Games http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bi ... how;id=218
Checkers variants http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/checkersvariants.htm
Scandinavian Checkers http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/scandinaviancheckers.htm
Frisian Checkers http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/frisian.htm

[2] Apps
2.1 Android Apps
Checkersland https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... eckersland
Dalmax Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.checkers
Oktaba Draughts https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... k.draughts
iXO https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... up.xo.free
Checkers elite https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... a.checkers
Out of the bit Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... hecheckers
B-interaktive Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ckers.live
Checkers V+ https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ckersvfree
Bali Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.Checkers
Plus one labs Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.checkers
Harokosoft Draughts https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... t.checkers
Miroslav draughts https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... hts&c=apps

2.2 Iphone + Ipad Apps
Checkers and Draught https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/checker ... 4502?mt=12
Itchigoo Checkers https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/i ... d372170918

[damasmatilde]

Hello.

I'm Angel Galan Galan. Some time ago I make an engine to play Spanish checkers with CheckerBoard by Martin Fierz. Also, I make the engines Marujito, Mantello and Marinha to play English, Italian and Brazilian chekers. All are very weak, I'm an amateur programmer. I updated the google sheet with the link to download it. In the future I want to continue developing with Lazarus but I need some time. Enjoy the game...

Angel.

[igorlemasson]

Hello.

I'm Angel Galan Galan. Some time ago I make an engine to play Spanish checkers with CheckerBoard by Martin Fierz. Also, I make the engines Marujito, Mantello and Marinha to play English, Italian and Brazilian chekers. All are very weak, I'm an amateur programmer. I updated the google sheet with the link to download it. In the future I want to continue developing with Lazarus but I need some time. Enjoy the game...

Angel.

Great news Angel,
Did you also created the "Matilde" (spanish draughts), right?

Welcome back to Draughts community, several developers are active here and sharing many ideas!

Could you share your last binary engine versions and some information about them? Then I might add the info and download link in "(Free) draughts software" document.

Regards,
Igor

[igorlemasson]

Hello All
This is taken from my guide to checkers families and rules
You can download it from here
download/file.php?id=2554

(IX) Sotwares and Applications (Many draughts variants)
[1] Softwares
WorldCheckers8 http://hwiegman.home.xs4all.nl/worldcheckers.html
Aurora Borealis http://aurora.shashki.com
Checkers-7 2.5 http://www.styleseven.com
Checkersland http://www.checkersland.com
Gigant Checkers http://members.chello.cz/pxmsoft
iXO http://www.setupgroup.com/xo_windows.php
Mad Checkers http://www.sapphiregames.com/madcheckers/
Cerberus Checkers http://home.planet.nl/~nagel580/
Zillions of games http://www.zillions-of-games.com [inbuilt]
Checkers Collection http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bi ... ow;id=2351
Checker Games http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bi ... how;id=218
Checkers variants http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/checkersvariants.htm
Scandinavian Checkers http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/scandinaviancheckers.htm
Frisian Checkers http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/frisian.htm

[2] Apps
2.1 Android Apps
Checkersland https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... eckersland
Dalmax Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.checkers
Oktaba Draughts https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... k.draughts
iXO https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... up.xo.free
Checkers elite https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... a.checkers
Out of the bit Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... hecheckers
B-interaktive Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ckers.live
Checkers V+ https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ckersvfree
Bali Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.Checkers
Plus one labs Checkers https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.checkers
Harokosoft Draughts https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... t.checkers
Miroslav draughts https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... hts&c=apps

2.2 Iphone + Ipad Apps
Checkers and Draught https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/checker ... 4502?mt=12
Itchigoo Checkers https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/i ... d372170918

Hi Sultan, thanks for your input.
I'll review these applications and add them into the document.

Thanks,
Igor

[sultan_Ratrout]

Hello Igor

I have more to add. I will put them in the next update of the checkers guide.

regards

[damasmatilde]

Great news Angel,
Did you also created the "Matilde" (spanish draughts), right?

Welcome back to Draughts community, several developers are active here and sharing many ideas!

Could you share your last binary engine versions and some information about them? Then I might add the info and download link in "(Free) draughts software" document.

Regards,
Igor

Thanks Igor.

I write this info in the document. I think is right.

Angel.

PD I read the document later, thanks for the changes and put each engine in your site.

Again, regards.

[A.Presman]

Hello friends and contributors!

Thank you for everyone's great work.
We created this list once to make it as easy as possible for the creators of software to add their programs to the list.
At this moment the most of existing software is already there.
In the mean time there were also wrong actions of anonymous user(s) deleting some info from the spreadsheet.
This has been restored now.

But I think that it is beter now to close the spreadsheet for anonymous editing.
So I changed the spreadsheet share status to private.
Of course everybody can always reqest and obtain the editor right. But it won't be anonymous anymore,

[clp]

Scan Draughts by Tim Vermeulen is currently by far the best draughts program (10x10) for the IOS platform.

Dutch region - https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/scan-dammen/id1110459384
US region - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scan-drau ... ?ls=1&mt=8

Or google: App Store id1110459384.

Tested by me on iPhone SE 2016 and iPad mini 2 (64 bit).

Enjoy!

[orac81]

DYNAMO DRAUGHTS is an open source program that plays International (10x10), Canadian (12x12), Spanish, American Pool, Brazilian, Portugese and Russian (8x8) games. It is moderately strong for its time, has many features not found on modern programs, and it was widely featured on many magazine cover disks and shareware libraries back in the 1990s. It was the first program to implement PDN. The original DOS version with GUI is included, together with a simpler text/console version for win32 and linux, which compiles with C99 compatible compilers.

Download dynamo v9.20 with source:

dyna920a.zip

(Dynamo draughts)

(227.93 KiB) Downloaded 68 times

More details (and further updates) here:

https://github.com/orac81/Orac-Draughts

dyna2k1.png (5.96 KiB) Viewed 1787 times

The DOS version will run in DOSBOX ok, but remember that emulators are around 100x slower than "native" DOS. If you can set a virtual PC, or add a real MS-DOS boot option to your system boot menu (GRUB) it will be stronger/ faster. But do remember, it is a "historic" program, not as strong as modern programs. It does have some interesting features, for example you can set a 10x8 or 9x9 or 7x7 board size..

In the GitHub link you will also find ORAC Draughts, a 6502 8x8 checkers program, originally written/published for the commodore PET in 1981! The unexpanded vic20 version is only 3300 bytes, yet it plays surprisingly well. It seemed to beat other commercial programs, like the fidelity checker challenger, and may even be the strongest 6502 program of its time.

Now my question is - was there ever a strong (or even any) 10x10 draughts program for a 6502 computer? (Apple 2, Commodore 64, Atari 400 etc..)

Maybe some older players remember DYNAMO? I hope you enjoy playing it!

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

DYNAMO DRAUGHTS is an open source program that plays International (10x10), Canadian (12x12), Spanish, American Pool, Brazilian, Portugese and Russian (8x8) games. It is moderately strong for its time, has many features not found on modern programs, and it was widely featured on many magazine cover disks and shareware libraries back in the 1990s. It was the first program to implement PDN. The original DOS version with GUI is included, together with a simpler text/console version for win32 and linux, which compiles with C99 compatible compilers.

Download dynamo v9.20 with source:

dyna920a.zip


More details (and further updates) here:

https://github.com/orac81/Orac-Draughts



dyna2k1.png

The DOS version will run in DOSBOX ok, but remember that emulators are around 100x slower than "native" DOS. If you can set a virtual PC, or add a real MS-DOS boot option to your system boot menu (GRUB) it will be stronger/ faster. But do remember, it is a "historic" program, not as strong as modern programs. It does have some interesting features, for example you can set a 10x8 or 9x9 or 7x7 board size..

In the GitHub link you will also find ORAC Draughts, a 6502 8x8 checkers program, originally written/published for the commodore PET in 1981! The unexpanded vic20 version is only 3300 bytes, yet it plays surprisingly well. It seemed to beat other commercial programs, like the fidelity checker challenger, and may even be the strongest 6502 program of its time.

Now my question is - was there ever a strong (or even any) 10x10 draughts program for a 6502 computer? (Apple 2, Commodore 64, Atari 400 etc..)

Maybe some older players remember DYNAMO? I hope you enjoy playing it!

At the very beginning, thank you for this program. Sorry for asking if it is possible for you to create a program that will run on modern Windows systems.

[BertTuyt]

Adrian, thank you for sharing. Think as you mentioned, DYNAMO cant compete with the top-programs today, but sharing is historically very significant, especially the source , so we can understand some ideas of the 90-ties.

I remember playing to DYNAMO, in 1994 and 1996 during the Open Dutch Championships, not sure we met there face-to-face. To my knowledge you were the "inventor" of pdn, which was based upon the pgn-format (if im right).

As im now writing the history of computer draughts (in the end it will consist of 3 volumes, around 1000 pages in total i expect), im interested to share some emails with you, to get some background information. Just drop me a private message via this forum, and we can exchange email-addresses.

Bert

[BertTuyt]

Krzysztof,

i compiled the source with Visual Studio, and all seem to work.
If you want i can sent you a .exe file, which work with Windows (but still text-mode). I cant compile the graphical version which uses DOS and some very-old graphical libraries.

Bert

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Krzysztof,

i compiled the source with Visual Studio, and all seem to work.
If you want i can sent you a .exe file, which work with Windows (but still text-mode). I cant compile the graphical version which uses DOS and some very-old graphical libraries.

Bert

Thank you very much for the information. I am very keen on programmes in International draughts, Spanish draughts and English and Russian draughts. I will wait until Mr Adrian makes a modern GUI. And also the 64 bit versions. For which I sincerely thank you in advance.

Krzysztof

[orac81]

Hi,
The MS-DOS version of DYNAMO compiles with Microsoft Visual-C 1.52, the last 16 bit version of that compiler. I think the ISO used to be a free download from Microsoft, but you have to try archive.org /wayback or similar to find it. It actually runs in 32 bit mode, at that time it used Windows 3.1 with win32s driver (DOSBOX might run that), but should be possible to run it under win32 compatible versions of windows, or Linux with WINE.
The simplified text version (v9.20) is extracted from the DOS program, altered to be portable C99 code, and should build on any modern system with a C compiler. The simple text move entry is there mainly as a mechanism for testing, rather than a proper front-end. The program should be functionally the same as the DOS version, ie same node count for fixed searches of the same position. The idea was to convert this to a portable engine format to work with other front ends, maybe to convert my SAGE draughts program to act as graphical front end for DYNAMO. SAGE has quite good PDN database management and search ability. But this work is very incomplete, and when I look at the very untidy code for DYNAMO I sometimes think it better to rewrite it!
As for PDN, well I cannot really say I "invented" this since it copies PGN, but I was the first to do that.
As for history, by the time of DYNAMO we had good tools like turbo-C. I always thought ORAC was the harder thing to write, written on an 8k commodore PET, with very few or no tools or resources. I had to write my own 6502 assembler!