SparkChess
Encyclopedia
SparkChess is a successful commercial chess program
designed by Armand Niculescu for Media Division srl. It is written entirely in Actionscript
. Originally intended to be played online, it was ported on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X
, Linux
as well as on tablets running iOS (iPad
), Android (Samsung Galaxy Tab
, Motorola Xoom
) and Tablet OS
(BlackBerry Playbook
).
. A slightly improved version was released in the next year, with a 3D isometric
view. Because of the limitations of the programming language, the game was very slow and did not implement all the chess rules.
Development was resumed in 2007 and the game was rewritten from scratch. The new version, entitled flashCHESS 3, was released in 2008. The new engine was much faster and implemented all chess rules correctly.
Citing complaints from Adobe Systems
, owner of the "Flash" software brand, the game was later rebranded as SparkChess.
In 2009, SparkChess was featured in a technology demo by Google
for Chrome OS.
In 2010, SparkChess was ported to iPad and Android tablets.
The game also has a PGN player that supports comments and annotations but not Recursive Annotated Variations. The game can import an entire PGN database at once, although the process can be slow for large files. There is also a board editor, with the ability to import and export board configurations in FEN format.
SparkChess has some tutoring facilities, including a "Help me move" option that suggests the best move the player can do and visual cues, an option that highlights player's pieces under attack, squares controlled by the opponent and other hints aimed at beginners.
plugin.
It also runs as a standalone application on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux.
More recently it has been ported on tablets including iPad
, Samsung Galaxy Tab
, Motorola Xoom
and BlackBerry Playbook
.
with principal variation, iterative deepening and aspiration window. It also uses quiescence search
, history heuristics
and transposition tables
. It has an opening database with about 7000 moves. Because of programming environment limitations, it does not use bitboard
tables and it does not have multithreading support.
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
designed by Armand Niculescu for Media Division srl. It is written entirely in Actionscript
ActionScript
ActionScript is an object-oriented language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. . It is a dialect of ECMAScript , and is used primarily for the development of websites and software targeting the Adobe Flash Player platform, used on Web pages in the form of...
. Originally intended to be played online, it was ported on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
as well as on tablets running iOS (iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
), Android (Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is an Android-based tablet computer produced by Samsung introduced on 2 September 2010 at the IFA in Berlin.The Galaxy Tab has a TFT-LCD touchscreen, Wi-Fi capability, a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Samsung Exynos 3110 processor, the Swype input system, a 3.2 MP rear-facing...
, Motorola Xoom
Motorola Xoom
The Motorola Xoom is an Android-based tablet computer by Motorola, introduced at CES 2011 on January 5, 2011. It was the first tablet to be sold with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The Verizon branded Xoom was the first tablet to run Android 3.1 Honeycomb, however the 3.1 update has not yet been provided...
) and Tablet OS
BlackBerry Tablet OS
BlackBerry Tablet OS is an operating system based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system designed to run Adobe AIR and BlackBerry WebWorks applications...
(BlackBerry Playbook
BlackBerry PlayBook
The BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet computer by Research In Motion , best known for the BlackBerry smartphone. It competes against Apple's iPad and a slew of Android-powered tablets....
).
History
The first version of the program was called flashCHESS, written in Actionscript 1. It was released in 2002, intended as a technology demo for MacromediaMacromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
. A slightly improved version was released in the next year, with a 3D isometric
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
view. Because of the limitations of the programming language, the game was very slow and did not implement all the chess rules.
Development was resumed in 2007 and the game was rewritten from scratch. The new version, entitled flashCHESS 3, was released in 2008. The new engine was much faster and implemented all chess rules correctly.
Citing complaints from Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
, owner of the "Flash" software brand, the game was later rebranded as SparkChess.
In 2009, SparkChess was featured in a technology demo by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
for Chrome OS.
In 2010, SparkChess was ported to iPad and Android tablets.
Features
SparkChess is a single-player chess program. It includes the chess engine and the graphical interface. The board can be represented in 3D with perspective (although it can't be rotated arbitrary) and in 2D (diagram mode). The game progress is saved automatically after each move and additionally it offers a limited number of "save slots". Games can also be imported and exported as PGN.The game also has a PGN player that supports comments and annotations but not Recursive Annotated Variations. The game can import an entire PGN database at once, although the process can be slow for large files. There is also a board editor, with the ability to import and export board configurations in FEN format.
SparkChess has some tutoring facilities, including a "Help me move" option that suggests the best move the player can do and visual cues, an option that highlights player's pieces under attack, squares controlled by the opponent and other hints aimed at beginners.
Platforms
SparkChess runs in any browser that has the Adobe Flash PlayerAdobe Flash Player
The Adobe Flash Player is software for viewing multimedia, Rich Internet Applications and streaming video and audio, on a computer web browser or on supported mobile devices. Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by the Adobe Flash authoring tool, by Adobe Flex or by a number of other...
plugin.
It also runs as a standalone application on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux.
More recently it has been ported on tablets including iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is an Android-based tablet computer produced by Samsung introduced on 2 September 2010 at the IFA in Berlin.The Galaxy Tab has a TFT-LCD touchscreen, Wi-Fi capability, a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Samsung Exynos 3110 processor, the Swype input system, a 3.2 MP rear-facing...
, Motorola Xoom
Motorola Xoom
The Motorola Xoom is an Android-based tablet computer by Motorola, introduced at CES 2011 on January 5, 2011. It was the first tablet to be sold with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The Verizon branded Xoom was the first tablet to run Android 3.1 Honeycomb, however the 3.1 update has not yet been provided...
and BlackBerry Playbook
BlackBerry PlayBook
The BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet computer by Research In Motion , best known for the BlackBerry smartphone. It competes against Apple's iPad and a slew of Android-powered tablets....
.
Engine characteristics
SparkChess uses alpha-beta pruningAlpha-beta pruning
Alpha-beta pruning is a search algorithm which seeks to decrease the number of nodes that are evaluated by the minimax algorithm in its search tree. It is an adversarial search algorithm used commonly for machine playing of two-player games...
with principal variation, iterative deepening and aspiration window. It also uses quiescence search
Quiescence search
Quiescence search is an algorithm typically used to evaluate minimax game trees in game-playing computer programs. It is a remedy for the horizon problem faced by AI engines for various games like chess and Go.-The horizon effect:...
, history heuristics
Killer heuristic
In competitive two-player games, the killer heuristic is a technique for improving the efficiency of alpha-beta pruning, which in turn improves the efficiency of the minimax algorithm. This algorithm has an exponential search time to find the optimal next move, so general methods for speeding it...
and transposition tables
Transposition (chess)
A transposition in chess is a sequence of moves that results in a position which may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves...
. It has an opening database with about 7000 moves. Because of programming environment limitations, it does not use bitboard
Bitboard
A bitboard is a data structure commonly used in computer systems that play board games.A bitboard, often used for boardgames such as chess, checkers and othello, is a specialization of the bitset data structure, where each bit represents a game position or state, designed for optimization of speed...
tables and it does not have multithreading support.