Favorite GUI?

Discussion about chess-playing software (engines, hosts, opening books, platforms, etc...)
AlphaSniper
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Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:16 pm

Favorite GUI?

Post by AlphaSniper » Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:29 pm

Opinions? IMHO I think ChessOK Aquarium is the best. Why?
1. Great for analysis.
2. You can later download a database of 4.5 million games.
3. Can play online on ChessPlanet.
4. Many themes and really good-looking pieces and boards, and it's very easy making your own themes and pieces.
5. A handicap, which sets the engine playing strength.

What is your favorite Chess GUI and why?

tano-urayoan
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Real Name: Tano-Urayoan

Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by tano-urayoan » Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:36 am

CHESS GUI
simply the best

AlphaSniper
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Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by AlphaSniper » Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:45 am

tano-urayoan wrote:CHESS GUI
simply the best
I never used it so I don't know. Do you know where I can get it?

tano-urayoan
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Real Name: Tano-Urayoan

Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by tano-urayoan » Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:48 am


Razor
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Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by Razor » Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:06 am

ShredderClassic GUI

Bug free for me - extremely intuitive feel with all the features I need and the ability to work with all the engines I have.

I tried Aquarium - ghastly feel, difficult to use, some user interaction just felt clumsy - ChessOK were great though, they gave me my money back - not many companies would do that so applaud them for their service at least.

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Uly
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Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by Uly » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:31 am

I could only echo Razor's comments about ShredderClassic GUI and Aquarium.

For interactive analysis with Infinite Analysis, there's nothing as fast as Shredder Classic, it's lightweight, setting up new engines and editing their settings/creating new personalities are done in a blaze. One can just concentrate in what matters, chess, so I'd say the GUI is "transparent". And it got a really nice Engine Match/Tournament system. I'd be tempted to ask for more features, but I think ShredderClassic GUI's strongest point is its simplicity.

The problem with Aquarium is that most of the developers and beta testers were happy with the interface, so its usability problems never were addressed (they'd think "If it's intuitive for me it must be intuitive for everyone else!") The lesson is, don't let developers design the GUI!

I was an Aquarium Beta tester for a long while, but in the last stages, after I didn't have any use for IDEA, what was difficult was to open the GUI to beta test, what I expected was to use it as my main program and then report problems I faced in using it, but I ended only using it to see CTG books, and that didn't have any problems, so I stopped giving output and was kicked out.

AlphaSniper
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Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:16 pm

Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by AlphaSniper » Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:50 pm

I don't know about Shredder, but yes I agree Aquarium was a bit hard for me at first, but then I got used to it.

However I think I will give Shredder and GhessGUI a try.

I agree with you Ovyron, but Aquarium's UI isn't THAT bad -IMHO-

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Matthias Gemuh
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Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by Matthias Gemuh » Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:59 pm

The current exe file of ChessGUI is version 0.198d

http://www.hugedrive.com/published/WG/s ... =-0b2a2a2f
Aided by engines, GMs can be very strong.
http://www.hylogic.de

Peter C
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Real Name: Peter C

Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by Peter C » Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:50 pm

Shredder Classic GUI. Arena isn't bad though.

I haven't used ChessGUI much, but it's not too bad.

Peter

64x
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Re: Favorite GUI?

Post by 64x » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:14 pm

A few months ago I started playing chess using Scid. Since then, I have tried Aquarium, Fritz, Shredder (not classic), Arena and Winboard.

I find myself coming back to Scid every time. It just has all the features I need in my correspondence chess workflow.

I wish I had the time/energy/dedication to contribute with bugfixes and some additional features that I need in Scid. Or even better, to develop a GUI that focuses on correspondence chess, book making (not for engines), research and analysis.

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