Home
Features
Screenshots
Download
Contact us

Chess
              Tiger logo
Frequently Asked Questions:
 
General questions:
Installation questions:
Using Chess Tiger:
Technical questions:

 
 



 
 

General questions:
 


Is Chess Tiger for Palm a strong chess program?

Yes it is!

Chess Tiger for PalmOS is an integral port of the latest version of Chess Tiger for PC, which has been rated twice as being the world's strongest PC chess engine. It has topped twice the SSDF list, ahead of Deep Fritz, Junior 7 and Shredder 5.32. You can find one of the relevant SSDF list here.

In July 2001, Chess Tiger for PC entered a very strong human tournament in Argentina. Chess Tiger won this tournament with the incredible score of 9.5/11 (not a single loss), and achieved an elo performance of 2788!!! This performance can be compared to the one of a World Champion!!! During the tournament it has defeated one IM (International Master) and 4 GMs (Grand Masters) in a row!!!

This is an historic performance, which has been reported by several newspapers worldwide.

Since its inital launch in 2001, Chess Tiger for PalmOS has always been one of the strongest chess program available for the Palm. On a recent PalmOS device it is above 2300 FIDE elo (over 2500 USCF elo).

That means Chess Tiger for Palm is of Master strength. If you are not a master, it is going to be a fantastic challenge for you!


Is Chess Tiger going to beat me every time?

It would be extremely boring to be beaten all the time, so fortunately Chess Tiger has several options for you.

The most interesting are the "Trainer" levels. These levels of increasing difficulty are designed to help you to improve your chess.

In the "Trainer" modes, Chess Tiger gives you some opportunities to win. Exactly like a real player would do. Because nobody's perfect! Play very carefully, and you will most probably be able to find a winning line.

Trainer levels

When you are able to beat, say, the "Trainer 4" level on a regular basis, switch to "Trainer 5". Each new level is slightly more difficult to win. Click here to learn about the elo strength of the player levels.

By training against Chess Tiger you will become a stronger chess player.



Why do I need a strong chess program if I am not myself very strong at chess?

There are several reasons for this:

  1. You are going to improve your chess skills by playing against Chess Tiger for Palm. By buying a strong engine you are guaranteed to be faced with an opponent from whom you will learn. Of course you know that you won't improve your chess by playing against weaker opponents.
  2. The Palm is a rather slow computer, compared to the current PCs. For a chess program, a slower computer means a weaker playing strength. If you take an average program for PC (one that can beat you) and transfer it on the Palm, it will turn into a very weak chess program. That's why only the very best chess engines are worth porting to the Palm. The other ones would be too weak to be of any use.


Does Chess Tiger have different playing styles?

or
Can I simulate the playing style of one of my opponents with Chess Tiger?

Yes, Chess Tiger has 8 different playing styles.

There are 4 basic styles:

  • Normal: very balanced, rather quiet chess.
  • Gambit: the program is going to play a more active and attacking kind of chess.
  • Gambit Aggressive: the program is going to play for king attacks, and will even take risks.
  • Gambit suicidal: the program is going to play very active and will always try to attack your king, taking a lot of risks.
  • And for each of the aforementioned playing styles, you can switch the "antihuman" option on or off. The "antihuman" mode is designed to avoid closed positions, where it is more difficult for any side to make any progress. With "antihuman" activated the position will stay open and there will be even more action.

    engine parameters.    .Engine styles

    With all these playing styles, you can ask Chess Tiger to play like one of your well known opponents. You always have problems against Mr. X at the club because this guy plays dangerous attacks? Set Chess Tiger in "Gambit aggressive" mode, and train yourself to stand those attacks. You have problems with the very quiet, Karpov-like playing style of Mr. Y? Set Chess Tiger in "Normal" mode and learn to play quietly yourself, waiting for the right moment.


    What computer do I need in order to use Chess Tiger for Palm?

    Chess Tiger runs on all current PalmOS devices.

    Click here for a list of compatible devices.

    Chess Tiger displays the board and icons in color on color enabled Palms. On the other models, it uses gray scales.







     
     

    Installation questions:
     


    How do I install Chess Tiger on my Palm? 

    Download and installation instructions here.

    .
       

      Why do I get a "No opening book" message?

      You are wondering why the product keeps telling you "WARNING: no opening book" each time you launch it.

      Like most chess players, Chess Tiger plays the first moves of any game "by heart". The starting position of chess has naturally been studied extensively since centuries, and there are known good ways of starting a game.

      There are good ways of playing the very first move of the game, as well as good ways to answering to this first move. And also good known answers to this answer, and so on...

      The knowledge about these opening moves is stored in an "opening book".

      The opening book of Chess Tiger is a file named BOOK.PDB.

      When you installed Chess Tiger on your handheld, you forgot to install book.pdb together with chesstiger.prc.

      You can install this file now. Chess Tiger will stop complaining about its opening book.  

      1. Try to find on your hard disk the file named "Book.pdb".
      2. If you do not find it, download it from this page.
      3. Once you have Book.pdb in a folder, double-click on it.
      4. An "Install tool" window appears. Click on "Done".
      5. perform a HotSync.

      Now when you start Chess Tiger on your handheld, it should not say anything anymore about its opening book.


       




     
     

    Using Chess Tiger:
     


    Where is the menu ???
    Where is the menu
                  icon?


    What is the meaning of the icons?
    Icon help screen
    Many thanks to Richard A. Fowell for this picture!


    What is the meaning of the bottom line?

    Here we comment the bottom line of the screen presented above.

    • P3: the program is currently "searching" (trying to foresee) 3 plies ahead. So it tries to see every possible combination of 3 moves starting at the displayed position, in order to find the best move it should play now. Actually most of the time the program sees deeper than 3 moves: it sees all the possible combinations on 3 moves, and from the 4th move on it only looks at captures and checks (so it does not stop at the 3rd move if a piece can be captured for example). This is similar at what a human would do. Also, it will stop analyzing some variants before it reaches 3 moves of depth if the variant in question looks really silly (that's what we call "selectivity"). So "3 plies deep" is to be taken with a grain of salt. Let's say it's 3 plies in average. 
    • +0.34: the program thinks that it has an advantage of 0.34 pawns (approximately one third of a pawn: that is not a material advantage, just a modest positional advantage). 
    • Nxa5 Bxe2 Nxd7 Bxd1...: this is the "best line", from the program's point of view. Chess Tiger thinks that its best move is Knight takes a5, that your best answer to this is Bishop takes e2, that it should then play Knight takes d7, and so on. Don't forget that the first move in the line has a much better reliability than the moves near the end of the line. So generally the first and second moves of the best line make sense, while the other ones can look a little bit strange. 
    • 4.94s: the time taken by the last "thinking". 
    • 998 pos: the number of positions (=moves) searched during that thinking. 
    • 202 p/s: the number of positions (=moves) computed per second in average during the last thinking.



    What is a "ply depth"?

    A "ply" is also called a "half move". That is a move by one side.

    Computing to ply depth 1 means that the program only tries all the moves it can play, and chooses the one that puts it in the best position (naturally without giving away one of its pieces).

    Computing to ply depth 2 means that the program is going to try all the legal moves it can play, and for each of these moves it will also try all your possible answers. It will play the move that puts it in the best position, taking into account that after its move you will try to play one that will worsen its position as much as possible.

    As you understand, computing to a depth of several plies is a complex and time-consuming process. The deeper the program can compute, the better the move will be.

    By using a fixed ply depth level you do not have much control over the time that the program will take to play. It will depend on the complexity of the position.


    What is the "Infinite" level?

    Infinite means that the program will think forever. It will never play; it will just try to compute deeper and deeper. You stop it when you want, knowing that the longest the program is allowed to think the better it plays. The infinite level can be used to solve problems. You set up a problem and wait until the program finds the solution (by displaying a mate score or a high score).


    What is the "Analysis" mode?

    In "analysis" mode, the computer never plays, but constantly shows you its evaluation of the position.

    You are free to move the pieces on the board or to navigate through the moves of an existing game. Chess Tiger starts to think again each time there is a new position on the board, and displays its opinion, that is both the best move (from its point of view) and its evaluation. The more you let it think on the position, the better the analysis will be.

    So you can replay an existing game and look for blunders for example with the help of the computer. A blunder is detected when you see a sudden jump in the evaluation of the program.


    You can also study a very difficult position with the help of the computer. Just play variations on the board, and Chess Tiger will tell you what it thinks about them. By playing manually the variations you are interested in the most, you can get, with the help of Chess Tiger, a pretty good idea of what your opponent could do.


    Analysis mode can be used to:
    • analyze one of your game once the game is finished, in search of better moves (or blunders).
    • help you to play correspondence games.
    • help you to understand complicated positions (by using a "what happens if I play this..." approach).
    • play "Advanced Chess" (advanced chess is a modern form of chess promoted by Kasparov and other top players where each player is allowed to use a computer during the game).



    What are the ELO ratings of the trainer levels?

    The tables below will help you to find out about your own strength depending on the highest Trainer Level you can beat.
     
    USCF RATINGS (USA)
    Trainer ELO
    1 1000 (absolute beginner level)
    2 1150
    3 1300
    4 1450
    5 1600
    6 1750 (average club player)
    7 1900
    8 2050 (good club player)

    FIDE RATINGS (Europe, Africa, Asia)
    Trainer ELO
    1 1000 (absolute beginner level)
    2 1120
    3 1240
    4 1360
    5 1480
    6 1600 (average club player)
    7 1720
    8 1840 (good club player)

    How to read these tables: they explain that if you are able to beat Chess Tiger set at Trainer Level 5, in a regular game, without using the "take back" feature and without thinking for more than one minute per move, then you are probably above 1600 USCF ELO (or 1480 FIDE ELO). In order to get a good validity for such a claim, you should be able to beat it constantly, not just once.
    The strength of the Trainer Levels is fixed and does not depend on the speed or memory capacity of your Palm.

    If you are not familiar with the elo system, please read this.



    How do I get rid of the green dots?

    Each time you tap on a piece (one of yours or one of your opponent's), Chess Tiger indicates all the legal destination squares of this piece with green dots (small circles on black and white devices).

    This is what we call the "teacher" mode.

      <--- Teacher mode icon

    This mode is on by default, but can very easily be disabled. Just tap on the icon which has a question mark on it, or go to the menu and select "View", then tap on "Teach moves".


    How do I delete games and positions?

    Games and positions are saved in the MemoPad application, as normal memos.

    You can view them and delete them with MemoPad!


    How can I view the games on my PC or Mac?

    One application you certainly want to try if you have a PC running under Windows is ChessPad.

    ChessPad is free and quite powerful. It will allow you to load games in PGN format and replay them.

    You can download it from: here

    Install ChessPad in a new directory (for example C:\ChessPad).

    When you want to replay a Chess Tiger for Palm game with ChessPad, do the following:
    1) do a Hotsync to transfer your Chess Tiger games into your PC
    2) open ChessPad
    3) open your Palm Desktop application
    4) in the Palm Desktop, select MemoPad
    5) look in the unfiled section for your game
    6) click on your game
    7) right click on the right pane and click on "select all"
    8) right click again on it and then on "Copy"
    9) go back to ChessPad and click on the "Load a game from the clipboard" icon

    It sounds complicated because we have explained it step by step, but it is simply a copy-and-paste operation from Palm Desktop to ChessPad.

    When the game has been pasted into ChessPad, you can replay it on ChessPad's board.
     

    An alternative to ChessPad is SCID (http://scid.sourceforge.net/). SCID also works under Linux and Unix.

    ForMacIntosh, try ExaChess Lite: http://www.exachess.com/downloads.html




     
     

    Technical questions:
     


    How do you know that Chess Tiger is the strongest chess program for the Palm?

    Of the other chess programs available for the PalmOS platform, only ChessGenius has a good level. The other ones are so weak that you can convince yourself by playing just a few games against Chess Tiger. They get badly beaten.

    So is Chess Tiger better than ChessGenius, and by how much?

    The answer has been given recently by the famous and much respected SSDF association. This swedish association dedicates itself in testing and comparing the strength of the chess computers and chess softwares.

    Since 1985, they have played thousands of games between computers and humans in order to assess accurately the strength of the chess computers. As of March 13, 2003, they have played 116487 games!!!

    The reliability and serious of the list they publish cannot be doubted. This list can be found here.

    So we just have to look at the list to find these two entries:

                                                                                                     Rating   +     -  Games   Won  Oppo
                                              ------  ---   --- -----   ---  ----
    135 Chess Tiger 14.9 Palm m515 16MB 42MHz   2101   69   -74   100   39%  2180
    182 Chess Genius 1.5 Palm m515 16MB 42MHz   1870   69   -78   100   32%  2002


    Ouch! That means that Chess Tiger is 231 elo points stronger than ChessGenius!

    It must be noted that the version of Chess Tiger that has been tested by the SSDF is version 14.9 using only 48Kb of hash tables. The current version is 15.0 (with a significantly improved chess engine) and is able to use up to 12Mb of hash tables. We believe that version 15.0 is at least 50 elo points better than the version tested by the SSDF and thus would achieve a rating of at least 2150 elo (comparable to 2150 FIDE elo or 2350 USCF elo).

    The other numbers mean that Chess Tiger is number 135 in their list (the list includes chess programs running on extremely fast PC hardware, and the PC version of Chess Tiger is currently in third position). ChessGenius is number 182. The rating of Chess Tiger is 2101 elo (the SSDF elo is comparable to the FIDE elo, to get the corresponding USCF elo you should add 200 points). The rating of ChessGenius is 1870. Both Chess Tiger and ChessGenius have played 100 long time controls games (40 moves in 2 hours) to achieve their rating. The margin of error for Chess Tiger is +69, -74 with 95% reliability. The margin of error for ChessGenius is +69, -78 with 95% reliability. Chess Tiger has achieved a score of 39% against an average opposition of 2180 elo. ChessGenius has achieved a score of 32% against an average opposition of 2002 elo.

    You can find the official SSDF list here (click on "download the list in DOS format" to find the ratings quoted above).

    The SSDF is an independent Swedish organization. They have been testing chess computers and chess programs for more than 16 years now. They are universally regarded as the most reliable source of information about the strength of chess computers and chess programs.

    Before the SSDF data was available, an independent tester contacted us and offered to test Chess Tiger against ChessGenius. You can find the result of his 26 games match here.



    What is the ELO system? How does it works?

    The ELO system compares the strength of the chess players and rates them.

    The ELO system is not an absolute scale. It does not give any idea about the absolute strength of a player. It only gives an idea about the relative strength of a given player inside a "pool" of rated players who have played against each other.

    For this reason, the elo of a player cannot be used directly to compare the strength of this player with the strength of a player from a different "pool". This is similar to the difference between miles and kilometers, or centigrade and Farenheit degrees.

    For example, the elo of american players (also called USCF elo) cannot be compared directly to the elo of european players (FIDE elo). An american player rated 2000 USCF elo is not at the same level than an european player rated 2000 FIDE elo.

    It is generally admitted that you must subtract 200 points to the elo of an american player (USCF elo) to get its equivalent in FIDE elo. This is just a rule of thumb that is highly debatable. This rule gives a rough estimate and has a limited range of validity (its validity is limited approximately to the 1700-2400 USCF elo range).

    So a 2200 elo american chess player is approximately of the same strength as a 2000 elo european player.

    You should not try to deduce anything from this difference. It is a normal effect of the ELO system which, let us restate it, does not provide an absolute measure of strength, but just a measure of the relative strength of a player inside his "pool". As the "pool" of players used to build the USCF elo is distinct from the pool used to build the FIDE elo, it is expected that a direct comparison between the two is not possible. In other words, both elos are not calibrated against each other, and so are likely to "drift" over time. That is exactly what has happened.



    What is the ELO rating of Chess Tiger, and what does it means?

    The elo rating of Chess Tiger playing at full strength is 2300 USCF elo (american scale), or approximately 2100 FIDE elo (european scale) on a standard 20MHz PalmOS device. This excludes the trainer levels which have been designed to play weaker (read about the trainer levels here).

    What does this mean exactly?

    It means that if you let Chess Tiger running on a 20MHz PalmOS device and a 2300 USCF elo human chess player (or computer) play a very long series of long time controls games (each player is allowed to play 40 moves in 2 hours), you will get an approximately even result, no player being able to demonstrate any superiority on his opponent.

    NOTE: this elo rating can be achieved only with a reasonable amount of hash tables: at least 3Mb for long time controls games.

    What happens if the games are played at different time controls?

    The experiment has not been done, so it is not possible to give a definite answer. However we believe that the strength of Chess Tiger does not vary significantly when you change the time controls. It does not mean that Chess Tiger playing blitz is as strong as Chess Tiger playing at long time controls (when you give it more time to think Chess Tiger plays stronger). It means that Chess Tiger playing blitz would probably play at the same level as a 2300 USCF elo chess player playing blitz.

    What happens if we change the speed of the PalmOS device?

    With the experience accumulated by the SSDF association and the rating lists they have published since 1985, it has been possible to conclude that doubling the speed of Chess Tiger would add approximately 70 elo points to its elo rating. Similarly, slowing it down by a factor of two would subtract 70 elo points to its elo rating.

    Please note that this rule does not apply to a human chess player. Also, it does not apply to all computer chess programs (some programs do not benefit equally from a speed increase). We just claim that this rule applies to Chess Tiger, with a good reliability, in the 1800 to 2800 USCF elo range.

    By extension, multiplying the speed by 4 adds 140 elo points to the strength. Multiplying the speed by 8 adds 210 elo points.

    The general formula is:


    new_elo = old_elo + 70 * log ( new_speed / old_speed ) / log ( 2 )

    The base of the logarithm function does not matter. You can use indifferently a logarithm of base 10, of base e, of base 2 or whatever.

    To evaluate the speed of a computing device, one should NOT rely on the MHz figures. The computing speed of a PalmOS device generally does not vary linearly with the clock speed. The speed of a given PalmOS device should be measured with the "Speed index" feature of Chess Tiger.

    The speed index measured by Chess Tiger 15.0 on a standard 20MHz PalmOS device is 0.51.

    So if you want to know the exact elo rating of Chess Tiger on your PalmOS device, use the following formula:


    Chess_Tiger_USCF_elo = 2300 + 70 x log ( speed_index_on_my_device / 0.51 ) / log ( 2 )


    Chess_Tiger_FIDE_elo = 2100 + 70 x log ( speed_index_on_my_device / 0.51 ) / log ( 2 )


    What happens if one opponent is given a time handicap?

    This is almost similar to changing the speed of the device. If you allow yourself twice the thinking time allowed to Chess Tiger, you artificially reduce the strength of the program by 70 elo points.

    NOTE: in this case you should disable the "Turbo mode" feature of Chess Tiger to prevent the program to think while it is your turn. Disabling the Turbo mode has the additional effect of reducing the playing strength by approximately 30 elo points.



    Does Chess Tiger for Palm have an opening book?

    Yes, it knows "by heart" a lot of opening moves. At this time it knows approximately 8000 opening moves.

    You can learn some of the most popular openings by letting Chess Tiger play them for you.

    The opening book is separated from the chess engine, so you will be able in the future to download updated opening books from www.chesstiger.com and to install them on your Palm without the need to reinstall the entire program.



    Does Chess Tiger for Palm learn?

    Yes, Chess Tiger will try to avoid replaying an opening it has lost recently. So you won't be able to beat it by playing the same game over and over again.


    Is Chess Tiger able to exchange games with PC or Mac chess programs?

    Yes it is!

    Chess Tiger can read and save games in "PGN" format. This format is a worldwide standard for chess games. Here is an example of a game saved in "PGN": 

    [Event "2001.05.25 03:05"]
    [Site "?"]
    [Date "2001.05.25"]
    [Round "?"]
    [White "Chess Tiger"]
    [Black "ChessGenius"]
    [Result "1-0"]

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Nf6
    5. Bd3 Bd6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. c5 Bc7
    8. O-O O-O 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4
    11. Bxe4 Nf6 12. Bd3 h6 13. Be3 Nd5
    14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. dxe5 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Qg5
    17. Rf3 Qxe5 18. Qc2 f5 19. Raf1 Kh8
    20. e4 Qd4+ 21. Kh1 g6 22. g4 Kh7
    23. b3 Rd8 24. exf5 exf5 25. gxf5 g5
    26. f6+ Kh8 27. f7 Rf8 28. Rf6 Qh4
    29. Qb2 Qe4+ 30. R6f3+ Kh7 31. Bxe4+ Bf5
    32. Bxf5# 1-0

    The great thing with PGN is that it is a "text" format: it is not only readable by a computer, but also by humans like you and me. The text above has been produced by the "Save game" command of Chess Tiger, and has been directly saved into the MemoPad application.

    This memo can be read later by Chess Tiger itself.

    When you press the HotSync button, all your games are automatically copied to your PC or Mac.

    And as "PGN" is a standard format, this game can be read by any PC or Mac based chess program.

    Likewise, you can save a game in PGN format with your PC or Mac favorite chess program, copy/paste it into the Palm desktop application, and it will be transferred to your Palm the next time you press the HotSync button.

    And Chess Tiger for Palm will be able to read it.

    Here are some detailed explanations about this process:

    Palm ---> PC/Mac

    You can transfer a game saved in PGN format to most commercial chess programs running under Windows or MacOS. Here is how to do it: 
    1. Save the game on your Palm with the "Save game" menu option. 
    2. Launch a Hotsync operation. 
    3. Start the "Palm Desktop" program in your PC/Mac. 
    4. Click on "MemoPad". 
    5. Select the "Unfiled" section. 
    6. Look for your game in the Unfiled section, and right click on it. 
    7. In the menu, click on "Copy". 
    8. Start your Windows or MacOS chess program and follow the instructions of this program to transfer the content of the clipboard to this program (for example with Rebel-Tiger for PC you just need to right click on the chessboard and select "Paste").


    PC/Mac ---> Palm

    It is the opposite operation.
    1. Start your PC/Mac based chess program or open the PGN game in a word processor (NotePad works also). 
    2. Copy the game to the clipboard (do not copy multiple games, just one). 
    3. Start the "Palm Desktop" application. 
    4. Go to the "MemoPad" section. 
    5. Click on "New" to create a new memo. 
    6. Paste the content of the clipboard to the newly created memo. 
    7. HotSync. 
    8. Load the file with Chess Tiger for Palm.


    Does Chess Tiger for Palm use hash tables (also called "transposition tables")?

    Yes it does. And since version 15.0, you can even select the amount of hash tables you want to use (any amount between 12Kb and 12Mb).

    Hash tables are extremely important in the endgame. Programs without hash tables are weak in the endgame. But hash tables also help the program at any stage of the game.

    The hash tables can be viewed as a sort of "cache" memory. They work a little bit like a disk or memory cache and help the program to compute faster by keeping recent calculations in memory instead of having to re-compute them when they are needed again.

    By making the program faster, they also make it stronger.



    Is it safe to overclock my palm?

    Yes! Most Palms can run twice faster than their default speed.

    THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOUR PALM CAN OVERHEAT WHEN YOU OVERCLOCK IT. The processor in the Palm consumes so little power that it simply cannot happen, even at the highest speeds.

    So you cannot damage your Palm by overclocking it. And in order to overclock you do not even have to open your Palm. It can be done with a software utility called "AfterBurner" (version 3.1 or higher, you can find it at PalmGear: http://www.palmgear.com).

    Before you try to overclock, you should perform a HotSync operation, so your data is safely backed up to your PC/Mac.

    Overclocking too much can in some cases block your Palm and erase its data. Actually when you experiment with overclocking that's exactly what you want to do in order to know the upper limit your Palm can stand.

    When you have found this upper limit, press on the reset button that is at the back of your Palm with a pin. If your data has been erased, just HotSync again and everything will be put back into place.

    Reinstall the overclocking program if necessary, and set it to the highest speed that did not hang your Palm.

    You are done!

    Is there a limit to how much you should overclock?

    No absolute limit. As stated above, you should try it by yourself and see at what speed it freezes. If it ever freezes... My m505 runs at 54MHz (the highest speed you can set with AfterBurner 3.1) and never crashed.

    Has anyone had any problems with overclocking?

    The only problem is that if you overclock too much (even without crashing the Palm) the internal clock could be off. The problem occurs because the internal device that generates the frequency cannot reach the speed you have set, but AfterBurner believes it can, and tries to adjust the clock accordingly.

    When it happens, the Palm believes that the time passes more slowly than it does in reality. The clock in Chess Tiger runs too slowly.

    In this case all you have to do to fix this is to decrease the speed with AfterBurner (actually your Palm will run as fast, but this time will be well informed about its real speed).

    How to do that?

    1) overclock your Palm as explained above with AfterBurner 3.1 or higher. Note that AfterBurner is free for speeds up to 37MHz. If your Palm can go higher, you have to buy the registered version of AfterBurner ($9). It will allow you to try frequencies of up to 54MHz.

    2) Download Chess Tiger from http://www.chesstiger.com (click Here). Install it on your Palm (it will be in demo mode until you actually pay for it, but for the experiment we want to do it does not matter).

    3) Start Chess Tiger and play the first move of a new game (this will start the players clocks). Compare Chess Tiger's clock with a REAL clock.

    4) If Chess Tiger's clock run too slowly, you have to decrease the frequency with AfterBurner and go back to step 3.

    When you have finished this procedure, your Palm is OPTIMALLY overclocked!



    Do you have the speed index of some PalmOS devices?

    Here is a preliminary version of a list compiled with the help of our beta testers:

    The TigerMark index (speed index) for various versions of Chess Tiger and various hardware:


    (norm means a Palm at its normal speed, ovcl means an overclocked Palm)

    Chess Tiger 14.9a for Palm:
    Palm V             28MHz (ovcl)   1.01    2099 SSDF elo
    Palm m515          42MHz (ovcl)   1.03    2101 SSDF elo (SSDF list)
    Palm m125          52MHz (ovcl)   1.22    2117 SSDF elo
    Sony T675          66MHz (norm)   1.71    2152 SSDF elo
    Sony NR70          66MHz (norm)   1.71    2152 SSDF elo
    Sony T675          74MHz (ovcl)   2.01    2169 SSDF elo
    Sony NR70          74MHz (ovcl)   2.01    2169 SSDF elo

    Chess Tiger 15.0, 15.1 and 15.2 for Palm:

    Palm IIIxe         16MHz (norm)   0.35    2062 SSDF elo (2262 USCF)
    Palm Zire          16MHz (norm)   0.35    2062 SSDF elo (2262 USCF)
    Palm m105          16MHz (norm)   0.37    2068 SSDF elo (2268 USCF)
    Palm Vx            20MHz (norm)   0.45    2087 SSDF elo (2287 USCF)
    Visor Deluxe       33MHz (norm)   0.51    2100 SSDF elo (2300 USCF)
    Palm V             20MHz (ovcl)   0.51    2100 SSDF elo (2300 USCF)
    Palm IIIc          20MHz (norm)   0.58    2113 SSDF elo (2313 USCF)
    Palm Vx            20MHz (ovcl)   0.66    2126 SSDF elo (2326 USCF)
    Palm m125          33MHz (norm)   0.71    2133 SSDF elo (2333 USCF)
    Palm IIIc          20MHz (ovcl)   0.73    2136 SSDF elo (2336 USCF)
    Palm m500          33MHz (norm)   0.71    2133 SSDF elo (2333 USCF)
    Palm m505          33MHz (norm)   0.75    2139 SSDF elo (2339 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T   144MHz (norm)   0.75    2139 SSDF elo (2339 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-E   144MHz (norm)   0.81    2147 SSDF elo (2347 USCF)
    Palm IIIc          20MHz (ovcl)   0.83    2149 SSDF elo (2349 USCF)
    Palm Zire          28MHz (ovcl)   0.86    2153 SSDF elo (2353 USCF)
    Palm Zire 71      144MHz (norm)   0.88    2155 SSDF elo (2355 USCF)
    Palm V             28MHz (ovcl)   1.01    2169 SSDF elo (2369 USCF)
    Palm Vx            28MHz (ovcl)   1.01    2169 SSDF elo (2369 USCF)
    Palm V             28MHz (ovcl)   1.02    2170 SSDF elo (2370 USCF)
    Palm m125          46MHz (ovcl)   1.05    2173 SSDF elo (2373 USCF)
    Palm IIIc          26MHz (ovcl)   1.10    2178 SSDF elo (2378 USCF)
    Palm Vx            28MHz (ovcl)   1.12    2179 SSDF elo (2379 USCF)
    Palm m125          50MHz (ovcl)   1.17    2184 SSDF elo (2384 USCF)
    Palm Vx            33MHz (ovcl)   1.29    2194 SSDF elo (2394 USCF)
    Palm Vx            32MHz (ovcl)   1.30    2194 SSDF elo (2394 USCF)
    Palm m505          54MHz (ovcl)   1.33    2197 SSDF elo (2397 USCF)
    Palm IIIc          33MHz (ovcl)   1.37    2200 SSDF elo (2400 USCF)
    Palm Vx            37MHz (ovcl)   1.45    2206 SSDF elo (2406 USCF)
    Sony TJ25         200MHz (norm)   1.46    2206 SSDF elo (2406 USCF)
    Sony NR70V         66MHz (ovcl)   1.58    2214 SSDF elo (2414 USCF)
    Sony T675          66MHz (norm)   1.62    2217 SSDF elo (2417 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-E2  200MHz (norm)   1.62    2217 SSDF elo (2417 USCF)
    Palm Zire 31      200MHz (norm)   1.66    2219 SSDF elo (2419 USCF)
    Sony NX70V        200MHz (norm)   1.71    2222 SSDF elo (2422 USCF)
    Sony NX70V        200MHz (norm)   1.72    2223 SSDF elo (2423 USCF)
    Palm Zire 22      200MHz (norm)   1.77    2226 SSDF elo (2426 USCF)
    Sony T675          74MHz (ovcl)   1.94    2235 SSDF elo (2435 USCF)
    Palm Zire 72      312MHz (norm)   2.64    2266 SSDF elo (2466 USCF)
    Palm T|X          312MHz (norm)   2.71    2269 SSDF elo (2468 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-C   400MHz (norm)   3.45    2293 SSDF elo (2493 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T3  400MHz (norm)   3.45    2293 SSDF elo (2493 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T3  472MHz (ovcl)   3.93    2306 SSDF elo (2506 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T3  592MHz (ovcl)   5.01    2330 SSDF elo (2530 USCF)

    Chess Tiger 2010 for Palm:

    Chess Tiger 2010 is approximately 60 elo points stronger than Chess Tiger 15.x on the same device.

    Palm Zire          16MHz (norm)   0.36    2125 SSDF elo (2325 USCF)
    Palm m150          16MHz (norm)   0.36    2125 SSDF elo (2325 USCF)
    Palm IIIxe         16MHz (norm)   0.36    2125 SSDF elo (2325 USCF)
    Palm V             16MHz (norm)   0.36    2125 SSDF elo (2325 USCF)
    Visor Deluxe       33MHz (norm)   0.48    2154 SSDF elo (2354 USCF)
    Sony SJ22          33MHz (norm)   0.58    2172 SSDF elo (2372 USCF)
    Palm m125          33MHz (norm)   0.69    2190 SSDF elo (2390 USCF)
    Palm m130          33MHz (norm)   0.71    2193 SSDF elo (2393 USCF)
    Palm Zire 21      126MHz (norm)   0.75    2199 SSDF elo (2399 USCF)

    Palm Tungsten-T2  144MHz (norm)   0.76    2199 SSDF elo (2399 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-E   144MHz (norm)   0.77    2201 SSDF elo (2401 USCF)
    Sony SJ20          33MHz (norm)   0.81    2207 SSDF elo (2407 USCF)

    Palm m515          33MHz (norm)   0.83    2209 SSDF elo (2409 USCF)

    Sony T615C         33MHz (norm)   0.84    2210 SSDF elo (2410 USCF)
    Treo 600          144MHz (norm)   0.93    2220 SSDF elo (2420 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-E2  200MHz (norm)   1.42    2263 SSDF elo (2463 USCF)
    Palm Z22          200MHz (norm)   1.57    2272 SSDF elo (2472 USCF)
    Garmin iQue 3600  200MHz (norm)   1.81    2288 SSDF elo (2488 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-TX  312MHz (norm)   2.38    2315 SSDF elo (2515 USCF)
    Palm Zire 72      312MHz (norm)   2.39    2315 SSDF elo (2515 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T3  400MHz (norm)   2.98    2339 SSDF elo (2539 USCF)
    Palm LifeDrive    416MHz (norm)   3.15    2344 SSDF elo (2544 USCF)
    Palm Tungsten-T5  416MHz (norm)   3.16    2344 SSDF elo (2544 USCF)

    (last updated 2024/02/27 - a huge thank you to JC and ANB for all these results!!!)

    Please note that this page is now frozen and will not be updated anymore.



    I want to improve my chess and learn chess openings. Any advice for me?

    If you want to improve your chess we advise you to visit the chess visualisation training site.


    What people say about Chess Tiger:

    "It’s easily the best chess program on the Palm OS."
    - Handheld Computing

    "By far and away the best chess program for Palm..."
    - David Dunbar, Chess guide for About.com

    "The most powerful and flexible chess program offered
    for Palm PDAs is Chess Tiger for the Palm."
    - Chris Kantack's LCD Chess Information Site

    "I have purchased and installed chess tiger on my Sony Clie UX-50.  It is an awesome product."
    -- Bob (San Diego, CA, USA)

    "Thanks very much. Chess Tiger is a great program :)"
    -- Peter (Christchurch, New Zealand)

    "I purchased Chess Tiger and love it"
    -- Jim (Easton, PA, USA)

    "Thanks for a great program, you've done a really good job. Thanks again and keep up with good work!"
    -- Marek (London, United Kingdom)

    "I love your chess program!!"
    -- Tim (Baltimore, MD, USA)

    "Hi there, am really enjoying using Chess tiger"
    -- Steve (Melbourne, Australia)

    "I recently purchased Chess Tiger for my palm tungsten E. Great program :)"
    -- Yoram (Forest Hills, NY, USA)

    "I downloaded the new version 15.1 for my palm a few weeks ago (I'm a registered user). Congratulations - the new set of pieces is brilliant and I like the whole program a lot"
    -- Tobias (Kleinmachnow, Germany)

    "About 9 months ago I changed jobs and lifestyle. I sold my Palm and all my Palm software with it, including my license to Chess Tiger. Much time passed, and after a while I realized that I missed having my little pocket chess program with me everywhere I go! So the other week I decided to buy another PDA. The sole reason for making the purchase was so that I could bring Chess Tiger with me everywhere I go! Now I am happy again, as I have a new Tungsten E with the latest version of Chess Tiger on it, and I can bring it with me wherever I go. I can get a quick game in at the coffee shop or on the road. Chess Tiger continues to be the best electronic game of chess out there. Keep up the good work!"
    -- Nate (Minneapolis, MN, USA)

    "I have handed over my Palm/Chesstiger to my 10-year-old Thomas. He plays day-in-day-out!"
    -- Hans (Belp, CH)

    "Anyway chesstiger is the best chess program I've seen and I'm glad I ran across it. It's much better than a physical electronic board."
    -- Robert (USA)

    "I am a lover of chess and I like the ChessTiger very much"
    -- Surya (India)

    "Have played Chess Tiger and love it"
    -- Ray (Cherry Hill, NJ, USA)

    "I've bought Chess Tiger and I'm really happy I did."
    -- Gilles (Rimouski, Quebec)

    "Chesstiger is great!"
    -- Glen (Des Plaines, IL, USA)

    "Your software is fantastic !"
    -- Michel (Saint Malo, France)

    "I love the Chesstiger program for my handheld"
    -- Harold (Thompson, MB, Canada)

    "Thank YOU! It works great... This is truly a great program!"
    -- Elmar (Middle Village, NY, USA)

    "Your software is really great. I already had bought a chess game for my palm but yours is miles better."
    -- John (Barcelona, Spain)

    "Chess Tiger is really very good."
    -- Jean-Marie (Havelange, Belgium)

    "I just downloaded the trial version of chesstiger. I am impressed!"
    -- Joel (Manteca, CA, USA)

    "I got chess tiger with my Palm Tungsten E, it is fantastic."
    -- Juan (Naucalpan, Mexico)

    "I am definitely VERY happy with Chess Tiger."
    -- Wayne (USA)

    "Awesome program. I just bought a Novag Star Sapphire handheld and it was HORRIBLE in the visibility, graphics and ease of use department. Had to return it right away. $230. Got a Palm Vx for free (someone was throwing it away) and put Chess Tiger on it. Palm + Chess Tiger is the ONLY way to go. Love it!!"
    -- David (Eden Prairie, MN, USA)

    "Hi ingenious people at Chess Tiger. What a great piece of software Chess Tiger is!"
    -- Paul (St John's, NF, Canada)

    "Your chess engine for Palm Tungsten is great.  I had it play chessmaster for fun and it won every time, it is clearly superior."
    -- Tim (New York, NY, USA)

    "I have been using Chess Tiger on a Palm M130 for about a year now. I really like it a lot and usually find time while working (I'm a teacher) to get in a game or two. I play on it's trainer levels to give me a chance to beat it."
    -- Scott (Palm City, FL, USA)

    "Hi... Just bought your ChessTiger program for my Palm Tungsten-T3. Excellent!"
    -- Andrew (Roslyn, NY, USA)

    "Thanks for a great program!"
    -- David (Huddersfield, United Kingdom)

    "Just bought Chess Tiger and love it!"
    -- Christopher (New York, NY, USA)

    "Chess Tiger was the reason I chose to buy a Palm OS handheld."
    -- Ian (Long Valley, NJ, USA)

    "Chess Tiger is exactly what I've been looking for. It is easily worth double what you're charging!"
    -- Bob (Haltom City, TX, USA)

    "Hi, thanks for the great chess software that has given me many great hours of playing, and has helped me slowly develop my chess game (I'm at trainer level 7 when playing white and 6 when playing black now)."
    -- Tien (Arlington Heights, IL, US)

    "As a registered user, I love this app, and its wide range of compatibility with all Palms."
    -- Sumeet

    "You guys are the best!"
    -- Frank (Oslo, Norway)

    "I recently registered Chess Tiger 15.1 for the Palm OS. An I can tell you, I love it. it plays strong chess and I am thankful for the trainer levels."
    -- Wybren (Oosterhesselen, The Netherlands)

    "I want to thank you for creating a very nice product."
    -- Justin

    "Chesstiger is definitely the best chess programm available for PDAs."
    -- Axel (Germany)

    "I'm impressed with the product and your support."
    -- John (Southampton, United Kingdom)

    "I have bought ChessTiger for Palm and it's a wonderful program. Congratulations!"
    -- Tiago (Aracaju, Brazil)

    "Thanks! Your program is one of the best arguments for owning a Palm!"
    -- John (Cincinnati, OH, USA)

    "On a side note, I've recently purchased a T2 (from my old M500) and the game is just so beautiful now. The developers did a great job making the most of the color."
    -- Brian (Atlanta, GA, USA)

    "I have bought Chess Tiger (through Handango) and I think it is a terrific software, even better than other softwares that I have tried on my desktop."
    -- Filippo (Raleigh, NC, USA)

    "I want to thank you all, first for developing such a powerful engine, and nice interface; and second, for beign a truly serious enterprise, at first I wasn't sure you would help me out, but you did!  And I'm very glad to be one of your proud customers, keep up the good work and thanx for making my night shifts less painful again!!!"
    -- Eduardo (Quito, EC)

    "I think Chess Tiger is awesome! It's my favorite chess program and the first game I put on my new Zire 71."
    -- Mike (Muncie, IN, USA)
     
    Home
    Features
    Screenshots
    Download
    Contact us