From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 21 jan 2000 Subject: Re: Shotest available online Let me first say that I have not seen the commercial "Shogi Professional" yet, so I do not know the details of the program. This being said, I think I can give some advice about this program since I have been following the development of the Shotest since its first appearance in the Computer Shogi tournament three years ago. I have seen it grow from an interesting program to an impressive program. If the current release has more or less the same strength than the copy I have of the program that played in May at the International Shogi Forum, then I am sure it could be a good opponent to most players. I do not think Shotest is the strongest commercial program in the world. I personally prefer to play "AI Shogi", because it plays more natural shogi and is very strong. I (4-dan amateur) have a losing record in quick games against AI Shogi, while I have never lost a game against the version of Shotest I have. I think Shotest is better at beating other programs than at beating humans. However, there are quite a number of reasons to prefer Shogi Professional over AI Shogi: 1) AI Shogi is not easy to order if you are outside of Japan. The company selling it has no connection to the Shogi Renmei and like most Japanese companies, communication in English will be problematic at best (your request will simply be ignored at worst). 2) AI Shogi is a Japanese program running under Japanese Windows. It will work under Windows, but you will not be able to read the menus. This is problem that can be worked around, but it might become annoying. 3) AI Shogi is very expensive. Buying it in Japan will cost you 12,800 Yen, which I think is about three times as much as Shogi Professional. So, if you are not a dan-player or any of the three reasons above makes you prefer Shogi Professional over AI Shogi, then I think Shogi Professional is worth a try. Nick Hart THEHARTS FSNET CO UK> writes: > Re Shotest query, > I also browsed the site as I have wanted a good Shogi program for many > years. I have downloaded ShogiVar and Shogi++ and tried these. ShogiVar is > nicely presented but easy to beat. I would also be interested to hear other > opinions on Shotest. > My first impression is one of disappointment that there is no mention of a > game database or coaching functions as found in programs like the > Chessmaster series. When you look at what you get in Chessmaster for a > similar price, Shotest looks rather expensive... I do not think that it is fair to compare chess programs with Shotest. Most chess programs have been developed over more than ten years, while Shotest started only a couple of years ago. Also, competition in the commercial chess market is fierce, leading to major efforts by whole teams of programmers. In contrast, Shotest is a one-person effort. At the moment, I think the important part is the strength of the program. As I said, I hope it is comparable to what I have seen. Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Complex Games Lab Electrotechnical Laboratory 1-1-4 Umezono, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp URL: http://www.etl.go.jp/etl/suiron/~grimberg/ Tel: +81-(0)298-54-3316 Fax: +81-(0)298-54-5918