Glossary

Engine

A chess engine calculates a move. It sends search information for the user to the GUI. Opposite: GUI. Engines communicate with the GUI with protocols, e.g. Winboard or UCI. Engine examples: SOS, Ruffian, Spike.

Gaviota

Chess engine by Miguel A. Ballicora, see tablebases

GUI

Graphical User Interface. The GUI shows the user the chessboard, move list, information on the search process of the engine. Arena and Winboard are GUIs for chess.

Half move

A half move is always a move from white or black. A move is generally two half moves, one from white and one from black.

Pondering, Permanent Brain

Calculating while the opponent is to move. E.g. while the opponent thinks on his move, the chess engine can calculate counter moves. The result is often a greater playing strength.

ProDeo

A chess engine by Ed Schröder. It is a descendant of the world-famous " Rebel" chess program.

Protocol

Protocols are used to organize the communication between engine and GUI.The most important ones are: UCI and WinBoard.

SOS

SOS - That's the name of a strong chess engine, programmed by Rudolf Huber. SOS was the first engine to become Arena Partner and is included in most Arena packages.

Tablebases

Tables containing the result of each position. Arena uses the chess engine Gaviota, to query the Gaviota tablebases and display within the GUI.