Chess engine is the unique software which is built into the program shell (e.g. "Fritz", "Arena", "Shredder") thus multiplying the force of the game shell. For example, "Kasparov Chess" is very good and clever shell. The maximum rating which can be set in it is 2600. And the rating of the chess engines reaches 3000-3200. That is why the chess engines are so popular. Where do the chess engines originate from and who makes them? This question is not trivial, vice versa it is quite actual, so it is worth talking about.

The first record of the chess engine was made about 20 years ago. That was just the time when the UCI standard was developed - the universal chess interface, allowing the chess engine to be connected to the graphic interface of the program shell. The engine made to this standard can be easily connected to any chess program. The standard was worked out by Stephan Meyer-Kahlen, German programmer, who was born in 1968 in Dusseldorf. He is also the founder of one of the most famous chess programs - Shredder, which is the 12-times world champion among chess machines. The UCI standard was presented to the world by Rudolf Huber. The standard has great advantages. For example, if the engine does not save the database of the games played (although it is better if this task is performed by the engine), then one can easily manage this database by UCI. As the UCI protocol is absolutely free, it gives it the advantage over the other protocols. It can be used for private purposes and as the open-source as well. This protocol was used by only a few programs until Chessbase Company (producing Fritz) began to support this protocol in 2002. Nowadays, this protocol is used by about 100 chess programs.

The majority of the chess engines are made very thoroughly and published in the net absolutely free of charge. In Russia there are the developers making engines, as well. E.g. SmarThink developed by Sergey Markov, GreKo developed by Vladimir Medvedev, Strelka developed by Yuri Osipov. These engines, as well as many others, can be downloaded from our website. As the number of the chess engines is growing, we chose the best ones, as there is simply no possibility to present all of them here.

Komodo 13.01 Version Windows

Komodo 11 Version Windows 64

Komodo 10 2016 - Developer Mark Lefler. Version for Android, Linux, OSX, Windows ALL.

Houdini - Developer Robert Blow (Belgium). Houdini 6 x64 x32 UCI

Houdini - Developer Robert Blow (Belgium). 5.01 UCI Chess Engines [Full]

Komodo 8 - Champions 2015 - Developer Mark Lefler. Version for Android, Linux, OSX, Windows 7, 8 (32/64).

Houdini 4 PRO - Developer Robert Blow (Belgium). Version 4 PRO.

Houdini 2.0 - Developer Robert Blow (Belgium). Version 2.0. To date, the best engine. And you can Download Houdini 2.0 for a direct link.

Deep Rybka 4 - developer Vas Rajlich. Version 4 (w32)

Stockfish - Developers Tord Romstad, Marco Kostalba Kiiski and Joon. Version 2.11

Critter - Developer Richard Vida. Version 1.1.37

Naum - Developer Alexander Naumov (Canada). Version 4.2

Spark - Version 1.0

WildCat - Developer Igor Korshunov (Belarus). Version 8.0

SmarThink - Developer Sergei Markov (Russia). Version 0.17a

SOS - Designer Rudolf Huber (Germany). Version 11.99

Zchess - Designer Franck Zibi (France). Version 2.22

Gromit - Developers Frank Schneider and Kai Skibbe (Germany). Version 3.0

Ufim - Developer Niaz Hasanov (Russia). Version 8.2

Mustang - Developer Alex Korneichuk (Belarus). Version 4.97

GreKo - Developer Vladimir Medvedev (Russia). Version 8.2 + sour

Kaissa2 - Developer Vladimir Elin (Belarus). Version 1.8a

Adamant - Developer George Varentsov (Russia). Version 1.7

Booot - Developer of Alexei Morozov (Ukraine). Version 5.1.0 + sources

Eeyore - Developer Meidel Anton (Russia). Version 1.52 (32 & 64bit)

Zeus - Developer Vadim Bykov (Russia). Version 1.29

Arics - Developer Vladimir Fadeev (Belarus). Version 0.95a

Anechka - Developer Sergey Nefedov (Russia). Version 0.08

Patriot - Developer Vladimir Elin (Belarus). Version 2006

AlChess - Developer Alex Lobanov (Russia). Version 1.5b

OBender - Designer Evgeny Kornilov (Russia). Version 3.2.4x

Counter - Developer Vadim Chizhov (Russia). Version 1.2

Strelka - Designer Yuri Osipov (Russia). Version 2.0B + sources

Belka - Developers Yuri Osipov, Igor Korshunov (Russia - Belarus). Version 1.8.20

Ifrit - Developer Brenkman Andrew (Russia). Version 4.4 + source

Bison - Developer Ivan Bonkin (Russia). Version 9.11 + sour

Uralochka - Developer Ivan Maklyakov (Russia). Version 1.1b

Marginal - Designer Alexander Turikov (Russia). Version 0.1

Chess - Designer Evgeny Kornilov (Russia). Version 3

Woodpecker - Designer Evgeny Kornilov (Russia). Version 2

Gull - Developer Vadim Demishev (Russia). Version 1.2

Go here to read the rest:

Download free Chess Engines - Komodo 11, Houdini

The most powerful chess engines of all time are all well-known to most chess players. If you are wondering which available engine is the strongest, then look no furtherStockfish is the king of chess engines.

Let's learn more about this mighty engine. Here is what you need to know about Stockfish:

Stockfish is the strongest chess engine available to the public and has been for a considerable amount of time. It is a free open-source engine that is currently developed by an entire community. Stockfish was based on a chess engine created by Tord Romstad in 2004 that was developed further by Marco Costalba in 2008. Joona Kiiski and Gary Linscott are also considered founders.

Stockfish is not only the most powerful available chess engine but is also extremely accessible. It is readily available on many platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Stockfish's accomplishments are more impressive than those of any other chess engine. It has won eight Top Chess Engine Championships (TCEC) through 2020. Stockfish has also dominated Chess.com's Computer Chess Championship since 2018, winning the first six events and more.

Stockfish had firmly established itself as the strongest chess engine in the world before 2017, which is why the chess world was shaken to its core when it lost a one-sided match to a neural network computer program called AlphaZero. This loss to AlphaZero led to the development of other neural network projects (most notably Leela Chess Zero,Leelenstein, and Alliestein).

Although Stockfish has kept its spot atop the chess engine list, the neural network engines had been getting closer and closer to Stockfish's strength. In September 2020, Stockfish 12 was released, and it was announced that Stockfish had absorbed the Stockfish+NNUE project (NNUE stands for Efficiently Updatable Neural Network). What does this move mean? Well, now the raw power of the traditional brute-force Stockfish has been improved by the evaluation abilities of a neural network enginea mind-boggling combination!

As of October 2020, Stockfish is the highest-rated engine according to the computer chess rating list (CCRL) with a rating of 3514it is the only engine with a rating above 3500. According to the July 2020 Swedish Chess Computer Association (SSDF) rating list, Stockfish 9 is ranked #3, Stockfish 10 is ranked #2, and Stockfish 11 is ranked #1 with a rating of 3558. Taking the top three spots with three different versions is quite impressive.

According to this great video on the strongest chess engines of all time (based on the SSDF rating lists), Stockfish is the strongest engine of all timea sentiment that is widely shared in the chess community.

As mentioned, Stockfish has dominated the TCEC since it started participating. It has won eight TCEC championships and also has six second-place finishesit has placed first or second in every season it has participated since 2013 with only one exception. From 2018-2020 it won seven out of nine TCEC seasons ahead of Komodo, Leela Chess Zero, Shredder, Houdini, and other top-level engines.

Stockfish also won the 2014 TCEC Fischer Random tournament, the TCEC season 10 Rapid tournament, and three TCEC cups (in 2018, 2019, and 2020 respectively).

Chess.com's Computer Chess Championship has also been a common winning ground for Stockfish. It has won eight of the 13 events through 2020 and placed second in four others. Stockfish continues to defeat the neural network engines in most competitions.

The first game example is from the 2018 Stockfish-AlphaZero match. Stockfish wins quickly and easilycan you ask for more than defeating the strongest chess entity that the world has ever seen in a mere 22 moves?Stockfish sacrifices a pawn early in the opening and gains a large advantage after 13. Rd3. After 18. Rh4, all of Stockfish's pieces are active and developed, while all of AlphaZero's pieces are on the back rank (except for the queen):

The sacrifices with 19. Bc4! and 20. Nce4! are powerful and finish the game quickly.

In this second game example, we see Stockfish dispatch another famous chess engine that stood atop the chess engine world for years: Rybka. Stockfish gains a nice advantage out of the opening that it keeps throughout the game. The fireworks start with Stockfish's 28. Bxh6+!

Stockfish keeps up the pressure with an exchange sacrifice on move 31 and dominates the rest of the game after Rybka's 33...Kh7:

In this fantastic video by Chess.com's NM Sam Copeland, Stockfish+NNUE dismantles the neural network engine Stoofvlees:

Stockfish is the engine for analysis on Chess.com. It is very easy to use on this site in several ways. One is to go to Chess.com/analysis and load your PGN or FEN:

Another easy-to-use method of analyzing your games on Chess.com with Stockfish is to select "Analyze" after you complete a game in Live Chess.

Yet another way to analyze your games with Stockfish on Chess.com is with Chess.com's analysis board. Simply go to Live Chess and select the drop-down menu below the Tournaments tab:

After you select this menu, simply press "Analysis Board." Then you can analyze with Stockfish!

The Analysis Board is very easy to use and can help you with any phase of the game. This article explains how to use it.

In this video, Chess.com's IM Danny Rensch explains some of the Stockfish analysis features available on Chess.com:

You now know what Stockfish is, why it is important, how to analyze with Stockfish on Chess.com, and more. Head over to Chess.com/CCC to watch Stockfish and other top engines battling at any time on any day!

Originally posted here:

Stockfish - Chess Engines - Chess.com

Unofficial World Computer Chess Championship

Top Chess Engine Championship, formerly known as Thoresen Chess Engines Competition (TCEC or nTCEC), is a computer chess tournament that has been run since 2010. It was organized, directed, and hosted by Martin Thoresen until the end of Season 6; from Season 7 onward it has been organized by Chessdom. It is often regarded as the Unofficial World Computer Chess Championship because of its strong participant line-up and long time-control matches on high-end hardware, giving rise to very high-class chess.[1][2][3] The tournament has attracted nearly all the top engines compared to the World Computer Chess Championship.

After a short break in 2012,[4] TCEC was restarted in early 2013 (as nTCEC)[5] and is currently active (renamed as TCEC in early 2014) with 24/7 live broadcasts of chess matches on its website.

Since season 5, TCEC has been sponsored by Chessdom Arena.[6][7]

The TCEC competition is divided into seasons, where each season happens over a course of a few months, with matches played round-the-clock and broadcast live over the internet. Each season is divided into several tournaments, a Leagues Season, a Cup, a Swiss tournament, and a Fischer Random Chess tournament.

Prior to season 21, there was originally one tournament in each season. This tournament consisted of several qualifying stages and one "superfinal", and the winner of the superfinal is called the "TCEC Grand Champion" until the next season. Prior to season 11, the tournament used a cup format, while starting in Season 11, the tournament used a division system. Starting in season 13, there was also a cup tournament consisting of the top 32 engines in the main tournament, resulting in a 5-round single elimination tournament.[8]

Pondering is set to off. All engines run on mostly the same hardware[9] and use the same opening book, which is set by the organizers and changed in every stage. Large pages are disabled, but access to various endgame tablebases is permitted. Engines are allowed updates between stages; if there is a critical play-limiting bug, they are also allowed to be updated once during the stage. In previous seasons, if an engine crashes 3 times in one event, it is disqualified to avoid distorting the results for the other engines; however starting in TCEC Season 20, an engine is allowed to crash as many times as possible without being disqualified from the current event; however, the engine will still be disqualified from future events unless the crash is fixed.[10] TCEC generates an Elo rating list from the matches played during the tournament. An initial rating is given to any new participant based on its rating in other chess engine rating lists.

There is no definite criterion for entering into the competition, other than inviting the top participants under active development from various rating lists which can run on their Linux platform. Originally, TCEC used Windows instead of Linux. In addition, either XBoard or UCI protocol are required to participate.

Usually chess engines that support multiprocessor mode are preferred (8-cores or higher), and engines in active development are given preference. Since TCEC 12, engines like LCZero which use GPUs for neural processing were supported.

Initially, the list of participants was personally chosen by Thoresen before the start of a season. His stated goal was to include "every major engine that is not a direct clone".[11] In TCEC 13, DeusX was banned due to being a clone of Leela, and in TCEC 20, Houdini, Fire, Rybka (engine in Fritz up to TCEC 16), and Critter were banned due to allegations of plagiarism.

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2021)

Starting in season 21, each season has been expanded to include the Cup, a Fischer Random Chess tournament, and a Swiss tournament, and thus the original tournament has been renamed to the Leagues Season.[12]

The structure of the TCEC VSOB varies from event to event. Most of them have been in a round-robin format.

However, the latest VSOB event, VSOB 21, has a different format, where each opening gets tested to see how unbalanced the position is, and then assigned to a pair of engines depending on the strength differential between the pair of engines: equal positions were assigned to a pair of engines where one engine was vastly stronger than the other, while heavily unequal positions were assigned to a pair of engines about roughly equal strength.

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Houdini has been disqualified since TCEC season 20 and its results in previous seasons have been nullified.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2022)

The tables display the results of each TCEC Season that was a multi-stage tournament.

The tables display the results of each TCEC Season that was a league system.

After season 20, each season was expanded to include the Swiss, the Cup, and the FRC tournament, and so the original event is now called the Leagues Season.[13]

TCEC allows viewers to submit chess openings to TCEC, upon which the openings will be played by various engines in a series of exhibition games.

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Houdini has been disqualified since TCEC season 20 and its results in previous seasons have been nullified.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2022)

This table includes Main/Leagues, Cup, FRC and Swiss results.[15]

Read the rest here:

Top Chess Engine Championship - Wikipedia

ProjectResolute has been a chess fan since he was a kid. He now enjoys playing on chess (dot) com and various computer chess programs.

These chess engines are super powerful! You'll love these!

sk

Chess engines are a great tool to have. Whether they are used for analyzing games, accurately converting a large advantage into a win, studying openings, or watching cyber chess warfare, if they are used correctly, they can help any chess player improve.

Any avid chess player can and should download at least one strong chess engine. However, there are thousands of engines out there and not all of them are created equal. Some of them have a fairly good rating on various chess engine rating lists, but they dont function well. Some have various problems such as the inability to set search depth, searches longer than the set time limit, or crashes every now and then.

This can be a pain, although most engines that have these issues are free for anyone to download. To avoid this potential frustration, Ive decided to make a list of the five best free chess engines. These engines all follow the Universal Chess Interface protocol (UCI for short), and can be used in any UCI-compatible chess program.

All of these engines are 100% functional and have quite a few configurations to play with. They are also all extremely strong, although some can be set to play at a more human level, too. Please note that the rating given to these UCI chess engines arent mine, but I get them from a 3rd-party source, which tests hundreds of chess engines and apply a rating to them. The link above will take you to the rating list I used for this article.

Okay, Ive blabbered around long enough! Lets continue to see what some of the best free chess engines are.

Rating3339

Stockfish is the strongest free chess engine. Stockfish 7, the latest version as of this moment of writing, has a rating of 3339. Although computer rating lists and official rating lists dont necessarily match up, it is easy to say that Stockfish 7 is well beyond the skill of any grandmaster. It is also about 40 points above the next best chess engine!

The main co-authors of this engine are Tord Romstad, Marco Costalba, Joona Kiiski, and Gary Linscott. It must be noted that although these four are the main developers, this engine is open-sourced and thus was developed by a whole community of people. It is licensed under GPLv3, which basically means you can share to anybody, sell it as part of a larger project, and change the source code, as long as you either point back to where you got it, or supply the original source code.

The Stockfish project is actually a fork off of a chess engine called Glaurung, which is also open-sourced. People gradually started moving to stockfish, until finally Glaurung was abandoned altogether. It is interesting to note that the Glaurung chess engines rating is 2902, so Stockfish has improved upon its predecessor by 430 rating points.

Stockfish has several interesting configurations; the most noticeable in my opinion is the ability to scale down the skill level, so an average human can beat it. It has 21 different playing levels, and at level 0, although I have to think, I can beat it.

Another configuration that caught my eye is contempt. This setting is to make it play more risky moves. A setting of zero is default and considered neutral, a positive number up to 100 is more aggressive setting, and a setting of below zero up to -100, it will play for a draw.

While Stockfish is undeniably a strong engine, it is not the strongest. There is one engine that is stronger than stockfish according to most rating lists.

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Rating3296

Komodo chess engine is actually the strongest chess engine in the world. The reason why it isnt first place in the list is because the latest version isnt free. The most recent version of this engine is Komodo 10.1, which costs $59.96. This version has a current rating of 3379, which is 40 points above its archenemy, Stockfish.

However, with every new version of Komodo that is unveiled, there also becomes a past version available for free. Currently, Komodo 8 is available without charge, and this version has a rating of 3296. The free version is about 40 points below Stockfish 7 and 80 points below Komodo 10.1. So even with Komodo 8, youre going to have a world-class chess engine.

The thing I wish Komodo would have but doesnt is a setting to weaken its play. This is true for all versions. It is a minor inconvenience though because I mostly use UCI chess engines for game analysis, and if I want to, I can still limit its skill by search depth, which when set to one ply, plays quite stupidly.

Komodo 8 does have a configuration to control its aggressiveness, called draw score. The default setting is -7, and if you set it lower, (i.e. -15) it will play more aggressively, and if higher, it will try to play for a draw more often.

So, although the free Komodo chess engine isnt quite as strong as Stockfish 7, I cant think of a reason why one wouldnt want to take time and download the chess engine. In fact, I bought the engine back when it was the latest and the greatest, and although it was a while back, its still among the strongest.

Andscacs Logo

Rating3211

The Andscacs chess engine was first released in September of 2013. Since then, its only grown in strength. Its current release, Andscacs 0.872, has a rating of 3211 according to CCRL and has participated in stage 3 of season 9, where it came in 5th place.

The creator of this chess engine, Daniel Jos Queralt, lives in the country Andorra. Hence the name of the engine, Andscacs, And for his country, scacs for the Catalan word escacs, meaning chess. Daniel got his inspiration for creating this chess engine from a variety of open-source engines such as Stockfish and Gull.

Unfortunately, this chess engine is no longer available for download. That said this article is long overdue for an update, and I will do so very soon.

Rating3208

Fire is another one of the top free chess engines. Originally called Firebird, this chess engine is usually among the top 10 in many rating lists. It's debatable whether Fire or Andscacs is the better engine since they are within 10 points difference in the CCRL rating list.

It originally started out as an open-source project, but later the code became closed. However, there is a fork off of fire 2.2, which has been rename Firenzina, which is still open-sourced. When the Fire chess engine became closed, the code was completely rewritten and doesn't contain any code from the chess engine Ippolit, as the original open-source version did.

Rating3197

The Houdini chess engine is a very popular chess engine even though it is a distant 3rd place on most chess engine rating lists. Houdini 4 is the most recent version and it has a rating of 3255 on CCRL. It is a 3 time champion in the TCEC tournaments, which is considered by many to be the world computer chess championship. Only Komodo holds as many titles.

Rumor has it that Houdini 5 will be released for the final stages of TCEC season 9. Houdini 4 improved upon its predecessor by approximately 50 elo points. Will this Houdini 5 have a rating of around 3300? Were going to have to wait and see. I personally have my doubts, since at the moment Im writing this, Stage 3 of season 9 is already under way, and theres no sign of Houdini 5 as of yet.

Whether or not a new version will ever be released, the free Houdini chess engine is also very strong. With a rating of 3197, Houdini 1.5a is a chess engine that a human will never stand a chance at winning. Whats more is that Houdini has an interesting style of play. Many chess players have remarked that this chess engine has a very romantic style of play, similar to such players like Paul Morphy and Mikhail Tal.

Rybka Chess Logo

Rybka

Rating3024

I know that the Rybka chess engine is fairly outdated. Rybka 4, the last release, has a rating of 3160. This is around 30 points lower than the free version of Houdini! However, the latest release is still available for sale on Amazon & Chessbase. On Amazon, the engine costs about $50 and on Chessbase it costs a whopping $90.75! Even the latest version of Komodos cheaper!

Thankfully, theres a free version too Rybka 2.3.2a which has a relatively minuscule rating of 3024. So, why am I recommending this engine as one that every chess player should have? Because of a configuration that I think is quite handy! You can set the rating at which it works. With a range of 1200 to 2400, the lower one sets this rating the more mistakes they make.

The rating will not match up with a Fide rating though, so dont go into a tournament saying that you have a rating of 1300 because you beat Rybka at that rating. That said, if you win a game at 1200, your rating will likely be higher than this. I have trouble defeating it at this level, and my rating on chess.com is around 1600!

Thus ends my listing of some of the best free chess engines. Although the article is now drawing to a close, I encourage you to check back, since Im planning on adding more engines to this page.

2016 ProjectResolute

Sorrowdy on April 24, 2020:

And where is Raubfisch? According my engine tournaments it is the best engine ever. And it's also free.

noob on March 10, 2020:

It's 2020 and this article makes zero mention of the new Neural Network engines Lc0, Leelenstein, Stoofvlees, all of which are significantly better than every engine above except Stockfish.

Chess Player on February 25, 2018:

Thanks! Good Job for the Source!

Erik on November 26, 2017:

Thanks, good job. Nice would be comparing chess GUIs, too.

Erik

Really? on October 27, 2017:

Check your spelling and grammar. Nothing added here beyond a rating list and some nonsense. You can find actual reviews elsewhere online, and links that aren't "hard to find." A chess "fan," really? Not a player, a fan? lol

ciarli on September 29, 2017:

what about 'demon' engine! I heard that it is prohibited because he can make any move and win again and is insulting Godmaster way of thinking!

Md. Shahinur Islam on August 30, 2017:

Whats the position of Chessmaster & Fritz in terms of ratings??

Reign Tibudan on July 27, 2017:

Thank you, you are so helpful

Kainoa Thomas Henao on May 24, 2017:

Great idea

Hal on April 01, 2017:

Thank you.. 🙂

Thomas on October 23, 2016:

Very nice and competent review of the best chess programs - thanks! I wonder, however, if the new version of Houdini is not even stronger given it's current performance in TCEC Rapid - perhaps 100 -150 Elo points over version 4? Anyway - we'll see in the TCEC Super Final! Best Regards Thomas

Read the original here:

Best Free Chess Engines Every Chess Player Should Download

ProjectResolute has been a chess fan since he was a kid. He now enjoys playing on chess (dot) com and various computer chess programs.

Discover more about UCI chess engines.

Luiz Hanfilaque via Unsplash

Computers rule and humans drool in the world of chess. Since the moment Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov, the abyss of skill between human and computers has been getting wider. Nowadays, every avid chess enthusiast can download a chess program and watch intense chess battles being played with precision and skill beyond the dreams of even the top grandmasters, and it can easily be done for free (provided you already have a computer and an internet connection).

When I first downloaded a UCI chess engine, I was a bit confused as to how it all worked. I Googled something along the lines of, best free computer chess program, clicked the first thing that caught my eye, and before I knew it, I had a file named Stockfish 5 64 bit.exe that could play at super grandmaster strength. I wanted a challenge, and it seemed that I had one! I excitedly double-clicked the file and, alas, a black window popped up with the three names of the programmers who wrote the marvelous piece of code but nothing else.

What I didnt know was that I had to have separate software to use the chess engine, something called a GUI. GUI is short for graphical user interface, and though it was a little confusing at first, I eventually got Stockfish running and got the worst whipping in my life.

The concept of an interaction between a chess engine and its GUI is really quite easy to understand. Here's an analogy that best explains it: Lets say this UCI chess engine was a car engine. This engine wouldn't do any good without the rest of the car. You need wheels, a place to sit, a steering wheel, brakes, etc., or it would just be a worthless piece of junk. The same goes for the UCI chess engine. The GUI program provides a way for the user to interact with the engine, which does all the work and is always 2030 moves ahead of you.

There are many different GUIs to choose from, some paid and some free. This article focuses on the free ones. Remember that all GUIs have their own pros and cons. I personally use all of the GUIs mentioned here, because I like to use at least a feature or two on each one:

Here's a screenshot of the UCI Chess Engines in Lucas GUI.

The Lucas Chess GUI is a UCI-compatible chess program created by Lucas Monge and others. It is an open-sourced project, and its likely that many different people lent a hand in creating this software.

An outstanding feature of this GUI is the number of chess engines that it comes with. The website says there are over 30 different engines that have a variety of skill levels. This is a huge plus for users who dont want to go through the hassle of installing a chess engine. However, as with almost all GUIs, users can install as many other chess engines into Lucas Chess as they want.

Another big plus is Lucas Chess has training positions preinstalled, including everything from tactical problems to endgames. There are enough puzzles to last you for months, if not years. I am not sure exactly how many puzzles there are, but I know its in the tens of thousands. If thats not enough puzzles, you can also manually set up your own chess puzzles to practice. If you have a tactical chess puzzle book handy, you could easily copy those over as well (although I discovered it can take time).

What I like most about this software is its analysis feature. I can analyze any game I put into Lucas Chess with a chess engine. I put the game into the program, hit analyze, set the time per move I want it to analyze, and it scrolls through each individual move and color codes which ones are excellent, good, neutral, mistake, or just plain bad! I then click on a move the chess engine deemed bad, and I can see the move the chess engine would have played along with the move I played and what it predicted would've happened afterward.

I wish Lucas Chess offered the ability to print out stored games on a scoresheet, so I could have a nice-looking hard copy of all my favorite games. I did find this feature in another program, Chessbase Reader 2013. However, it would save time when playing a game in Lucas Chess to not have to copy and paste the game over to another program.

The program is only available for Windows OS. However, I believe that it's possible to use on Linux by compiling the program yourself if you're a computer whiz. Another option is using WINE, which lets you run Windows applications on Mac and Linux.

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Here is Arena chess program's engine menu.

The Lucas Chess GUI program is useful for analyzing games, practicing tactics, and playing against various chess engines. However, the Arena Chess GUI program is my go-to chess software when experimenting with various chess engines, and I do have quite a few.

One thing that I love doing is pitching engine vs engine tournaments, and Arena makes this quite easy to do. All you need to do is select the engine menu and hit tournament, select which engines to use and length of time to think, and hit start. The GUI will handle everything else (scoring, pairing, saving the games played, etc.). Its quite fascinating to watch!

Its worth noting that the Lucas Chess GUI can also handle engine vs. engine tournaments, but it doesnt have nearly as many options as Arena. With Arena, you can set the skill level by search depth, time to think per move, and blitz. With Lucas chess, only blitz is allowed. If you want to pitch engine vs. engine chess battles, Arena is the preferred choice among the free GUIs.

Another thing that I love about the Arena GUI is the ability to see the UCI engines current search depth, nodes (means positions) per second its searching, and much more. If you love computers and chess as much as I do, it can become quite hypnotizing!

Another feature that's worth noting is it's possible to limit an engines playing strength by a certain percentage of the time allowed to calculate. For example, if it has calculated for two minutes on one position, and I set it at 50%, it really would only have calculated for one minute.

This is something I discovered just recently, and the reason Im excited about this is that even at a skill level of one second per move, I still cant ever hope to beat Komodo 10. However, at 1% of a second, this computer chess titan is much more manageable. Although I havent yet beaten him at this setting, it doesnt leave me feeling like a complete moron at the end of a game. That is, as long as I dont think too much about how little time it has to think about a move.

The only con I can think of that applies to the Arena chess GUI is with all its bells and whistles, it can be quite daunting to learn to use. For me, I love figuring out software, but I understand if some people just dont want to take the time. If this sounds like you, scroll down because the next chess software will make you smile!

Chess GUI Arena is available only in the Windows format. However, it should run in the WINE software for Mac and Linux. The program comes with two opening books, a game database, several engines, and Gaviota 3-man endgame tablebase.

Here is a picture of the Tarrasch Chess Program.

The Tarrasch chess GUI is named after a great chess legend, Siegbert Tarrasch, who lived in the 1800s/1900s. Many of the great chess players of the time criticized his ideas, and he was greatly underappreciated by the chess world. Thus, the developer decided to name this chess software after him as a commemoration to him and to rebalance this injustice.

As I hinted at earlier, the main benefit of this chess program is its simplicity. The Tarrasch chess GUI is very intuitive by design. For example, there are two options to move the pieces with the mouse:

This feature isnt the only thing I like about this chess software. I read a lot of chess ebooks, and Tarrasch is the perfect assistant. Not only can I quickly set up a chess position from the chess book on the GUI, but I can also copy and paste a string of moves from the ebook into the GUI if the moves are written in algebraic notation.

If there are no moves entered into the game yet, the Tarrasch chess program will automatically assume the moves are the moves of the game. However, if there are moves already in the moves box, the text pasted will be as a comment, and one has to promote a comment to variation via the edit menu.

Currently, two versions of the Tarrasch Gui are available for download. Unfortunately, it's only available for Windows OS.

Here's the tree window in SCID vs PC (note the opening statistics!).

Theres no denying that SCID vs. PC is a very powerful piece of software. If I spend a bit of time experimenting with it, the GUI could very well replace Arena. The reason why I dont use it very often is that to me its more confusing than any of the other UCI-compatible chess programs I've tried.

That said, it doesn't stop me from using the program to go through large pgn databases of say, 1000+ games. This is really what the developers were focusing on when creating this program. Its primary function is as a database manager, and its evident through the following features:

The options and features mentioned here are by no means exhaustive; I've only just begun to scratch the surface. If anyone has a lot of games they would like to analyze and sort through, this is probably the best choice of free chess software.

As far as playing against a chess engine and/or analyzing your games for blunders, this will work, but there are better choices, and Id recommend the Lucas Chess program for that. For pitching chess engine tournaments and whatnot, Arena still has the most configurations, even though SCID vs PC has the capability to do blitz tournaments.

This program has versions available both for Windows and Macintosh (Mac). Linux users can use this program also (click the installation tab for instructions).

The Chessbase Reader is another UCI-Compatible chess program.

The ChessBase Reader 12 is the only chess software GUI that is available for free from ChessBase. The others youre going to have to spend some money to obtain, such as Fritz 15. I personally downloaded the freeware to get some decent printouts of some of my favorite chess games and was quite impressed with the scoresheets it created from my pgn files.

This is by no means the only thing this UCI-compatible chess program can be used for. It can also be used with any of the lessons for sale on its website. I personally cant tell you the quality of the lessons, nor can I tell how well the ChessBase reader displays the lessons primarily because I dont have any lessons from the site.

The free version of ChessBase is only available in Windows, and since it was at one time a commercial program, I'm not sure how well it'll run in WINE.

Now that I have listed the top five UCI-compatible chess programs, which one do I recommend downloading? In all honesty, all of them! They are all free, so why not? They all have their unique pros and cons, and once you learn to use all of them, there really isn't anything you cant do!

There is a lot of other chess software that is available for free, and if anyone can think of one that isn't mentioned on this page and is comparable to the top 5 listed above, please let me know. Here are several:

2016 ProjectResolute

TOTTO210 on December 11, 2017:

ARENA IS THE BEAST!

Read the original here:

Free UCI-Compatible Chess Programs for the Stockfish Engine

In 2021, Nikhil Kamath, founder of Zerodha, defeated five-time world champion Vishwanathan Anand in chess with the help of computers (he confessed later on) at a celebrity fundraiser. The controversy sparked discussions around the use of AI in the game of chess.

As India is all set to host the 44th edition of the Chess Olympiad in Mahabalipuram starting on July 28, lets look at how AI has impacted the game of chess.

The earliest mention of technology in chess can be traced back to the 18th century when Austrian empress Maria Theresa commissioned a chess-playing machine. Many players competed against the Mechanical Turk, thinking it was an automated machine. However, it turned out to be a scam. A human hidden inside the machine was operating it.

In the mid-1940s, British mathematician Alan Turing began theorising how a computer could play chess against a human. In 1949, Claude Shannon published a seminal paper describing a potential program to do exactly that. In 1950, Alan Turing created a program capable of playing chess. Soon after, the Dietrich Prinz and Bernstein chess program burst into the scene.

Computer chess appeared for the first time in the 1970s. MicroChess, the first commercial chess program for microcomputers, in 1976; Chess Challenger in 1977; and Sargon, which won the worlds first computer chess tournament for microcomputers, in 1978.

The robotic chess computers came about in the 1980s. Boris Handroid, Novag Robot Adversary and Milton Bradley Grandmaster are some examples. The most popular was Chessmaster 2000, which ruled the chess video and computer games industry for the next two decades.

As chess computers were gaining popularity in the 1980s, Gary Kasparov, the then world chess champion, claimed AI-driven chess engines could not defeat top-level chess grandmasters. However, in 1989 and 1996, Kasparov beat IBMs powerful chess engines, Deep Thought and Deep Blue.

Things started to change in the late 1990s. In 1997, Deep Blue defeated Kasparov. A year later, Kasparov came up with the idea of Cyborg chess or centaur chess, in which human and computer skills are combined to up the level of the game. The first cyborg chess was held in 1998.

In 2017, AlphaZero, a computer program developed by DeepMind, defeated the worlds strongest chess engine Stockfish. AlphaZero used the reinforcement learning technique in which the algorithm mimicked humans learning process to train its neural networks.

In 2018, TalkChess.com released Leela Chess Zero, developed by Gary Linscott (who also developed Stockfish). Without having any chess-specific knowledge, Leela Chess Zero learned the game based on deep reinforcement learning using an open-source implementation of AlphaZero.

In 2019, DeepMind came up with another algorithm based on reinforcement learning called MuZero.

Chess players use AI-driven chess engines to analyse their and competitors games. As a result, AI has helped in improving the quality of games.

Post pandemic a lot of chess competitions were moved online. In the European Online Chess Championship, as many as 80 participants were disqualified for cheating. FIDE, the international chess body, has approved an artificial intelligence-driven behaviour-tracking module for the FIDE Online Arena games. Chess.com, an internet chess server, uses a cheat detection system to assess the probability of a human player matching the moves of a chess engine or surpassing the games of some of the greatest chess players with the help of a statistical model. DeepMind is also working to develop a new cheat detection software.

AI has also brought down the cost and effort of training and helped develop new chess strategies.

AI has indeed changed the dynamics of the game. However, using AI in chess has raised a few issues. Computer chess engines have significantly improved gameplay. However, people have also raised concerns that players of this age depend too much on machine-driven analysis.

Even when it comes to detecting cheating, AI poses a few issues. First, there is a possibility a player might be wrongly red-flagged by AI. For example, a Chess.com player and grandmaster, Akshat Chandra, was banned after a win against Hikaru as his moves supposedly matched Komodo, a strong positional chess engine. Though Chandra has been proved innocent, his reputation took a hit.

Chess engines and deep learning-based neural networks present enormous possibilities. Moreover, the complex nature and the strategic orientation of the game have provided a ground for assessing any progress in the field of artificial intelligence. They (games) are the perfect platform to develop and test ideas for AI algorithms. Its very efficient to use games for AI development, as you can run thousands of experiments in parallel on computers in the cloud and often faster than real-time, and generate as much training data as your systems need to learn from. Conveniently, games also normally have a clear objective or score, so it is easy to measure the progress of the algorithms to see if they are incrementally improving over time, and therefore if the research is going in the right direction, said DeepMind cofounder Demis Hassabis.

Read more:

Chennai Chess Olympiad and AI - Analytics India Magazine

Bartholomew County Public Library is the hub for many free events for all ages and interests.

The Republic file photo

Kids and teens

BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Scheduled: Library Babies, 10 a.m., June 23, 30; Block OClock, 11 a.m., June 23, 30; Storytime: Ages 1-5, 1 p.m., June 23, 30; Teen Thursgame: Pirate LARP, 3 p.m., June 23; Reading with Lottie, 3:45 p.m., June 23, July 7; Paint Along with Greg Potter, 6 p.m., June 23; Kids Art Studio, 12:30 p.m., June 24, July 1, 8; Teen DIY: Sea Slime, 3 p.m., June 24; Origami Workshop, 4 p.m., June 24; Bermuda Triangle Escape Room, 10 & 11:30 a.m., June 25; Teen Bermuda Triangle Escape Room, 2 p.m., June 25; Mondays at Mill Race Storytime, 10 a.m., June 27; D.I.G. Time, 2 p.m., June 27; Teen Poetry Workshop: Zines!, 3 p.m., June 27; Drama Club, 4 p.m., June 27; Storytime, 6 p.m., June 27; Toddler Time, 10 a.m., June 28; Storytime, 11 a.m., June 28; Patio Playdate, 11:30 a.m., June 28; Teen Pride Month Book Club, 4 p.m., June 28; Game Time, 12:30 p.m., June 29, July 6; Cardio Drumming, 4 p.m., June 29; Watch-It WednesGAY: Heartsopper, 4 p.m., June 29; Teen Thursgame: Happy Little Dinosaurs, 2 p.m., June 30; Teen DIY: Moss Ball Habitats, 3 p.m., July 1; Builders Guild, 4 p.m., July 1; Artistic Tuesday, 12:30 p.m., July 5; Teen STEAM: Gardening, 4 p.m., July 5; Watch-It Wednesday: Jaws, 4 p.m., July 6; French Storytime, 4 p.m., July 7: Thursgame: Casino Nite, 4 p.m., July 7; Table Toppers, 4 p.m., July 8; Stitching is Fun for Everyone, 10 a.m., July 9; Teen Pro Gamer Club, 3 p.m., July 9.

STORYTIME WITH MR. DAVE!, 10 to 10:30 a.m., Thursdays, June 23, 30, Hope Town Square, 635 Harrison St., Hope. Call Mr. Dave at 812-546-5310 for more information.

THE GREAT BRICKISH MAKE-OFF CHALLENGE, through June 25, Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Its time for the Summer 2022 Great Brickish Make-Off Challenge! We invite you to use brick-style blocks to create an original design inspired by this years theme: oceans! You can use your own bricks at home, or you can use Legos provided at the library. Entries will be displayed in the library where they are submitted, and a fan favorite and up to three entries per age group will be chosen to win a new Lego set! Pick up an information sheet and a registration form at the library. Submissions accepted through June 25. Voting period June 27-July 9. Prize winners notified July 15.

STONE BELT ART DISPLAY, all day, to July 31, Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Come and enjoy artwork created by artists at Stone Belt Disability Services by visiting an ocean- and environmental-themed exhibition at BCPL.

Music and theater

STELLAR SUMMER NIGHTS, 6 p.m., June 24 and the fourth Friday of July and August, Stellar Plaza, downtown North Vernon. Live music, entertainment and more sponsored by Main Street North Vernon. Free and open to the public.

Educational

FOUNDERS FRIDAYS, 8 to 9 a.m., Fridays through Aug. 29, Lucabe Coffee Co., 310 4th St., Columbus. Each week, one business founder shares the ups and downs of his or her entrepreneurial journey. The free event is held each Friday (with the exception of July 1) in the meeting room at Lucabe Coffee Co. Coffee will be provided. The event is open to the public. Participants enjoy the opportunity for questions and answers from the areas leading innovators in a relaxed environment.

PRESERVE IT NOW ENJOY IT LATER, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 8, Columbus East High School, 230 S. Marr Road, Columbus. Learn the basics of safe home canning: pressure canner & boiling water canner. Lecture/resources with hands-on practice and take home product. Presenters are Purdue Extension Mastering Home Food Preservation Instructors. Cost is $50. Register online by July 5 at cvent.me/kagOyz. For registration questions, contact [emailprotected]

Sports, exercise, wellness

FAMILY FUN RUN/WALK, 6 p.m., June 23, White River Running, 325 Fifth St., Columbus. Choose from a one- or three-mile loop. Summer raffle entry available. More information: flourishcolumbus.com.

AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE, 1 to 6 p.m., July 5, Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Your blood donation matters. Register at redcrossblood.org.

BLACKWELL PARK STORYWALK, Blackwell Park, 1550 Whitney Court, Columbus. Enjoy some fresh air while strolling the Bartholomew County Public Librarys StoryWalk. Together with the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, the library is excited to bring you Dont Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton in June and Marlo by Christopher Browne in July. The StoryWalk is located along the People Trail near the Pollinator Park in Blackwell Park.

LEARN TO PLAY HOCKEY, 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., most Saturdays through Oct. 1, Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena, 2501 Lincoln Park Dr., Columbus. A noncompetitive environment in which children ages 4 to 10 can learn the basic skills of hockey without distractions that are often associated with an overemphasis on winning. Free equipment is available to use. Cost is $5 per child. Arrive 30 minutes early to get fitted for equipment.

GIRLS HOCKEY, 6 to 7 p.m., Mondays, through Oct. 10, Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena, 2501 Lincoln Park Dr., Columbus. Are you a girl interested in hockey? Come join us for a girls-only hockey class and learn the fundamentals and basic skills of hockey. For ages 7-16. $10 drop in fee.

SWIMMING FOR EXERCISE, Foundation for Youth, 405 Hope Ave., Columbus. Lap swimming, water aerobics and public swim are available. You must preregister for current swim sessions. Information: foundationforyouth.com.

Seasonal

COLUMBUS FARMERS MARKET, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturdays through Sept. 17, south of Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington St., Columbus. The market averages more than 100 full- and part-time vendors offering a range of plants, made-to-order food, lotions/soaps, coffee, honey, crafts, meats, eggs, baked goods, produce and more! More details can be found at columbusfarmersmarket.org or follow on Facebook for weekly entertainment updates.

JENNINGS COUNTY FARMERS MARKET, 8 a.m.-noon, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through mid-October, North Vernon City Park, 604 N. State St. More information is available on the Jennings Countys Farmers Market Facebook page.

Miscellaneous

BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Scheduled: Paint Along with Greg Potter, 6 p.m., June 23; Bermuda Triangle Escape Room, 3:30 p.m., June 25; Adult Craft Night, 6 p.m., June 27; All Bookd Book Club, 5:30 p.m., June 28; Dementia Friends Information Session, 2 p.m., July 1; Cbus Chess Crew, 2 p.m., July 2; Stitching is Fun for Everyone, 10 a.m., July 9.

STATE STREET TACO TOUR, 5 to 8 p.m., June 25, State St., Columbus. Are you ready for cilantro, onion, and your favorite Mexican meat all bundled up in a warm tortilla drizzled with your favorite salsa topped with a fresh juicy lime? Join us this year as we host the third annual Taco Tour on State Street! More details will be added to the Facebook event site so stay tuned for more info at facebook.com/events/332477205448914/.

PANCAKE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFAST, 6 to 11 a.m., July 4, North Vernon Fire Department, 2000 N. Madison Ave., North Vernon. North Vernon/Center Township Fire Department is hosting an annual pancake & sausage breakfast with a free will donation.

ELKS LODGE BINGO, 6:30 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Elks 521 Lodge Bingo Hall, 4664 Ray Boll Blvd., Columbus. Doors open at 5 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. The first game is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Open to the public. Information: 812-379-4386.

VFW POST 1987 BINGO, 215 N. National Road, Columbus. Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.), second Saturday of the month from 2 to 6 p.m. (doors open at noon). Open to the public.

AMERICAN LEGION BINGO & KARAOKE, American Legion Post 25, 2515 25th St., Columbus. Bingo is on Tuesdays starting at 6 p.m. Karaoke is on Wednesdays starting at 6 p.m.

COLUMBUS CHESS CLUB, 5 to 9 p.m., Thursdays, Lewellen Chapel, corner of Middle Road and Grissom Street, Columbus. Equipment is furnished. Open to chess players 16 and older. Information: 812-603-3893.

COLUMBUS AREA RAILROAD CLUB OPEN HOUSE, noon to 4 p.m. July 16 and the third Saturday of each month. Trains will be operating layouts in four scales HO, N, O, and On30. The club is located at the Johnson County Park headquarters building adjacent to Camp Atterbury. Information: Greg Harter, 812-350-8636, columbusarearailroadclub.com, or on Facebook at Columbus Area Railroad Club.

AMERICAN SEWING GUILD NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING, 9 to 11:30 a.m., July 2 and the first Saturday of each month, Bartholomew County REMC, 1697 W. Deaver Road, Columbus. Each monthly meeting focuses on learning a new sewing/creative skill or group sewing on a philanthropic project. Sewing enthusiasts of all ages and skills are welcome. Contact Marilyn at [emailprotected] with questions.

GRACES TABLE DRIVE-IN FREE MEAL, 5 p.m., second Sunday of each month, East Columbus United Methodist Church, 2439 Indiana Ave., Columbus. Drive-in free meal as well as music and storytelling. Enter the church parking lot on Indiana Avenue. Tables are available for walk-ups.

Galleries, museums, exhibits

BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 524 Third St., Columbus. The museum is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. BCHS hosts two permanent exhibits that share the history and heritage of Bartholomew County. Learn about our county through interactive, hands-on exhibits that include a map table, notable people, county timeline, Then and Now, Did You Know, early industrialists and videos of Reeves steam engines. The historical society also hosts rotating exhibits throughout the year featuring items from their extensive collection. Information: 812-372-3541, bartholomewhistory.org.

GALLERY 506, Columbus Indiana Visitors Center, 506 Fifth St., Columbus. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

YELLOW TRAIL MUSEUM/VISITOR CENTER, west side of Hope Town Square, 644 Main St., Hope. The museum is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from Noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment. Cruise-ins will be July 1 and the first Friday of August and September. The Research Center is open on Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon or by appointment. Contact the museum at 812-546-8020. Follow the Facebook page Yellow Trail Museum/Hope Visitors Center for updated information.

ATTERBURY-BAKALAR AIR MUSEUM, located at Columbus Municipal Airport, 4742 Ray Boll Blvd., Columbus, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Special tours may be scheduled by calling 812-372-4356. The museum preserves the history of the former Atterbury Army Air Field, later named Bakalar Air Force Base. Free admission. Visit the museum online at atterburybakalarairmuseum.org and on Facebook.

T.C. STEELE STATE HISTORIC SITE, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, 4220 T.C. Steele Road, Nashville. Staff is offering special indoor tours each with a limited number of people. Tours are included with site admission, but preregistration is recommended by calling 812-988-2785. Information: indianamuseum.org/tcsteele.

TRI-STATE ARTISANS, 422 Washington St., Columbus. Handmade retail gallery of more than 60 local artisans. Unique gifts, fine art, art classes for youth and adults, youth art programs, art parties and home parties. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Information: tsartisans.com.

JENNINGS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM, 335 Brown St., Vernon. Museum hours are Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appointment. Information: 812-346-8989, jenningscounty.org.

BROWN COUNTY ART GUILD, 48 S. Van Buren St., Nashville. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Featuring Art in the Garden, 5-8 p.m. June 25, a fundraiser benefitting Brown County Art Guild. Enjoy an evening of live music, heavy hors doeuvres, drinks and plein air painting and fine art demonstrations in the gardens of a longtime Brown County resident. Tickets are $100 per person. More information and tickets are available at browncountyartguild.org/product/art-in-the-garden-ticket.

THE REPUBLIC BUILDING GALLERY, 333 Second St., Columbus. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

411 GALLERY, 411 Sixth St., Columbus. 411 is a community arts gallery and cultural space for exhibitions, events and collaborations with Columbus arts and cultural organizations. Learn more about the current exhibition and artists at http://www.artsincolumbus.org/411.

HOOSIER ARTIST GALLERY, 45 S. Jefferson St., Nashville. Hoosier Artist Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Masks are required. Information: hoosierartist.com.

BROWN COUNTY ART GALLERY, 1 Artist Drive, Nashville. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. COVID-19 protocols are in place, with masks required. Information: 812-988-4609, [emailprotected], browncountyartgallery.org.

CHARLENE MARSH STUDIO & GALLERY, 4013 Lanam Ridge Road, Nashville. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Monday, noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, please call the studio/gallery at 812-988-4497 or visit charlenemarshstudio.com.

Ongoing

FABULOUS FIRST FRIDAYS WITH MISS POLLY, 12:15 p.m. the first Friday of each month. Viewpoint Books, 548 Washington St., Columbus. Information: 812-376-0778.

FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH BOYS & GIRLS CLUB, 405 Hope Ave., Columbus. The Boys & Girls Club is open to children ages 5-18. Information: 812-372-7867.

KIDSCOMMONS, 309 Washington St., Columbus. Ongoing activities are all free with museum admission. Information: 812-378-3046.

Read more:

Go! Guide July 23 - The Republic