Mobile Chess
Top Three Choices for Each Platform
| Windows Mobile | PalmOS | ||
| 1. | Pocket Fritz 2.0
(Stefan Meyer-Kahlen)
This is probably my favorite of the Windows Mobile offerings. It has great features and a nice interface. The price is higher than the others, and there is no demo available. So do more research and see if this is the program you're really going to want or need.
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1. | Palm Hiarcs 9.6
(Est. 2596 Elo)
(Mark Uniacke)
Strongest program, great time controls... feature-rich despite mediocre graphics and higher price. But definitely my personal favorite.
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| 2. | PocketGrandmaster 3.0
(Frank Schneider/Kai Skibbe)
A strong second in personal preference. Strong program, great interface/graphics, other engines available, worth a look. Very nice effort by Mr. Schneider and his team.
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2. | ChessGenius 2.3
(Est. 2447 Elo)
(Richard Lang)
Second strongest Palm program at the moment, updated engine, all-around good deal. Was my favorite Palm program until Hiarcs. As a side note, ChessGenius is avaiable for more portable platforms than just PalmOS and Windows Mobile. Check it out.
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| 3. |
ChessGenius 1.9
(Est. 2400 Elo)
(Richard Lang)
Strong program (kin to the Palm version) though the graphics aren't as polished as some of the competition. Still an all-around good deal.
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3. |
Chess Tiger 15.1
(Est. 2293 Elo)
(Christophe Theron)
Very strong program and still a good deal; just waiting for the ARM-optimization. Try it out for yourself. Mr. Theron has produced a great program here.
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Public Service Announcement
With the exception of Pocket Fritz, all of these programs have trial versions available for download. They might only work fully for a certain number of days, or they might have some features disabled until you purchase a registration key. But regardless, they are the result of untold hours of programming, testing, debugging, testing, enhancing, testing, debugging, ad nauseum.
The point is that these authors put a lot of time and effort into producing these portable chess powerhouse programs for chess enthusiasts around the globe to enjoy. Therefore, I very strongly believe these authors/developers should be compensated for their efforts.
By purchasing a registration key, you are supporting these authors, the continued development of your favorite program, as well as the game of chess across the board (pardon the pun).
I have personally corresponded with several authors over the past few years, each for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect whether their programs are mentioned here or not. They have all been most helpful with customer support. They have all responded enthusiastically to feedback and graciously to criticism. Kudos and thanks to Mr. Lang, Mr. Meyer-Kahlen, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Skibbe, Mr. Theron and Mr. Uniacke for putting great chess programs in the palms of our hands.
My Programs
In case you're curious, these are the chess programs I have actually purchased over the past several years. (By the way, the programs are listed in alphabetical order, not by order of personal preference.)
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I love the game of chess, and I love technology. So when those two worlds meet, I tend to get really excited. One of my favorite chess+technology unions is in PDA-based chess. If you've found this article, I'm guessing you share this interest. Until recently, I still owned a Palm Tungsten T3. But for the past three years, my "daily driver" has been the HP iPaq hx4700 (with a 624 MHz XScale processor and a 480x640 VGA screen). For a number of years, processing power and chess program strength climbed consistently – which was really great. But it seems that those things have leveled off. Regardless, it seems that in various discussion groups across the web, people often ask two questions...
Which chess program is the strongest?
In the end, the truth of the matter is that all of the best programs, under several time controls, play with such strength (read: "at or near Grandmaster strength") that the "average" chess player need not worry about whether or not the program he or she is considering will present a worthy challenge. It undoubtedly will. However, one program may have the highest rating, another may have more extensive database capabilities, and still another may have a more attractive and/or more intuitive user interface. Thankfully, most of these programs have trial versions that allow users to test drive the program to some extent before they put their money on the table.
With only a couple of exceptions, you can find a good chess program at Handango, PalmGear (for PalmOS devices), or PocketGear (for Windows Mobile devices). Palm Hiarcs is only available through the Hiarcs website – but don't let that deter you at all.
Which PDA should I buy?
My first question to you is, "What can you afford?" Both PalmOS devices and Windows Mobile machines provide decent calendar, address book, notepad and to-do list. Personally, I decide what my maximum spending limit is going to be, then I go buy the machine with the most features I can for that price (or below).
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies are available in several different PDAs. But don't be pressured by Wi-Fi if you really don't need wireless internet/network access. Don't be pressured by Bluetooth if you don't have a single Bluetooth-enabled device that will enhance your PDA experience. If you don't need it, you just don't need it and there's really no sense in paying for it. Prices will come down later (we hope).
If you'd like, you can check out some other results and reviews that I completed a while ago:
These pages (especially the PalmOS page) contain some older information, but they may still be informative and enlightening to you.