This is where you I will pay tribute to some of the greatest clones and cloners in computer chess.

[This area is still under construction]

UPDATES

2009-09-11: I am being flooded with emails and pms from clone engine programmers and fans asking me to update the infos on this page. Any additional information or any corrections will be appreciated, especially from clone engine programmers. I am trying to keep this page up to date and I am adding links where I can.

2009-09-08: KasparovX info has been updated following a comment posted by Wilfredo Malave.

2009-09-02: Already I have been accused of being a moron and a slanderer for allegedly saying that Crafty is a clone. I did not say that Crafty is a clone. I only listed Crafty among engines that I said "have been accused (rightly or wrongly) of being derivatives or clones." This is not slander and it is not I that is the moron that can't tell the difference!

Many so called clones such as Toga are simply derivatives of other engines.

Some engines such as Mercury and Ultima are accused of being clones but it is not known what engine the clone is based on. Obviously there is no proof that an engine is a clone if no one can identify what engine the clone is based on. For this reason distribution of suspected clones should be encouraged in order that as many experts as possible can get an opportunity to try to identify what engine it is derived from.

Programmers accused of cloning often don't get the opportunity to explained the real origin of their engine.

Some amateur programmers clone there own engines and present them as new engines. This is done to give the author a better chance of getting a good result in a tournament. [link]

Certain commercial engine authors clone their own engine and release it as a "new version" [link] to boost sales when in fact the new version shows little or no improvement over the old version. This is the worst possible type of cloning and these are the people that are giving cloners a bad name.

The greatest cloner of all is undoubtedly Anheiser Bush, the famous creator of the awesome Rocket hybrid engines. Rocket engines are often far stronger than any of the engines they are based on.

Tommy Click is renowned as one of the few cloners to have successfully cloned CB (.eng) engines. He has also organised and directed clone engine tournaments [link].

It has been estimated that derivative engines are being produced at the rate of 50 per week, so obviously it is impossible to keep track of all engines accused of being clones. The following list is only a tiny percentage of engines that have been accused (rightly or wrongly) of being derivatives or clones. 

 

Comments: 5 Views: 1919 [History of changes] Size:7224 byte
Last changes are made by: tonythomas Tony Thomas 69 days ago

Posted by	Text
kasparovx Wilfredo Malave	About my engine KasparovX 88 days ago Quote('374003','519498','7','844')">Report spam Hi. Everybody know me because some many people say I am cloner. I can admmited I am not totally a cloner. I finish my B.A in Computer System Information. So I know about programming in C++. My first time I planning to make a chess engine from nothing. But I dont have any idea how to do that. So I found a free chess engine Awesome. Then I hack the engine just making some adjustment on the .dll file. And make a new chess opening. This is my first time to try to make a Chess engine. Then I found TSCP source code and I used for the creation of KasparovX. My first version work fine but I have problem to with evaluation code. I work with my best friend to find what is the error. I test another code the Fimbulwinter source code. Nobody notice that code is based on TSCP code. I am mixing the TSCP code with the Fimbulwinter code and then make another better code for KasparovX.But the only problem is the engine not load the opening book. Then I decide to use another code the code of Beowolf but I can admitted I using some part of Beowolf not the complete code. This is my true story about KasparovX. --- The life is very important so keep celebrate any moment. Enjoy your life.
tonythomas Tony Thomas	87 days ago Quote('374003','374003','7','845')">Report spam Hi Wilfredo Thanks for coming here and telling us about your engine. Many engine authors are accused of being cloners and then not given the opportunity of telling their side of the story, so people like me don't always know the facts. I apologize if I have offended you by listing KasparovX with clones and derivatives. If you wish I will delete it from the list. Meanwhile I have edited the entry to show that KasparovX is "Not clone. Partly based on TSCP and Beowulf" and I fixed the link on the engine name to go to your site. I hope this meets with your approval. I would be honored if you could upload the latest version of your engine into the file archive here. Regards Tony Thomas
rocketchessengines Anheiser Bush	85 days ago Quote('374003','375758','7','847')">Report spam Dear Mr Thomas I must congratulate you on this fine  webpage. It is very good for the computer chess community to be informed about clone engines and it is good that you have created this list.  I am however very distressed to see the great Rocket engine included in this list of common clones. Rocket engines are not ordinary clones. They are hybrid engines made by combining two or more strong engines from different authors. The resulting engine is far stronger then any of the engines from which it is made. To accomplish this feat is no easy task. In fact many "experts" don't even believe it is possible. So listing Rocket engines together with common clones is quite ridiculous. Rocket engines are in a class of their own. I trust you will understand and will remove the Rocket engine from the list. Thanks AB
kasparovx Wilfredo Malave	My engine KasparovX 73 days ago Quote('374003','519498','7','853')">Report spam I will upload my new chess engine. Some improve on the code. KasparovX2.6 is a UCI work fine on Arena or Chessbase Standard GUI. My new engine is based on the Fruit 2.3.2 code. I will wanna make another version but I working on that. I will wanna rewrite the code again and make some improvement and add some idea about how the program play chess again other chess engine. My dream is defeat Rybka :-D I will provide my new chess engine here on in my web page. I will work also in my new web desing and provide the complete information   http://kasparvoxchess.cjb.net/  here you can download my new version. --- The life is very important so keep celebrate any moment. Enjoy your life.
kasparovx Wilfredo Malave	Crafty and GNU 69 days ago Quote('374003','519498','7','855')">Report spam The most commercial chess engine copy the main idea of Crafty and GNU. Before Rybka and Fritz and the most of commercial chess engine. Robert Hyatt create the most famous chess engine. So in fact What about Fritz is commercial but nobody say about the code idea is taken from a free chess engine. --- The life is very important so keep celebrate any moment. Enjoy your life.
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