HIARCS Chess Software for PC Windows, Apple Mac and iPhone/iPad Chess Strength
World Championship winning computer chess software program & downloads for chess database, analysis & play on PC, Mac and iPhone

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HIARCS Chess Strength

The new  PC HIARCS 14 WCSC is will soon be available to purchase exclusively here at the HIARCS website. This is the World Chess Software Champion version as used in Tilburg, The Netherlands to win the title.

Since its first release in December 1992 HIARCS chess software has always tried to provide value for money. I have always taken the view that each new version should be at least 40 Elo stronger than its predecessor. Unlike many others in the industry I have not cashed in on yearly upgrades even when some progress has been made. Instead I have continued to develop the application until the improvement between versions is so significant that it has to be released. It is worth reflecting on the HIARCS progress made in chess strength over the years since the very first commercial HIARCS release. On average HIARCS has improved by about 40 Elo per year for the last 20 years!

You can see from the above chart that the improvements have been significant. The following points should be highlighted:

  1. HIARCS 1.0 was the first commercial version and World Amateur Microcomputer Chess Champion.
  2. HIARCS 2.0 won the 1993 Computer Olympiad and the World's first official uniform platform tournament.
  3. HIARCS 2.1 won the World Microcomputer Chess Championship.
  4. HIARCS 3 was the highest ever placed computer in the AEGON man-machine tournament and achieved 2631 Elo performance.
  5. HIARCS 4 was the first non Fritz Chessbase chess engine and was the first Mac HIARCS version.
  6. HIARCS 6 was the first PC chess program to defeat a FIDE International Master in a match at tournament time controls. It also lead the SSDF rating list for almost a year and was used extensively by Garry Kasparov and in his preparations for Deep Blue. HIARCS 6 also took the Mac by storm with a native PowerPC version.
  7. HIARCS 7 lead the SSDF rating list.
  8. HIARCS 7.32 was the first commercial chess program to use Nalimov tablebases in it's search.
  9. HIARCS 8.0 marked HIARCS' return when it defeated GM Boris Gulko in an internet match.
  10. HIARCS 8 Bareev (Jan 2003 version midway between H8 and H9) drew a match with super GM Evgeny Bareev on a standard single 2Ghz PC.
  11. HIARCS 9 series revolutionised PDA Palm chess programs and was marked HIARCS' return to the Macintosh platform.
  12. HIARCS 9.6 was the strongest Mac chess program when released.
  13. HIARCS 10 became the biggest strength update in 12 years and jumped to the top of a number of rating lists. The first professional version - I began working full time on HIARCS in 2003 so this is my first full time version with 2 years behind it and a revolutionary new openings book.
  14. HIARCS 11 was the first multi-core/processor version.
  15. HIARCS 12 was the first version on both Pocket PC and Palm as well as PC and Mac
  16. HIARCS 13 series scored over 2900 Elo on handheld devices against GMs and is now on a dedicated chess computer - the Pheonix Revelation HIARCS 13.3. The PC and Mac version pushed forward in strength by another 100 Elo over the life of the version.
  17. HIARCS 14 World Chess Software Champion won the title in Tilburg, The Netherlands, November 2011.
     

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"generally I use HIARCS." - Five time World Chess Champion Vishy Anand, in a recent interview when asked what chess program he uses to analyse with
 
"HIARCS is much better positionally than Deep Blue." - Garry Kasparov 1997 (after game 5 of the rematch)

World Chess Champion, Vishy Anand, used "Powerful" HIARCS machine in preparations for his 2010 & 2012 world title matches

"This level of service is one other big reason to buy HIARCS." - John Jackson

† Highest performance reached depends on computer used. Computer Chess Software with world class chess engine playing strength.
HIARCS is designed and developed by Mark Uniacke in England.

*VAT and local sales tax may be applicable. Prices given in GBP, USD and EUR are subject to change without notice.
Other currencies are subject to conversion rates from GBP.

HIARCS is a trademark of Applied Computer Concepts Ltd. All other product trademarks acknowledged.
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