Shredder for iPad Documentation

Shredder is the most successful chess program ever winning already twelve computer chess world champion titles. In addition to his outstanding playing strength Shredder is also able to mimic the play of a human chess player with any playing strength. He will even deliberately make typical human mistakes.

In addition to this version for Apple iPad Shredder is also available for iPhone and iPod touch, Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Mobile Phones and PDAs.

Play

Play a game of chess against Shredder. To enter a move, simply drag the piece with your finger to the desired square or tap on the start and destination square of the move. Using the silver buttons below oder next to the chess board you can take back and redo one or multiple moves of the game. Use the buttons in the title bar to switch the sides, ask Shredder for a hint and load/save your games. Shredder shows you the captured pieces and the opening name you are playing plus the corresponding ECO code, a classification of chess openings. Access more functions via the buttons in the menu bar.

If you do not switch sides and do not start the analysis mode during a game, Shredder can measure your playing strength if you finish the game. The yellow marker at the lower right side indicates that the current game can still be rated. The playing strength of chess players is typically measured in Elo. The more Elo points you have the better you can play.

Shredder automatically keeps track of your rating in all games and in the last ten games. This way you can easily check if you are making progress.

You can set Shredder’s the playing strength to any Elo level you like. Shredder will deliberately make typical mistakes of a human play with that strength. If you like Shredder can automatically adjust his playing strength after every rated game so that you can always play against someone with about equal strength.

The red arrow below or at the side of the chess board shows you how Shredder evaluates the current position. Upright indicates an equal position. The more the arrow points to the left in the white area the better the position is for white, analogue for right and black.

If the built in coach believes that your last move was a mistake he will show you Shredder’s threat and ask if you would like to take back your last move.

You can change Shredder’s playing style for a greater variety of opponents. He can for example play very aggressively or be very calm and passive. If you like Shredder can also automatically select one style at the start of each game.

Analysis mode

In analysis mode Shredder will analyze the current position on the chess board with his full strength without ever making a move himself. You can enter any move or variation on the chess board or replay the current game forwards and backwards. Shredder will always show you his analysis and evaluation of the current position. Looking at the red arrow you can instantly see which side is better. The exact value of the position will be displayed further below. A positive value means good for white, a negative good for black. 1.00 is about the value of a pawn. In addition to the value Shredder will also show you how many moves he has looked ahead on average, which move is currently under investigation and how the game could continue if both sides play the best moves according to Shredder. The first move of this variation is also the best move in the current position. The blue arrow will show you the best move.

Enter Moves

In this mode you can enter the moves for both sides without the chess engine running. This way you can enter a specific game or an opening line you would like to play against Shredder.

Setup Position

You can setup every chess position to analyze it with Shredder or to play against Shredder.

Email Game

The current game will be sent to any email address using the open PGN format (Portable Game Notation). This format can be read for example by all Shredder versions for Mac, Windows and Linux. As an option you can send all saved games as one single email.

Gestures

Swipe left: take back move
Swipe right: redo move
Swipe up: hint

Puzzle

Shredder comes with 1000 built in chess puzzles. Shredder will first play the last move from the actual game. Then you can try to refute this move.

The faster you find the solution the more points you will get. A maximum of 10 points are possible per puzzle. If you tap on the question mark Shredder will give you a small hint which costs you some points. If you tap again you will see the solution and will get no points for the current puzzle. Each wrong move will also lose some points. You have to enter more than one move in some problems.

Shredder keeps track of your results for all puzzles and for the last ten puzzles. This way you can check your progress.

Tap on the rightmost button in the title bar to access more functions. You can copy the current puzzle to the playing area. There you can analyze it with Shredder or finish the game playing against Shredder.