What's new in Follow Chess Android v3.6

Follow Chess Android v3.6 was released yesterday.

WHATS NEW

* Remember when you would open the App and sometimes find that the status of the event is showing LIVE even if the event is NOT or the event may have started but it shows the next round time instead of LIVE? Some very important changes under the hood to provide accurate status of tournaments.
Well thats fixed.

* Sometime back, one Twitter user had mentioned this:


https://twitter.com/zeverzak90/status/1172136358565031936

And this was always a dilemma for us. Whether to have quick access to standings as soon as you open the app, or only from within the Event stream. Why not both?
Now its easy to view standings and all games from the multi-board screen. Just swipe right-to-left!

* Other improvements to the Chat to make it more social.

These changes will soon be coming over to iOS.

'Chess Moves' App updated. One player, Two Player & Online game play modes!

Chess Moves App on Android was already very unique! When two friends needed to play a game of chess, they would simply launch the App and play, with each player getting his own chess board to make moves! The board would automatically resize based on the side to play!

Then over the past few weeks, we added some cool things!

One Player

You can now test your skills against the mobile and have fun playing against it.

If you are a beginner at Chess, then you will love the initial difficulty levels! We have made some very interesting changes under the hood, to make the experience better (and give you a chance to win and bolster your ego!).

Play Online

Play with your childhood friends online and re-live the memories.

We made it simple for you to start a game. No login required*. Just create a link to the game and share it with your friend on WhatsApp/Facebook etc. Once your friend accepts the invite, the two of you can play (supports realtime moves as well as slow).

In Hindi, Marathi & Tamil

The App is translated into Hindi, Marathi and Tamil (Note: Tamil is currently only in the Android app).
We will be adding support for more Indian languages in the future. If you would like to help us translate it into your local language, please do email us!

अब पूरा इन्दिआ चेस्स खेलेगा!

Available on iOS

The App is also available on iOS (iPad and iPhone!)

Two player mode on iPhone

Online game play

So what are you waiting for? Download now and make your moves!

* - Currently the iOS App needs the user to be signed-in, but in a future update, we will relax this requirement.

Special thanks to Anil & Sathish for helping with the translations!

iChess v5.0 on Android - Its brand new and colorful!

Over the past several weeks, we have been partly busy with iChess release. We slowly rolled it out to few set of users, squashed a lot of bugs (and silly mistakes), but its finally here! The latest Android version is now available for all users!

What's New?

Background

Sometimes when you start an App project, you develop it with the knowledge and tools you have during that time. Over a period of time, your knowledge improves and you realize that the way you developed something in the past, was probably not quite the best way to do it. It can be made better.

So thats what we did. We changed the guts of the Android version and built-it almost from scratch!

This was done to make it better and improve the stability and fix bugs which creep in some weird scenarios.

Colorful & Curvaceous...

..with new Wooden Board Theme

..and colors!

Brand new Store design and experience!

 

Search any puzzle or publisher. View our Top Puzzles or your purchases, all in one screen! Find puzzles that you want based on various categories!

..and puzzles from 'New In Chess' publisher!

Puzzles based on your playing strength or from games of top players like Carlsen, Nakamura, Giri, Kasparov etc.

..and...

• A single place to view and download all your purchases
• Choose a different 'Side to play', in case your PGN has puzzles where the 1st move is for the losing side.
• Its not only the App design that has changed, the underlying stuff and architecture
• Stability improvements and bug fixes and more!

These are significant changes and might cause some bug here and there. It will be great if you could just email me (Can do that via the App too. Menu - About - Feedback)

If you don't like something, just email me! Looking forward to your feedback!

PS. Some of these changes will be rolling out to the iChess iOS version too

New version of iChess - Chess puzzles released to Google Play Store!

iChess 4.0.2 has been publicly released (Google Play Store)! Thanks to all who helped with the Testing. Please let me know if you spot anything odd.
I hope you all like it the way I enjoyed adding these new features!
Ofcourse, there is still lot of work to be done and I plan to add new features (Sync, etc!)

In due course of time, I hope to get these changes on Amazon (sooner) and on iOS (couple of months)

Your Move App updated - now make your move on ChessOK and mychess!

What's new in Your Move 1.2.1

DOWNLOAD

* Added support for mychess.de and ChessOk correspondence servers

* Multiple Logins - Now you can login to your ICCF, Scheming Mind, ChessOK & mychess.de accounts, all on a single device, using a single App!

* [PRO] Export the game (ongoing or finished) via Email/FB/Twitter or send it to other Chess Apps installed on your device

* Minor enhancements and bug fixes

[Android] iChess v3.6.1 released!

iChess v3.6.1 was released today with the following changes:

* You can now reset the Bird view and start solving afresh! (See Bird View screen - Menu - Reset). This will not affect your score

* If your puzzles PGN has a comment, then iChess will show it underneath the board.

* Better Fritz color
* Better support for foreign language PGNs
* Fixed some puzzles
* Other enhancements under the hood!

Whats New in Chess Book Study v2.5! [Android]

v2.5 of Chess Book Study Android app was released today! [FREE / PRO]

Chess Book Study Store!
Chessdom Chess Insider PDFs/PGNs are now available for purchase from inside the App!
Read GM Analysis and reports of the historic Candidates 2014, European Individual Chp or the Gashimov Memorial. More coming soon...
You can even copy the PDF/PGN and view them on your Computer!*
(Please upgrade Ebookdroid (Chess) app to see the extra Menu option. Else use the Quick Action menu > Store)

Annotation Editor
You can effortlessly add annotations and comments to multiples moves from a single screen!

Settings

• Board Colors - You can choose different Board colors. What more, the board/app background changes according to the chosen color!

• Sound - Enable/disable sound

Promote Variation
In the Notation view, tap an already selected move or touch and hold to see more options, including the Promote Variation option.

Bug fixes and Misc changes
This release also includes some bug fixes and PGN library changes.

Play Store Links
[FREE / PRO]

* The files are stored on your sdcard. (/sdcard/Android/data/com.pereira.booknboard{.paid}/files/)

Follow Chess 1.0 released!! Now follow moves from multiple Chess tournaments

Follow Chess v1.0

  Follow Chess v1.0 for Android was released today! With it, you can now watch multiple Chess tournaments in multi-board format!

Check out moves from multiple international chess tournaments.

Currently broadcasting Women's Grand Prix, 14th Bangkok Club Open, Danish National Class, Fagernes International and Dubai Open!!

Dont like the Ads? See Menu - Remove Ads to remove all Ads and go Pro! This will also unlock all features that may be added in the future!

 

TIP : Tap on any board in the multi-screen view to launch the offline Analysis Board.

Offline Analysis Board - Play through the moves or even enter you own moves to understand the nuances of the game!

Please note that this board will not auto-refresh if new moves are made in the actual game.

Hit the Menu - Analyze This and you get the full game (with your variations!) into Analyze This app for saving, sharing and further analysis!

TIP : Instant Engine Analysis - Double tap the board in this screen to launch the instant engine analysis with my Analyze This app!
TIP : Flip Board - Like my other Chess apps, swipe your finger down on the board to flip the board!

The app supports nearly 5300 Android devices!!! As usual, there could be issues with certain devices running on certain Android versions. If you are one of those unlucky ones, please send me an email at pereiraasim@gmail.com and I would be able to fix it. Leaving a review on the Play Store, does not give me enough information to fix the issue; so it will remain as it is! Instead, pls mail me!

Even if there is no issue, just mail me with your feedback. I like to listen to em!

DOWNLOAD (PLAY STORE)

Future Features
- Games from previous rounds
- Pairing & Schedule
- Results
...till then, happy viewing!

Follow Chess - New Android app to watch live chess games

Friends,

Here is a simple App to watch the Live games from the Candidates 2014 tournament.
FOLLOW CHESS on the Play Store

With multiple boards, you surely cannot miss a move!
'Follow Chess' will broadcast many more tournaments in the future and have many awesome features like my other Chess apps. Stay tuned!

FOLLOW CHESS on the Play Store

Cheers,
Asim

World Championship App, Carlsen and some pics

"The first of its kind!"
This World championship match touched many lives, and mine has been no different.

Back in September, I approached the AICF with a proposal to develop a Android app for the Match. They liked the idea and the rest is history!

There were lots of new things that I had never done before with my other Chess apps. It was a big challenge. 

♚ The first line of code!
On, September 1st, 2013, I wrote the first line of code!
Given my familiarity with Java and affinity towards Google, I chose the Google App Engine as my server. (One of the main reason to use a separate server for my app was to reduce the load on the official servers, especially after the London Candidates' debacle during the earlier rounds). There were many technical hurdles that had to be crossed.
Line by line, file by file, the Android app and the corresponding server was brought to life.
But the main setback was not a technical problem, but a lack of response from the concerned teams that almost threatened to derail the app or some of its features. 
There were so many questions that needed answers, but there was no one to answer!

♚ First board prototype

The first board prototype, using the color scheme matching the actual board from the Candidates! Lol. The teak theme was too dark on some phones, especially the black pieces on dark square.

♚ What you "fore-see" is not what you get!
But as it happens with so many projects, the end-product is almost always completely different from the initial idea that you had envisaged, and some times its good.
At some point, the "Cool Anand" and "Hot Carlsen" board ideas struck my mind.
The app had to be made personal. After all it was all about the duo. And the fans. Let chess fans proudly choose the board theme matching the player they support, is what I thought!

Tactics were never part of the initial idea, but they became one of the most liked features of the app! (Full set of 300 tactical puzzles of Anand and Carlsen are available for purchase via my iChess Android and iOS app)
Live video was! But even after the app was officially released, there were no details on how to access the live video! (lol, can only laugh when I think about it now!)
Picture gallery was optional, and remains optional till date! ;)
There were so many features that I wanted to add and so many changes that were requested by Chess fans, but then there is a limit to time, energy and motivation!

♚ Who will annotate the previous encounters?
The previous encounters had to be annotated. With my limited time and Chess skills, I could never had done justice to the master pieces. I initially approached a couple of Indian GM's, one of whom is well known for his satirical posts. But I did not have the money to offer nor did they have the time. (Note, the app was developed for FREE with no monetary payment. Just for honor and pride, or "loyalty huh?" as Vishy Anand told me at the pre-match dinner party!)
Then entered, Sagar Shah, the most energetic and entertaining Chess annotator I have ever seen. His annotations are like poetry! He agreed to annotate for the share of the "glory" and no money, although I did tell him that in case there is a chance to monetize the app, then I shall pay him 30% of the revenue. Thanks to the server costs, the revenue is negative! Ofcourse, being the "official" app, it could not serve any Ads and generate revenue. Imagine the app saying, "you can only watch the first two games for free. Rest of the games need $0.99, each) :P

♚ The first version
After several internal Beta test versions from Oct 21st to Oct 25th, the first version was released for public download on Oct 26th. I could now breathe easy, atleast that is what I thought!
Then followed a series of changes, bug fixes, improvements, additions, deletions. Overall, 15 versions were released since then, each carrying some improvement or bug fix or some unavoidable design change!

♚ Stats & Dates

• Development started - Sep 1st
• First version released - Oct 26th
• Total active users - >45,000 (as of Nov 27) (my expectation before the match was a modest 5000!)
• Average rating - 4.72/5 (389 of 471 were 5 stars!)
• Top 3 countries - India (37.8%), Spain (7.72%), Germany (7.52%). Norway was #5 with 3.87% sessions.

♚ Thanks
This app would not have been possible without the kind support of so many Chess enthusiasts and even non-enthusiasts (the app icon was developed by a "non-Chess" guy!)
Starting with Bharat Singh, who liked the app idea and immediately called up to take this forward. Sagar Shah and Swayams Mishra who helped with the Previous encounters and Tactics respectively. Such was Sagar's enthusiasm and commitment, that he would burn the midnight oil and stay up late till the morning and annotate the game (before he got busy with his own tournament)! I think it took a toll on him and he had a disastrous performance at the recently concluded Chennai Grand Master open tournament.
Soni Prasad, my college mate who designed the app icon even though he was faced with some personal tragedy and difficult situations.
Aart Bik, who offered the first "foreign" hand and translated the app to Dutch. BTW, he is the developer of the popular "Chess for Android" app.
Many of them came ahead on their own accord and helped with the translation. This is the real Chess spirit! Bruno Pellanda, David Kaufmann, Houssem Collo, Jan Hotarek, Michael Meyer, Sverre Eugen. And the many people on G+, Twitter and FB who helped with their kind and encouraging words.
Some times users don't realize how their words (reviews in this case) can positively or negatively affect others. For instance, a user did not like the recently added Norwegian translation and chose to give a bad review. That was enough to upset Sverre, who had spent the time and effort to help translate and had personally offered his help in the first place. "So let them do it from here. I stick to only playing chess", Sverre argued. The user who chose to award a bad review, never offered any help to correct the translation, inspite of asking for his feedback! Thats life!

♚ Future of the app?
Dalila - "I'll miss seeing the coloured notification 'a move has been made'". It was indeed a part of my life for the past 3 months and for many fans world wide. This is quite evident from the amazing response the app received. And I am truly grateful.

At one point, the app was #6 in the Top New Free Apps in the Brain & Puzzle Category on the Google Play Store!
So whats next? Like Deep Blue, the super computer, the app will be disassembled! But the parts will be used for a future project with the intention of watching live games and even more! Stay tuned!

♚ Perks of the job

Watching the Opening ceremony from the front row!

Sitting on that chair, touching those pieces!

Oh and, congratulations to MAGNUS CARLSEN, the new World Chess Champion!
(My 10 year old niece, who was "not interested" in Chess, now likes Magnus Carlsen and has taken to chess again! She plays Chess with her 8 year old brother who coincidentally likes Anand...still!)

PS. Some photos from the event:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109229292553599584633/albums/5943560829066629073

New Chess puzzles from June 2013 and Mate in 1 move!

Today I have released new puzzles which can be purchased via iChess app!

Mate in 1 (400 puzzles!)
Check mate in only one move. Nothing more, nothing less!
This is great for beginners and kids but can also be good fun for more serious players!

June 2013 (300 puzzles)
300 puzzles from recent games played in June 2013. Featuring games from Tal Memorial, FIDE World Blitz, Russian Championship etc and games played by Anand, Mamedyarov, Andreikin.

Analyze This in Action [Video]

Here is a video of Analyze This app in action.

Analyze This v2.0 released - your Android Chess experience just got better

I am very excited and proud to release v2.0 of Analyze This. This is my first major release after quitting my day job and going full-time and I am personally very happy with this release.

What's new?

• New innovative feature: Simply tilt your device (left edge up or down) to move forward/backward through the moves! Now give your fingers some rest! See Settings to enable/disable. Or you can even use the Volume button/keys of your device
• Install UCI engine of your choice! Hide some or all engines
• Load and Save PGN games including variations. Touch and hold move in the notation view for more options
• Refreshing new look, smoother interface plus board colors
• Share game/position with other Chess apps or via email/twitter. Can even share the current board position as image!
• Tap engine analysis to play the first move on the board
• Stockfish upgraded to latest 3.0 version
• Delete and Share your PGN files right from within the app
• Many bug fixes and improvements

THIS upgrade was made possible by the kind feedback and suggestions from many invisible friends! (whom I have never met and may never get a chance to meet!)

Arne | Artem | Benzi | Carlos | David | Dom | Joseph | Justin | Kevin | Mehmet | Raymond

IMPORTANT
Both free and paid apps have Critter and Stockfish by default. If you only see one engine, then please re-install the app and start the app once. 

Edit: Issue fixed in v2.0.1

[Pictures] Ubuntu Tablet OS on my Nexus 7

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try the Ubuntu Tablet OS Developer preview on my Nexus 7.

Things I liked (over Android)

• Quick access to apps via Unity sidebar. (Android has "sidebar" and "unity" apps)

Challenges ahead for the Ubuntu OS (in no particular order)

• Keyboard needs a lot of improvement
• Less intuitive (had trouble figuring out how the swipe gestures work)
• Show me the apps! Currently the Twitter, FB and Gmail apps are just shortcuts to the web. Nothing like native apps!
• Google integration. Yes I am a Google power user
• Switching between apps is clumsy (Android intents rock!)
• Closing apps is painful (you need to swipe up from the bottom edge, then press the "X" icon.
• Getting it to work on different screens. Some dummy apps clipped (see Game and Calculator images below)

Pictures

Home screen
(currently it is a static and does not do anything)

Recent apps
(swipe up from the bottom edge)

The Unity bar
(swipe rightwards from the left edge of the screen)

Gallery

 

Videos

       

Dummy Home screen

Dummy Music content

Dummy Call screen

Home screen (downloadable content)

 

Dummy Messages

Dummy Music screen
(does nothing)

 

Game gone for a toss
(does nothing)

Battery panel
(swipe down from the battery icon)

Could not change the Date/Time
(swipe down from the Date icon) 

"Sharing" screen

People home screen

 

Dummy Calculator
(clipped, does nothing)

Notes app
(worst keyboard ever)

Conclusion

Ubuntu Tablet OS has a LOT of work to do. If you are a Ubuntu Tablet OS developer, then you should stop reading this post and get back to work while I get back to flashing Android 4.2.2!