Chess Lab 4+

- IN THIS RELEASE (4.2.2)

• Some improvements in various sections of the application.
• Chess Studio can now read databases in ChessBase format. It can import cbh, cbp, cbt, cbg, cba, cbs, and cbc formats, thus it is able to interpret not only the moves of a game but also the variations and comments.
• Minor bug fixes, general improvements and optimizations.

- MAIN FEATURES INTRODUCED IN THE LATEST RELEASES

• The new version of the Stockfish 16.1 engine has been integrated with the support of Neural Networks (NNUE). The neural network architecture has undergone two updates and is currently in its 8th version. This release marks the removal of the traditional handcrafted evaluation and the transition to fully neural network-based approach. Dual NNUE: For the first time, Stockfish includes a secondary neural network, used to quickly evaluate positions that are easily decided.

• A new section dedicated to training has been added. At the moment it is possible to solve a series of puzzles taken from games played mainly online. These are puzzles suitable for all players. There are currently 10,000 puzzles available but they will be continuously updated. Other types of puzzles of increasing difficulty will be included in the future.

• New feature: Search for games by position. This new feature is found in the main menu under the "PGN Tools" section. It allows you to search for games in a database starting from a given position. The position can be set both with normal pieces but also with different symbols that have different meanings. In this way it will be possible to search, for example, all the games that have a typical pawn structure regardless of the position of the other pieces.

• Ability to choose between different layouts of the board on the screen depending on the user's needs. By choosing the layout with the central chessboard at the top, this feature allows you to scroll through the moves of a game with a click on the right or left of the chessboard.

• Management of very large databases.

• Automatic insertion of engine analysis into games. To enter the analysis, simply touch the engine analysis line. To use this feature you need to activate it in the application settings.
• The new function "Search games by material" has been added, through which it is possible to search for games in a database according to the material present on the chessboard. This new functionality is accessed from the main menu of the application.

• New feature that allows you to delete tags in a database (Detag). This functionality is accessed from the list of possible operations on a database.

• In the Chess Board screen, you can customize the colors of the top bar, bottom bar, buttons and background. The customization is done in the Settings section. In the opening section is the new functionality to explore the Lichess Master Opening Tree. It is now possible to activate the speech synthesizer to announce the moves made both when entering and when viewing a game.

• From the opening section of a database it is possible to save the games relating to a single ECO code or to a single opening variant in a new database. To do this, just swipe left on the opening variant you want to save and follow the directions.

• Enhancement and simplification of the management of Graphic Annotations. This functionality can now be accessed via a single menu or via a series of taps on the board (see the short tutorial in the application).

• Added the engine evaluation bar which can be displayed on the right or left of the board. It is displayed only when the engine is active but can also be deactivated.

• For those users who need explanations on the application it is possible to contact me via Skype. To organize a Skype session, contact me via email at chess.studio.app@gmail.com