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'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[Engines]] * Psion'''
[[FILE:275507-psion-chess-atari-st-screenshot-information-window-colour.png|border|right|thumb|link=http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess/screenshots| Psion for [[Atari ST]] <ref>[http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess/screenshots Psion Chess screenshots] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobyGames MobyGames]</ref> ]]
'''Psion''' (Psion Chess),<br/>
a former commercial chess program developed by [[Richard Lang]] as successor of his first program [[Cyrus]]. In about 1983 Lang started to write his new program for [[68000]] based processors in [[Assembly|assembly language]] <ref>[http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/Richard_Lang_Q_A.pdf Richard Lang - Question & Answer Interview given to a German magazine in 2003], pdf hosted by [[Mike Watters]], [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/index.html Chess Computer UK]</ref> , when he was about to abandon the work for [[Intelligent Software]], who owned the Cyrus brand name. Psion was first marketed by [[Sinclair|Sinclair Research]] for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QL Sinclair QL] <ref>[http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Psion%20Chess Sinclair QL Computer Wiki - Psion Chess]</ref> and later under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion Psion's] own label for [[68000]] based [[Apple]] [[Macintosh]] and [[Atari ST]] homecomputers, in late 1983 ported to [[8086]] based [[IBM PC|PCs]] running under the [[MS-DOS]] operating system.
Psion was the shared winner of the [[WMCCC 1984]], and also won the Software Event of the [[WMCCC 1987]]. Richard Lang's early [[Mephisto]] programs, such as the [[WMCCC 1985]] winner [[Mephisto Amsterdam]], were based on Psion <ref>[http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Psion Psion] from [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)</ref> .
=Quotes=
Quote by [[Kaare Danielsen]] from his [[WMCCC 1987]] report <ref>[[Kaare Danielsen]] ('''1987'''). ''[[WMCCC 1987|The 7th World Microcomputer Chess Championship]], Rome, Italy, September 14-20, 1987''. [[ICGA Journal|ICCA Journal]], Vol. 10, No. 3</ref>
Clearly, Richard Lang has produced the strongest microcomputer program in the world. It searches 4-5 plies [[Brute-Force|brute force]] plus up to 6-7 plies [[Selectivity|selective search]]. The program contains a lot of [[Knowledge|chess knowledge]], which is used both in the [[Search Tree|tree]] and to create [[Piece-Square tables|piece-value-tables]]. The chess knowledge was obtained from chess masters, who analyzed games played by the program. The program has an [[Asymmetric Evaluation|asymmetric evaluation]] function, which emphasis safety (has rules like 'do not start a wild attack, but worry a lot if the opponent does so'). The program searches about 4000 [[Nodes per Second|nodes per second]] on a 28 MHz [[68020]], but this includes a thorough analysis at every node, including a [[Static Exchange Evaluation|swap-off evaluation]] (static analysis of captures instead of a [[Quiescence Search|capture search]]).
=Namesakes=
According to [[Chris Whittington]] the chess software for the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_3 Psion 3a] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant PDA] was written by [[Ren Wu]] <ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.psion/browse_frm/thread/ed72cc49dab891f6 Re: Chess software for psion] post 5 by [[Chris Whittington]], [[Computer Chess Forums|rgcc]], April 18, 1996</ref> . A further [[Psion Chess (Barel)|Psion Chess]] program for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_3 Psion Series 3] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Siena Psion Siena] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant PDAs] was written by [[Johan Van Barel]] in [[C]] <ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.computer/browse_frm/thread/64419b7476bf4b11 free Chess for Psion 3 palmtop] by [[Johan Van Barel]], [[Computer Chess Forums|rgcc]], January 14, 1997</ref> <ref>[http://www.vanbarel.com/psiox/chess.html Psion Chess] by [[Johan Van Barel]]</ref> .
=Publications=
* [[Tony Harrington]] ('''1984'''). ''Checkmate''. [http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/pcn/top_lvl.html Personal Computer News], [http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/pcn/cats/pcn086.html November 1984], [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/PC_News_November_1984.pdf pdf]
* [[Christopher Chabris]] ('''1987'''). ''[http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv2n2/chess.html Reviews: The Game of Kings - START's First Chess Tournament]''. [http://www.atarimagazines.com/index/?issue=startv2n2 STart Vol. 2, No. 2]
=External Links=
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/program.php?id=483 Psion's ICGA Tournaments]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62MD23zK5o8&t=2m38s Youtube video : Psion 2.00 on the Atari Stacy 2 ]
* [http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Psion%20Chess Sinclair QL Computer Wiki - Psion Chess]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess Psion Chess] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobyGames MobyGames]
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Chess Psion Chess from Wikipedia.de] (German)
* [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Psion Psion] from [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)
=References=
<references />
'''[[Engines|Up one level]]'''
[[FILE:275507-psion-chess-atari-st-screenshot-information-window-colour.png|border|right|thumb|link=http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess/screenshots| Psion for [[Atari ST]] <ref>[http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess/screenshots Psion Chess screenshots] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobyGames MobyGames]</ref> ]]
'''Psion''' (Psion Chess),<br/>
a former commercial chess program developed by [[Richard Lang]] as successor of his first program [[Cyrus]]. In about 1983 Lang started to write his new program for [[68000]] based processors in [[Assembly|assembly language]] <ref>[http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/Richard_Lang_Q_A.pdf Richard Lang - Question & Answer Interview given to a German magazine in 2003], pdf hosted by [[Mike Watters]], [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/index.html Chess Computer UK]</ref> , when he was about to abandon the work for [[Intelligent Software]], who owned the Cyrus brand name. Psion was first marketed by [[Sinclair|Sinclair Research]] for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QL Sinclair QL] <ref>[http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Psion%20Chess Sinclair QL Computer Wiki - Psion Chess]</ref> and later under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion Psion's] own label for [[68000]] based [[Apple]] [[Macintosh]] and [[Atari ST]] homecomputers, in late 1983 ported to [[8086]] based [[IBM PC|PCs]] running under the [[MS-DOS]] operating system.
Psion was the shared winner of the [[WMCCC 1984]], and also won the Software Event of the [[WMCCC 1987]]. Richard Lang's early [[Mephisto]] programs, such as the [[WMCCC 1985]] winner [[Mephisto Amsterdam]], were based on Psion <ref>[http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Psion Psion] from [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)</ref> .
=Quotes=
Quote by [[Kaare Danielsen]] from his [[WMCCC 1987]] report <ref>[[Kaare Danielsen]] ('''1987'''). ''[[WMCCC 1987|The 7th World Microcomputer Chess Championship]], Rome, Italy, September 14-20, 1987''. [[ICGA Journal|ICCA Journal]], Vol. 10, No. 3</ref>
Clearly, Richard Lang has produced the strongest microcomputer program in the world. It searches 4-5 plies [[Brute-Force|brute force]] plus up to 6-7 plies [[Selectivity|selective search]]. The program contains a lot of [[Knowledge|chess knowledge]], which is used both in the [[Search Tree|tree]] and to create [[Piece-Square tables|piece-value-tables]]. The chess knowledge was obtained from chess masters, who analyzed games played by the program. The program has an [[Asymmetric Evaluation|asymmetric evaluation]] function, which emphasis safety (has rules like 'do not start a wild attack, but worry a lot if the opponent does so'). The program searches about 4000 [[Nodes per Second|nodes per second]] on a 28 MHz [[68020]], but this includes a thorough analysis at every node, including a [[Static Exchange Evaluation|swap-off evaluation]] (static analysis of captures instead of a [[Quiescence Search|capture search]]).
=Namesakes=
According to [[Chris Whittington]] the chess software for the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_3 Psion 3a] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant PDA] was written by [[Ren Wu]] <ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.psion/browse_frm/thread/ed72cc49dab891f6 Re: Chess software for psion] post 5 by [[Chris Whittington]], [[Computer Chess Forums|rgcc]], April 18, 1996</ref> . A further [[Psion Chess (Barel)|Psion Chess]] program for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_3 Psion Series 3] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Siena Psion Siena] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant PDAs] was written by [[Johan Van Barel]] in [[C]] <ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.computer/browse_frm/thread/64419b7476bf4b11 free Chess for Psion 3 palmtop] by [[Johan Van Barel]], [[Computer Chess Forums|rgcc]], January 14, 1997</ref> <ref>[http://www.vanbarel.com/psiox/chess.html Psion Chess] by [[Johan Van Barel]]</ref> .
=Publications=
* [[Tony Harrington]] ('''1984'''). ''Checkmate''. [http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/pcn/top_lvl.html Personal Computer News], [http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/pcn/cats/pcn086.html November 1984], [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/PC_News_November_1984.pdf pdf]
* [[Christopher Chabris]] ('''1987'''). ''[http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv2n2/chess.html Reviews: The Game of Kings - START's First Chess Tournament]''. [http://www.atarimagazines.com/index/?issue=startv2n2 STart Vol. 2, No. 2]
=External Links=
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/program.php?id=483 Psion's ICGA Tournaments]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62MD23zK5o8&t=2m38s Youtube video : Psion 2.00 on the Atari Stacy 2 ]
* [http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Psion%20Chess Sinclair QL Computer Wiki - Psion Chess]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/psion-chess Psion Chess] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MobyGames MobyGames]
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Chess Psion Chess from Wikipedia.de] (German)
* [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Psion Psion] from [http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)
=References=
<references />
'''[[Engines|Up one level]]'''
