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[[FILE:4-3a.NACCC-Reno.Mephisto.Lang-Richard.1989.102645409.MONTY_NEWBORN.lg.jpg|border|right|thumb|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc15086b|Richard Lang operating [[Mephisto]] at [[ACM 1989]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc15086b Lang playing Mephisto at the 20th ACM North American Computer Chess Championship in Reno], 1989, Gift of [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref> ]]
'''Richard Lang'''(born 1956),<br/>
a British professional computer chess programmer. He is author of the mighty chess programs [[Cyrus]], [[Psion]] and [[Chess Genius]], and their respective [[Dedicated Chess Computers|dedicated incarnations]], most notably the Psion and Chess Genius programs inside [[Mephisto]] computers, dominating microcomputer chess in the 80s and 90s with ten [[World Microcomputer Chess Championship]] titles in a row, from 1984 until 1995.
=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#10_3|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 tablesTables|piece-value-tables]]. The chess knowledge was obtained from chess masters, who analyzed games played by the program. The program has an [[Asymmetric evaluationEvaluation|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 secondSecond|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]]).
=Resume=
In 2002 Richard Lang founded his own company, merchandising Chess Genius for various platforms with focus on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant PDA] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone mobile phones], recently also for [[Engines for :Category:Android|Android]] <ref>[http://www.chessgenius.com/ ChessGenius World class chess software] © Lang Software Limited</ref> . In an 2003 interview, Richard Lang stated that there is still much of Cyrus in current versions of Chess Genius. For example, he had never used [[Quiescence Search|quiescence searches]] and relied instead on a [[Static Exchange Evaluation|static swap off routine]]. More recently he has failed to make progress with top PC programs. In part perhaps due to his programming techniques do not scale well on very fast hardware. The program has become very complex, and unfortunately the complexity seems necessary and new ideas have not really worked <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> .
=Publications=
'''[[People|Up one level]]'''
[[Category:Chess Programmer|Lang]]
[[Category:Backgammon Programmer|Lang]]
[[Category:Quotes|Lang]]
