Installing Crafty23.4 into Fritz12 GUI

I just downloaded Crafty 23.4, but the (Create UCI Engine) is looking for a EXE file or other main file. All I have with Crafty is a large number of C files. Please Help!

If you go here:

http://www.chess.com/download/view/crafty-234

you will get a ZIP file containing two ZIP folders with the .EXE files, one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit.  UnZIP the inside ZIP files and extract the .EXE files to the folder where you want to keep them.  Then direct the engine manager to that folder.

Midavis617

          Thank you so much for your  help,  all the other engines I’ve downloaded  always came with a windows version. Hay I’m 62 years old, my bad ok.  However  I  am still not out of the woods.  After extracting  Crafty23.5-64bit.exe to my engine folder I fire up DFritz 12 and select (Create UCI Engine) in the (Set up UCI Engine) window, I select the proper path, select Crafty23.5-64bit, hit open, and back in the (Set up UCI Engine) window the proper path appears but the name of the Author and the name of the program do not.  Sometimes Fritz  even hangs.

What I have tried;

1.     I have downloaded Crafty from 3 different sites

2.     I have tried to install it on both of my computers my laptop and my desktop (both are 64 bit)

3.     I have extracted the file to a different location   

If you go to "Engine Management" does it show up there after you tried installation?  Sometimes the author name doesn't show up and on my Fritz 13 I had to type in the author's name manually.

Check that you have it in the right engine folder, although I think if you have the right path, it will find it.  My installed engines are all in different folders.

I have Fritz 13 but I'll try to install it later today.  I have several others installed including Houdini 1.5a with no problems.

In the meantime, close and re-start Fritz and then open Engine Management.  You will see a window that shows engines found, but you have to move a new engine (sometimes) from the right window pane to the Active pane on the left using the transfer arrows in order for Fritz to access the engine.  Check that after a reboot.

Heck, I'm nearly 70 so that's no excuse! 

Fritz/Chessbase support UCI engines only (apart from their native interface), no Winboard engines

Crafty is a Winboard engine, no UCI engine.

To make it work, you have to use an adapter like WB2UCI.exe (google it).

The Crafty version offered for download by Chessbase is modified to work with their interfaces, it's no regular Crafty.

No, it does not show up under "engine management. I too have a main folder that I call engines and I create a new folder for each engine.

I will try WB2UCI.  Thanks guys

PS  I've heard it's not all that great but hec it's like Mt Everest "because it's there"

PSS  Have you downloaded Strelka 5.5? It's not too bad, the best my deep Fritz 12 can do against it is a draw

Ah, yes, Winboard.  Forgot that detail.  Perhaps that's why I never tried to install it in Fritz.

OTOH, if you don't have Houdini 1.5a in your Fritz, it is very strong and free for the 1.5a version.

I downloaded WB2UCI but it looks a bit much, at least for this engine.

How does your Houdini 1.5 do against Deep Fritz 13?

I think the best free engine out there is Stockfish 120909 64 bit.

I have a friend that has both Deep Rybka 4 and Houdini 2.0 and Stockfish has beaten them both

Any way i want to thank you and Mr. duck and cover again for all your help, lets have a game some time

To be honest, I don't worry much about a few rating points when an engine is over 3000.  I use them as a double-check on a position after I've expended my own brain power trying to come up with the best move.  I don't play against the computer because any of the top engines today can beat a GM, and I don't spend computer time letting two engines battle it out to see which is "better."  Any of the proven, respected engines - Houdini, Stockfish, DeepSaros, Fritz, Crafty, Rybka, etc. can give you great analysis.

By the way, there is a version of Crafty 23.01 available for non-Winboard because I have it installed in my Arena 3.0.  I don't recall if it came with Arena or I found it online but it does work with a UCI.

Hi Bulldozer,

Here's a link to the Chessbase native Crafty 23.01. From the Chessbase Service and Download page -

"Engines
Crafty 23.01

32Bit engine by Prof. Robert Hyatt (accesses the Nalimov Endgame Turbo) for single or multiprocessor systems. Unzip and copy the ENG file into the folder Engines. (Not for Fritz5/16Bit or ChessBase 6.0)"

http://www.chessbase.com/download/engines/crafty/crafty2301.zip

If you really want to install a UCI Crafty 23.4 or 23.5 into Fritz, I could try to come up with a workable WB2UCI.eng file you could try. No promises though, I've never had to do this before!

Thanks EscherehcsE; But i think I'm going to forget about Crafty for a while, there's too many other engines waiting to be downloaded. If you hear of any good ones let me know, as I said Strelka 5.5 is not too bad.

Mr. midavis617; Every game I play on chess.com I save and analyze. But I also like to play two engines against each other. When I do I set up my board, put the computers behind me, think up my own move and then see if the computer agreed with me. I think this helps my game, or not. Anyway spring will soon be here and I will be going back to work and i will not have much time for chess

Whew, I'm kinda glad you weren't aching for the latest Crafty, because I tried cobbling together a Crafty 23.5 WB2UCI.eng file, and of course it didn't work, and I'm not sure what I did wrong. This attempt did remind me of how much I hate the Fritz engine interface logic.

I do enjoy playing against Crafty's skill levels in other interfaces, though.

You might want to look at Critter and the free version of Komodo, also. (Both UCI, thankfully.)