Well, I guess you've asked similar questions before, and I know you're not real fond of Arena. But Arena is good for engine tournaments. Lucas Chess is good for analysis. Scid or Scid vs. PC is good for database work.
And I'm not sure what 1998 looks like. :)
Is this 1998?
Lucas chess is great
ChessGUI is another suggestion for engine tournaments. It's advantage is that it's rock stable. But it's quirky and takes time to get familiar with. I haven't used it for analysis, so I don't know about that. And it looks like 1968... 
I have never used a chess engine, and therefore never used a chess GUI/Engine. (I'm not counting the "computer analysis" button here on Chess.com.)
So for a Technology Newbie and a Chess Patzer, what makes a GUI good? And what makes a GUI bad? Or is it just a matter of individual taste?
I have never used a chess engine, and therefore never used a chess GUI/Engine. (I'm not counting the "computer analysis" button here on Chess.com.)
So for a Technology Newbie and a Chess Patzer, what makes a GUI good? And what makes a GUI bad? Or is it just a matter of individual taste?
Other than any bugs you might have to put up with, it's really just the features you want or need, and your individual tastes or biases.
For example, I'm familiar with most of the bugs in Arena, and I've learned either to get around them or to avoid them by using another GUI in some circumstances. And I know that Arena is OK for small game databases where I don't have to perform many database functions, but if I need major database capability, I'll switch to Scid or Scid vs. PC.
Yeah, see - "The best things in life are free" is a total bunch of nonsense. If you want better, you have to pay more. It's that simple and that's the way it will always be. If you go the free route, you're going to get less than if you pay.
Well, the OP didn't ask for best; He asked for free. So I don't understand why you posted. (Well, he asked for both best and free, but free was part of the condition...)
Lucas chess is great
I agree. Both for analysis and for testing out new openings against various engines.
Yeah, see - "The best things in life are free" is a total bunch of nonsense. If you want better, you have to pay more. It's that simple and that's the way it will always be. If you go the free route, you're going to get less than if you pay.
Only true for the illiterate. Genius like me can be born in poor families and raise to the top.
Become computer literate and go to lichess.org in Github. Get the source code and make it run locally on your PC. It has no license so you can blatantly copy it and use it for yourself. It definitely does not look like it was made in 1998 and uses Stockfish. If you become stuck at one point you may ask that French nutjob who created lichess to help you.
Oh wait, I forgot having the mental brightness to perform such genius actions is only possible in Russia. Sorry "brotha", you will have to use Arena.
Become computer literate and go to lichess.org in Github. Get the source code and make it run locally on your PC. It has no license so you can blatantly copy it and use it for yourself. It definitely does not look like it was made in 1998 and uses Stockfish. If you become stuck at one point you may ask that French nutjob who created lichess to help you.
Oh wait, I forgot having the mental brightness to perform such genius actions is only possible in Russia. Sorry "brotha", you will have to use Arena.
Become computer literate and go to lichess.org in Github. Get the source code and make it run locally on your PC. It has no license so you can blatantly copy it and use it for yourself. It definitely does not look like it was made in 1998 and uses Stockfish. If you become stuck at one point you may ask that French nutjob who created lichess to help you.
Oh wait, I forgot having the mental brightness to perform such genius actions is only possible in Russia. Sorry "brotha", you will have to use Arena.
Become computer literate and go to lichess.org in Github. Get the source code and make it run locally on your PC. It has no license so you can blatantly copy it and use it for yourself. It definitely does not look like it was made in 1998 and uses Stockfish. If you become stuck at one point you may ask that French nutjob who created lichess to help you.
Oh wait, I forgot having the mental brightness to perform such genius actions is only possible in Russia. Sorry "brotha", you will have to use Arena.
secondly, I thought Stockfish was run server side on lichess. if it is, then that would take a little bit of recoding and, honestly, I'm not into programming my own chess app.
So, have you decided which GUI yet? Just curious to know which one you settle on.
Turns out that Mayura was corrupted somehow. After I reinstalled it, it let me load new engines again.
Right now I use both Mayura for playing chess and Lucas Chess for training, analysis, and engine tourneys and games. But I'm still looking for new freeware haha. Unlike one of the opinions of a previous poster, I do think that the best things in life are free 
As an aside, Lucas Chess recently added a Carlsen GM engine. I've always wondered how accurate these engines are to the actual players. I know that Chessmaster did the same thing a long time ago. Would anyone be able to shine the light on whether these GM engines play anything like the GM in real life?
Turns out that Mayura was corrupted somehow. After I reinstalled it, it let me load new engines again.
Right now I use both Mayura for playing chess and Lucas Chess for training, analysis, and engine tourneys and games. But I'm still looking for new freeware haha. Unlike one of the opinions of a previous poster, I do think that the best things in life are free
As an aside, Lucas Chess recently added a Carlsen GM engine. I've always wondered how accurate these engines are to the actual players. I know that Chessmaster did the same thing a long time ago. Would anyone be able to shine the light on whether these GM engines play anything like the GM in real life?
Lucas Chess would be OK for engine tournaments as long as you don't need to test a Winboard engine. And I think LC will only run 32-bit engines.
Regarding the Carlsen personality, I'm sure it uses an opening book of the kind of openings that Carlsen prefers. That part is easy. I'm not sure how you would modify other engine parameters to mimic Carlsen after the opening. The only other thing I do know about the Carlsen personality is that it uses the DeepToga 1.9.6 engine, modified to accept a "nodes per sec" option.
The programmer doesn't explain what he's done to create the GM personalities, and I don't have the programming skills to decypher what he's done. (Maybe that braggart BronsteinPawn can fill you in on the details, haha.)
Yeah it's possible. I'm asking because, if it happens to be at all accurate, I might just pit that engine personality against Stockfish to see how the games would look. Though Magnus himself has stated that he would lose to Stockfish it would still be nice to have a general idea of how badly he would lose. I'd hope it isn't Alpha Zero level losses.
Yeah it's possible. I'm asking because, if it happens to be at all accurate, I might just pit that engine personality against Stockfish to see how the games would look. Though Magnus himself has stated that he would lose to Stockfish it would still be nice to have a general idea of how badly he would lose. I'd hope it isn't Alpha Zero level losses.
Well, it's a version of Toga, so it would be hundreds of rating points below Stockfish.
well, yeah, as is Magnus... But it would be cool to see whether he would lose badly or just by a piece or two.
Become computer literate and go to lichess.org in Github. Get the source code and make it run locally on your PC. It has no license so you can blatantly copy it and use it for yourself. It definitely does not look like it was made in 1998 and uses Stockfish. If you become stuck at one point you may ask that French nutjob who created lichess to help you.
Oh wait, I forgot having the mental brightness to perform such genius actions is only possible in Russia. Sorry "brotha", you will have to use Arena.
Well that's a bit snobbish, isn't it? Remember it was the US who gave you both computers and the internet. Without us you would be beating rocks right now.
Get out of your capitalist bubble before it blows up brother. Those damn americans have brainwashed you. Last time I checked Alan Turing and the Colossus were BRITISH and last time I checked Churchill was scared of me and the SUPREME SOVIET army. Forgot about operation unthinkable bud? HUH?
Lichess runs an instance of Stockfish on your browser when you use the analysis board so its being ran by your computer. When you run a full game trough analysis it uses server processors to check the game for you. It also has a bunch of servers storing chess positions and their analysis so if a position you are checking has already been evlauated by someone it displays the score instead of making your local stockfish evaluate it again.
Kids age 10 in Soviet Russia knew how to do this and much more. I love Putin but the Russians became less enlightened after he was chosen as a president. Sad. 1991 will be damned forever.
I'm looking for a nice looking free chess GUI with at least these features:
- UI that doesn't look like it was programmed in 1998.
- Ability to analyze games and open and save PGN files
- Ability to import my own engines and set the elo strength of them.
- Ability to have engine games and tournaments and play games with different time settings
I already know about Mayura Chess Board, but for some strange reason it won't work on my computer. Whenever I try to install an engine it says it can't load it. I also have lucaschess and like it very much for a training tool, but it isn't as good for a standalone chess playing app.
Suggestions?