Chess Teachers and Learners: UCI and XBoard Engines for Android

Chess for Android is a chess application for the Android platform that supports the Universal Chess Interface (UCI) and Chess Engine Communication Protocol (often simply called the XBoard or WinBoard protocol). This feature allows users to import third party chess engines into the application, as further explained at UCI and XBoard Protocols for Android and in Chess for Android Manual. Users can either play an imported engine directly, use infinite analysis to study games, or even run tournaments between engines (see e.g. these tournaments). Engine setup furthermore features pondering, hash tables, multiple threads, endgame tablebases, and opening test suites.

Although Chess for Android runs on any Android device, it is important that the engine has been compiled into proper native code for that device. Currently, the Android platform distinguishes between x86-based devices and ARMv5TE-based devices.

UCI and XBoard Engines (x86)

For x86-based Android devices (such as Google TV), any engine binary that has been compiled for 32-bit x86 Linux will work. This format is widely available for many chess engines.

UCI and XBoard Engines (ARMv5TE)

Engine binaries that run on ARMv5TE-based Android devices (most phones and tablets) are not widespread yet. The entries below, however, list such engines, either as a link to the engine's website or as a direct download of a binary compiled by Aart Bik (for all direct downloads, the engine authors have given kind permissions to post the binaries on this website). [tour3]

Download package with direct downloads on this page, or view tournament results.

Individual engines:

Alfil (Enrique Sanchez)

Alfil 12, Alfil 13

BikJump (Aart Bik)

Critter (Richard Vida)

Critter 1.6a

Cheng3 (Martin Sedlák)

Cheng3 1.07

Pos (Folkert van Heusden)

BrutePos for Android 1.1

Cinnamon (Giuseppe Cannella)

Cinnamon 1.1

DiscoCheck (Lucas Braesch)

GarboChess (Gary Linscott)

GarboChess 3

Gaviota and Gaviota endgame tablebases (Miguel Ballicora)

Gaviota 0.86

GNUChess for Android (Olivier Esser)

GNUChess 6.0.2

GreKo (Vladimir Medvedev)

GreKo 9.8

H.G. Muller's Engines and Tools

FairyMax 4.8 (also needs fmax.ini)
micro-Max 4.8
p2p 0.3 (peer-to-peer GUI connection adapter)

Iota (Daniel White)

Iota

Jim Ablett's Chess Projects (list is growing daily!)

UCI: adroitchess, apilchess, arasan, cassandre, cheng, cyrano, daydreamer, diablo, doublecheck, garbochess, greko, jazz, komodo, pawny, pepito, redqueen, rocinante, rotor, simplex, sissa, stockfish, suff, sungorus
XBOARD: buzz, chess-one, crafty, danasah, exchess, gfc, gk, gullydeckel, kmtchess, knightcap, mizar, mskcp, natwarlal, olithink, olithink, phalanx, scidlet, scorpio, sjeng-, sloppy, surprise, toledo-nanochess, uzz, zzzzzz