Komodo 9 Announcement

[lkaufman]

We plan to release Komodo 9 on Tuesday, April 28 if nothing goes wrong. It will be the current version, number 1416.00, unless we find a meaningful improvement or make UCI option changes in the next couple days. We are satisfied that it is as large an improvement over Komodo 8 as Komodo 8 was over Komodo 7.
Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom). Maximum hash size has been raised to 64 Gb, and UCI options have been added to control the amount of reduction (lmr) and pruning (lmp). Although we believe the defaults are near-optimum for bullet chess, it is our hope that users will discover that for long time control games some other settings are better.
We will have more accurate estimates of elo gain as release date gets closer, but as of now we think the gain is more than 40 elo in single-core mode and 50 in multi-processor mode. As usual, gains come from all areas, including search, evaluation, and time management. Most noticeable should be the increase in search depth reached in a given amount of time, which is due to better extension, reduction, and pruning rules. We have done quite a bit to improve performance at blitz time controls, but we still anticipate that Komodo will earn its highest ratings against other engines at longer time controls.
We have decided to offer would-be purchasers the choice to simply buy Komodo 9, or to purchase a year's subscription to upgrades. We expect, but cannot promise, that upgrades will be quarterly, but we won't put out an upgrade unless we estimate we have gained at least ten elo and/or added a new feature. If we make a breakthru we might put out an upgrade sooner. The pricing is such that if you would normally buy new versions twice a year (roughly our past frequency of release) the extra upgrades will be free. In either case, those who bought Komodo 8 will get about a $20 discount. Subscription purchasers will also get older versions for free. All prices will be slid down by one version, so Komodo 6 will now be free.
We will no longer include the Android version with the Windows package, but it will be available soon from Google PlayStore for less than $5.

Larry and Mark for KomodoChess

[JohnW]

Cool, can't wait to try it out..

[CositasBuenas]

Hello Larry,
could you sell the Andoid version via Amazon app store too, please.
Michael

[Modern Times]

Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom).

For the admittedly relatively small number of chess960 enthusiasts, this is great news ! Thanks for adding it.

[Hurnavich]

Slight disappointment in not packaging android with windows purchase.

[APassionForCriminalJustic]

We plan to release Komodo 9 on Tuesday, April 28 if nothing goes wrong. It will be the current version, number 1416.00, unless we find a meaningful improvement or make UCI option changes in the next couple days. We are satisfied that it is as large an improvement over Komodo 8 as Komodo 8 was over Komodo 7.
Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom). Maximum hash size has been raised to 64 Gb, and UCI options have been added to control the amount of reduction (lmr) and pruning (lmp). Although we believe the defaults are near-optimum for bullet chess, it is our hope that users will discover that for long time control games some other settings are better.
We will have more accurate estimates of elo gain as release date gets closer, but as of now we think the gain is more than 40 elo in single-core mode and 50 in multi-processor mode. As usual, gains come from all areas, including search, evaluation, and time management. Most noticeable should be the increase in search depth reached in a given amount of time, which is due to better extension, reduction, and pruning rules. We have done quite a bit to improve performance at blitz time controls, but we still anticipate that Komodo will earn its highest ratings against other engines at longer time controls.
We have decided to offer would-be purchasers the choice to simply buy Komodo 9, or to purchase a year's subscription to upgrades. We expect, but cannot promise, that upgrades will be quarterly, but we won't put out an upgrade unless we estimate we have gained at least ten elo and/or added a new feature. If we make a breakthru we might put out an upgrade sooner. The pricing is such that if you would normally buy new versions twice a year (roughly our past frequency of release) the extra upgrades will be free. In either case, those who bought Komodo 8 will get about a $20 discount. Subscription purchasers will also get older versions for free. All prices will be slid down by one version, so Komodo 6 will now be free.
We will no longer include the Android version with the Windows package, but it will be available soon from Google PlayStore for less than $5.

Larry and Mark for KomodoChess

This is awesome news. Personally, I've been checking this everyday to see if in fact an announcement had been made. The one year subscription to upgrades looks awesome. I am a little bit confused about the pricing. What will the cost (or how much more) of the subscription-based service be exactly in USD? Komodo 8 was $39 dollars with the discount (I also assume that Komodo 9 would be the same?). How much would the subscription-based services be with a discount added? The more that I read what you wrote Larry, the subscription-based services would be about the value of two official releases?

[lkaufman]

We plan to release Komodo 9 on Tuesday, April 28 if nothing goes wrong. It will be the current version, number 1416.00, unless we find a meaningful improvement or make UCI option changes in the next couple days. We are satisfied that it is as large an improvement over Komodo 8 as Komodo 8 was over Komodo 7.
Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom). Maximum hash size has been raised to 64 Gb, and UCI options have been added to control the amount of reduction (lmr) and pruning (lmp). Although we believe the defaults are near-optimum for bullet chess, it is our hope that users will discover that for long time control games some other settings are better.
We will have more accurate estimates of elo gain as release date gets closer, but as of now we think the gain is more than 40 elo in single-core mode and 50 in multi-processor mode. As usual, gains come from all areas, including search, evaluation, and time management. Most noticeable should be the increase in search depth reached in a given amount of time, which is due to better extension, reduction, and pruning rules. We have done quite a bit to improve performance at blitz time controls, but we still anticipate that Komodo will earn its highest ratings against other engines at longer time controls.
We have decided to offer would-be purchasers the choice to simply buy Komodo 9, or to purchase a year's subscription to upgrades. We expect, but cannot promise, that upgrades will be quarterly, but we won't put out an upgrade unless we estimate we have gained at least ten elo and/or added a new feature. If we make a breakthru we might put out an upgrade sooner. The pricing is such that if you would normally buy new versions twice a year (roughly our past frequency of release) the extra upgrades will be free. In either case, those who bought Komodo 8 will get about a $20 discount. Subscription purchasers will also get older versions for free. All prices will be slid down by one version, so Komodo 6 will now be free.
We will no longer include the Android version with the Windows package, but it will be available soon from Google PlayStore for less than $5.

Larry and Mark for KomodoChess

This is awesome news. Personally, I've been checking this everyday to see if in fact an announcement had been made. The one year subscription to upgrades looks awesome. I am a little bit confused about the pricing. What will the cost (or how much more) of the subscription-based service be exactly in USD? Komodo 8 was $39 dollars with the discount (I also assume that Komodo 9 would be the same?). How much would the subscription-based services be with a discount added? The more that I read what you wrote Larry, the subscription-based services would be about the value of two official releases?

Komodo 9 price is set at $59.96, or $39.99 if you bought Komodo 8. If you want the one year subscription it will be $40 more in each case, the same as you would pay for one upgrade separately. So the total cost for the year will be the same as if you bought Komodo 9 plus one version six months later. The in-between versions will thus be free.

[Vinvin]

We plan to release Komodo 9 on Tuesday, April 28 if nothing goes wrong. It will be the current version, number 1416.00, unless we find a meaningful improvement or make UCI option changes in the next couple days. We are satisfied that it is as large an improvement over Komodo 8 as Komodo 8 was over Komodo 7.
Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom). Maximum hash size has been raised to 64 Gb, and UCI options have been added to control the amount of reduction (lmr) and pruning (lmp). Although we believe the defaults are near-optimum for bullet chess, it is our hope that users will discover that for long time control games some other settings are better.
We will have more accurate estimates of elo gain as release date gets closer, but as of now we think the gain is more than 40 elo in single-core mode and 50 in multi-processor mode. As usual, gains come from all areas, including search, evaluation, and time management. Most noticeable should be the increase in search depth reached in a given amount of time, which is due to better extension, reduction, and pruning rules. We have done quite a bit to improve performance at blitz time controls, but we still anticipate that Komodo will earn its highest ratings against other engines at longer time controls.
We have decided to offer would-be purchasers the choice to simply buy Komodo 9, or to purchase a year's subscription to upgrades. We expect, but cannot promise, that upgrades will be quarterly, but we won't put out an upgrade unless we estimate we have gained at least ten elo and/or added a new feature. If we make a breakthru we might put out an upgrade sooner. The pricing is such that if you would normally buy new versions twice a year (roughly our past frequency of release) the extra upgrades will be free. In either case, those who bought Komodo 8 will get about a $20 discount. Subscription purchasers will also get older versions for free. All prices will be slid down by one version, so Komodo 6 will now be free.
We will no longer include the Android version with the Windows package, but it will be available soon from Google PlayStore for less than $5.

Larry and Mark for KomodoChess

Will it be sold via Chessbase with the interface too (as version 8) ?

[TShackel]

We plan to release Komodo 9 on Tuesday, April 28 if nothing goes wrong. It will be the current version, number 1416.00, unless we find a meaningful improvement or make UCI option changes in the next couple days. We are satisfied that it is as large an improvement over Komodo 8 as Komodo 8 was over Komodo 7.
Two new major features have been added. One is Persistent Hash, which is desirable for analysis. The other is that Komodo can now play Chess 960 (a.k.a. Fischerrandom). Maximum hash size has been raised to 64 Gb, and UCI options have been added to control the amount of reduction (lmr) and pruning (lmp). Although we believe the defaults are near-optimum for bullet chess, it is our hope that users will discover that for long time control games some other settings are better.
We will have more accurate estimates of elo gain as release date gets closer, but as of now we think the gain is more than 40 elo in single-core mode and 50 in multi-processor mode. As usual, gains come from all areas, including search, evaluation, and time management. Most noticeable should be the increase in search depth reached in a given amount of time, which is due to better extension, reduction, and pruning rules. We have done quite a bit to improve performance at blitz time controls, but we still anticipate that Komodo will earn its highest ratings against other engines at longer time controls.
We have decided to offer would-be purchasers the choice to simply buy Komodo 9, or to purchase a year's subscription to upgrades. We expect, but cannot promise, that upgrades will be quarterly, but we won't put out an upgrade unless we estimate we have gained at least ten elo and/or added a new feature. If we make a breakthru we might put out an upgrade sooner. The pricing is such that if you would normally buy new versions twice a year (roughly our past frequency of release) the extra upgrades will be free. In either case, those who bought Komodo 8 will get about a $20 discount. Subscription purchasers will also get older versions for free. All prices will be slid down by one version, so Komodo 6 will now be free.
We will no longer include the Android version with the Windows package, but it will be available soon from Google PlayStore for less than $5.

Larry and Mark for KomodoChess

Thanks Larry. Thanks for the good news. I just had a question as to if you noticed any changes/improvements in the playing style of komodo. As a grandmaster I think you'd have special knowledge on that topic. For example, in Komodo 8 I noticed a better understanding of king attacks. So is there any distinctive changes? I buy chess engines both for strength, and for a human-like playing style with good positional, attacking, and closed position skills. Just wondering if you noticed any changes in komodo 9.0 versus 8.0.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Tim.

[Sean Evans]

Hello,

Amazon Kindle Android version would be appreciated. Has to be sold through Amazon.ca or Amazon.com, etc.

Thank you,

Sean