Shredder (software)


Shredder is a commercial chess engine and graphical user interface developed in Germany by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen in 1993. Shredder won the World Microcomputer Chess Championship in 1996 and 2000, the World Computer Chess Championship in 1999 and 2003, the World Computer Speed Chess Championship in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007, and the World Chess Software Championship in 2010.
One of the features of the Shredder engine is that it can be set to play at different Elo rating levels from beginner to master level. The Shredder GUI will estimate your Elo rating based on your games, and adjust its strength in future games to give you a chance of winning.
The Shredder web site also sells Chess Tutor, a teaching program based on the Steps Method course of Dutch psychologist Rob Brunia and IM Cor van Wijgerden.
The Shredder engine version 10.0 was released in June 2006. Version 11.0 was released in October 2007. Version 12 was released in January 2010. The "Deep" version takes advantage of multiple CPUs or multiple core CPUs. Version 13 was released in 30 October 2016. Version 13 is about 300 Elo better than Version 12.

Awards

Shredder has won a number of computer chess tournaments since its inception:
YearLocationTitle
1996JakartaMicro Computer World Champion
1999PaderbornMicro Computer World Champion
1999PaderbornComputer Chess World Champion
2000LondonMicro Computer World Champion
2001MaastrichtMicro Computer World Champion Single CPU
2002MaastrichtBlitz World Champion
2003GrazComputer Chess World Champion
2003GrazBlitz World Champion
2004Tel AvivBlitz World Champion
2005ReykjavíkBlitz World Champion
2006MainzChess960 World Champion
2007AmsterdamBlitz World Champion
2010KanazawaChess Software World Champion
2013YokohamaBlitz World Champion
2015LeidenChess Software World Champion

Platforms

Shredder is one of the few commercial chess programs which is available not only for Windows and Mac OS, but also for Linux. Shredder is also available on the iPhone, the iPad and Android.

Sample game

The following game was played between Shredder and List at the 2003 World Computer Chess Championship. Shredder sacrifices a piece in exchange for a strong initiative in a position too complex for the computer to calculate to the end.

  1. e4 c5
  2. Nc3 e6
  3. d4 cxd4
  4. Qxd4 Nc6
  5. Qa4 Bc5
  6. Nb5 Nf6
  7. e5 Nxe5
  8. Bf4 Nfg4
  9. Nh3 f6
  10. Be2 h5
  11. Bxg4 hxg4
  12. Bxe5 fxe5
  13. Qxg4 O-O
  14. O-O-O d5
  15. Rhf1 Bd7
  16. Nc3 Rc8
  17. Kb1 Bd4
  18. Ne2 Bxb2
  19. Kxb2 Qb6+
  20. Kc1 Qa6
  21. Rd2 Rc4
  22. Qg6 Be8
  23. Qd3 Qxa2
  24. Kd1 Qa1+
  25. Nc1 Ba4
  26. Qg6 Rf6
  27. Qg5 Rf5
  28. Qe3 Qb2
  29. Qe2 e4
  30. f4 e3
  31. Qxe3 Bxc2+
  32. Ke2 Re4 0-1

Graphical front-ends