The most popular free software on the net is undoubtedly GNU Chess. It is the most recent release in the widely popular chess software family and has become an indispensable tool for chess enthusiasts worldwide. In this article I will explain why it is such a great program and what you need to do in order to install it on your computer.
GNU Chess is the free software derivative of the renowned, award winning chess software program ChessBase. This is a highly regarded, award winning chess application that has been developed and maintained by the Free Software Foundation for many years. Recently, version 5 was completely rebuilt by Chua Kong Si, incorporating his own chess software Cobalt and the chess library that were painstakingly written into the program. Although this makes the chess software itself much improved, the main improvements are in the interface. The user interface is cleaner and more intuitive, the features available are far greater than those available with the free ChessBase software and the fact that you can use it on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows systems, makes it very versatile.
I should note that because this version was developed and maintained by a professional, the interface does not have the same professional look as the main chess application. It also has some of the same drawbacks of the free version such as the limited number of available engines. However, even if you are used to playing online, it still offers you the opportunity to play against the best competition in the world with the greatest features. In my opinion, this version of ChessBase is the best chess application that money can buy.