July 2024: Update 4
- Compatibility improvement: Loading of PGN files with legacy character encoding.
- Improved handling of errors that may occur when opening a file.
- Improved status bar messages.
May 2024: Update 3
- Improvements in graphics, better scaling support and window refresh.
- Fix for freezing file dialogs, especially critical for UCI engine selection.
April 2024: Update 2
- New background style: Brass in motion. Users can choose between the originally released style Metallic chess and the new one. See the main menu: View > Background.
- Overhaul of the 3D projections style aiming at a better distinction between different pieces and improved look.
- Improved handling of dialog windows and transitions between them.
- Updated dialog layout to optimize text legibility and overall aesthetics.
- Underlined hyperlinks in dialogs.
- Re-calibrated result-predicting mechanism so that the AI is a bit less eager to declare an expected outcome of the game.
- Optimized adaptive level mechanism.
- Changed default time control from 30|0 to 20|0.
- Improved integration to the Windows taskbar. The icon is now properly sized for every combination of screen resolution and scale. If the shortcut to Chess 2024 is pinned to the taskbar, the app icon will not be duplicated upon launching Chess 2024. Users who have pinned the Chess 2024 icon to the taskbar before installing this update are advised to unpin the icon and pin it again (otherwise the icon will work the old way duplicating itself).
- Improved installer — more compact, faster installation, faster updating. When installing an update, the desktop shortcut will not be re-created if the user has removed it. The installer will assume the user prefers not to have the shortcut on the desktop. To re-create the shortcut at any time, go to Windows Start > All and drag&drop the shortcut from the Windows Start menu to the desktop.
- Improved uninstaller to keep the Windows taskbar and registry clean.
- Improved GUI performance through more efficient synchronization of parallel threads.
- Removed brief display of the wait cursor where unnecessary.
- Optimized app startup and shutdown routines.
- Improved Evaluation and Main variation panel behavior: Both panels are now properly cleared once their content becomes irrelevant to the current game record.
- Improved status bar content.
- The Help > How to shop menu item has been replaced by Help > Reviews.
- Corrected English, French, and German texts.
- Tweaked typography (longer dashes in English, Czech, and French).
- When sounds are on, the startup sound is played a bit earlier so that it's better synchronized with the GUI popping up.
- Updated third-party components.
January 2024: Update 1
- Improved adaptive level mechanism.
- More even differences between game levels, narrowed the gap between Hobby player and Chess enthusiast.
- Performance improvements, including faster startup.
- Updated icon image, making it a bit darker.
- Rephrased Czech texts related to the adaptive level feature.
- Updated third-party components.
November 2023: Initial release
Chess 2024 has been introduced as a new product in the Filip Höfer Chess software line. Main new features include:- Adaptive game level — Play chess and progress smoothly between levels.
- Contextual button to streamline the game flow — Accept/offer a draw or resignation, continue to the next game.
- Less borders, more chessboard — Enjoy graphics with dynamic scaling: up to 20% larger chessboard, depending on the window size.
- UCI engine options — Utilize the full power of your PC, including multi-core configuration.
- New visuals — Try new sets of chess pieces, including 3D projections.