KingsRow is a strong checkers and draughts engine. It was released by Ed Gilbert in 2000.
The checkers engine can be used with the CheckerBoard GUI. It is only available as a DLL on Windows since CheckerBoard is a windows-only program.[1] The engine is available as freeware.
The engine uses neural networks, opening books, and endgame databases.[2]
History
In the only Computer Checkers World Championship, KingsRow took second place behind Nemesis.
KingsRow was stronger than Cake++ in the early years. Cake++ finally caught up with KingsRow and gradually became stronger. It competed a 624-game match against Cake++ on Thanksgiving 2004; Cake++ won 3 to 1, with 620 games ending in a draw.[3] As of 2023, KingsRow is better than Cake.[4]On July 17, 2005, Ed Gilbert completed building a 10-piece endgame database for use with KingsRow.[5] It had a size of 214 GB, but in July 2016 it was reduced to 102 GB using better compression techniques. KingsRow supports WLD (win/loss/draw), DTW (depth to win), and MTC (depth to conversion) endgame databases.[6]
A version for Italian checkers with a nine-piece endgame tablebase is available, too.[7]
10x10 version
A 10x10 version of KingsRow was started in 2007. In 2009, an eight-piece endgame tablebase was finished. KingsRow won the Unofficial World Championship of Computer Programs in International Draughts 2023.[8] As of 2023, it is considered one of the best 10x10 draughts programs together with Damage, Scan, and Ares.