Finalgen, endgame software

Thanks to issue 4493 of Chess Today http://www.chesstoday.net/ , which showed the fairly well known position below, I have learnt of some useful freeware.

Finalgen FinalGen chess endgame tablebase generator is, as the link says, a tablebase generator. It says it can solve all endings with just pawns and with a maximum of one piece per side. As I write this blog, my machine is whirring away trying to solve this position. The writer of the Chess Today piece has similarly used it, showing the various ways that white can win.

Since I have something of an interest in king and pawn endings, I will now and then put Finalgen through its paces, but it looks like an excellent tool. On my slow (4 year old) PC, the program says it will take 2hrs 20min to solve Portisch-Stein. We shall see.

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