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Writer's pictureDarius

Banksia GUI 0.56 beta released.

This is World Cup 2022 version from November 22.

Written by Nguyen Pham, first published in 2019.

Banksia GUI logo


Banksia GUI is one of the latest and most interesting programs created to use chess engines. Although it is still in beta, it offers a lot of useful features for chess engine enthusiasts.


Banksia GUI is a program available for Linux, Mac and Windows.

This is a great nod to chess enthusiasts who use different operating systems.



Author's words about the latest version:

"

Besides some minor bug fixes, many small improvements and changes, there are some new things, including:

  • Support Apple Silicone with a binary for native Apple silicone

  • Opening books in the default engine folder (it is a sub-folder “engines” in the program folder): auto-detect and install those books (for Polyglot and OBS only)

  • Analyze anywhere: in previous versions, users can analyze a position only when it is being shown on the main board. Now users can analyze almost anywhere they see a board. In Fig. 1 when watching a game in a database, users could click on the analyze button under the preview board to start analyzing (analyze on the fly)

  • Show engines scores with thinking arrows for better watching (Fig. 1 & 2)

  • Coach: check blunder and display some information (Fig. 2)

  • New design for Settings dialog box (Fig. 3)

  • Support accessibility (Fig. 3): make moves by using the keyboard with announcements of the current square and piece; much more information could be read by screen reader/voice-over programs; White pieces could be changed colors to support visually impaired people

  • Support variations (Fig. 4): BSG now can view variations (but it cannot add or edit them directly in this release)

Lichess bot:

  • Lichess bots: improve the interface, and functions of logging and reporting; query Lichess servers to get the list of online bots. Now users don’t need to enter that list manually. With just a few clicks they can have a long list of bots to challenge them. Very convenient (Fig. 5)

  • Lichess bot: new features: auto adjudication and offering draws and resigning

Databases:

  • Databases could be shown as a popup (“old” way, Fig. 1) or a panel (Fig. 6)

  • The database’s opening trees show WDL bars (Fig. 6)

  • Could encrypt any databases with 256-bit AES in CBC mode (Fig. 7)

  • Games in a database could be shown automatically one by one, move by move (Demo Database)

"

Source: Banksia GUI



Here's what the Banksia GUI looks like.





For more, I encourage you to visit this developer's page.



This is a link to download the Banksia GUI from the developer's website.





 

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