MyGoFriend
MyGoFriend is a Windows Go program by Frank Karger?.
It was as a new entry the winner of the 2010 Computer Olympiad in the 9x9 Go section see: http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/icga/tournament.php?id=215
The 2010 version received a lot of attention on the kgs server: http://www.mygofriend.com/en/content/user-opinions
Screenshot
More screenshots at http://www.mygofriend.com/en/content/screenshots-0
Several windows of MyGoFriend can be opened on the desktop simultateously, for instance with different komi values.
MyGoFriend is also configurable to speaks English and Japanese. But the scoring is always Chinese (the komi is adjustable)
Website: http://www.mygofriend.com/en
It can be purchased (19 Euro) at: http://www.mygofriend.com/en/content/shop
Short Userguide:
Pinwheel
(also Engine -> Make Move or spacebar)
If you play against MyGoFriend the pinwheel will rotate while MyGoFriend is thinking.
If you play the black stones and black is to move and you click on the pinwheel then MyGoFriend will start thinking and take the black stones (the colors for the players swapped).
If you click on the pinwheel while MyGoFriend is thinking then MyGoFriend will move immediately.
So clicking on the pinwheel means something like "Force computer move" or "Make move". In most cases you will simple play against MyGoFriend and only notice the rotation of the pinwheel and no click on it is needed.
Board with Magnifier
(also Engine -> Analyse or Crtl-spacebar)
The board with the magnifier is for a deeper analysis. A typical use case would be this: You played a game against MyGoFriend. After that you want to get a deeper understanding of the game. Then you click on "the board with magnifier" and step through the game e.g. by pressing the arrow keys. In this "analysis mode" MyGoFriend analysis a position as long as you want. And if you change the position it will immediately analyse the position on the board. Then you can observe the evaluations of the analysis window and find the critical points in the game where the evaluation changed dramatically.
Level
Under Level there are 12 preprogramed levels (Beginner, Novice, Advanced, Club player, Master, Sensei, and 1, 2, 5, 10 and 30 seconds per move)
You can also set a custom level (in seconds per move with the custom option, the higher the number of seconds, the stronger MyGoFriend plays)
First Impressions (Download version 1.0 )
Positive:
- Very nice graphics (It are the nicest stones I have ever seen)
- after some playing around the program works very intuitive
- it by itself plays white (or click on the moving pinwheel)
- Big buttons to move back and forth)
- Strong
- Cheap (19 Euro, but it is unsure if this includes uppdates to later versions)
Negative:
- Only 9x9 boards. (Bigger board sizes will follow in 2011.)
- The longest licence key I have ever seen (It includes your contact details)
- Only Chinese area scoring
- No sgf editor: it is not possible to erase moves or branches and it is not possible to add marks or comments
- Saving is complicated (It doesn't allow you to easely save under the same name)
- There is no real help (the links under help refer to webpages on how to learn go not on how to get the most out of the program)
- The turning of the pinwheel is not very visuable, and this can lead to some confusion. (why can't i to this? Because the program is thinking)