Aunt Judith learned the rules last month from a library book, and it shows. She leaves pieces where you can take them. She misses that her queen is attacked. She develops the same knight three times and forgets about her kingside entirely. If you have just learned how the pieces move, she is the first opponent you can realistically beat.
That sounds like it should be easy to build, and it is the single hardest thing about beginner chess software. Almost every chess bot on the internet runs on Stockfish, and Stockfish refuses to play below a rating of 1320 — ask for 400 and it silently clamps the value and plays at 1320 anyway. A 1320-rated player is stronger than most people who play chess casually, which is why so many beginners lose to the "easiest" setting and conclude the problem is them.
Judith runs on Texel instead, an engine by Peter Österlund that accepts a strength range from −625 all the way up to 2540. There is no floor to clamp against, so when we ask for a genuinely weak opponent, we get one.
How it plays
- ▸Hangs pieces regularly and does not notice yours are hanging either
- ▸No opening preparation — she plays whatever looks reasonable
- ▸Will miss a mate in one, in both directions
- ▸Does not suddenly produce a strong move out of nowhere, which is what makes weakened Stockfish so confusing to play
Who should play it
Your first ever games against a computer, teaching a child, or rebuilding confidence after a bad run. If you have never beaten a chess engine, start here.
Things they say
Oh how exciting! I've been practicing with my chess book!
I think you made a little oopsie there, sweetie!
I think I might actually win! This never happens!
I won?! I WON! I need to call your mother about this!
250 is a requested rating, not a measured one. Texel's internal scale is not anchored to a public rating list, and we have not run calibration games against rated humans. What we can say is that the request is not being silently ignored, which is what happens on engines with a floor.
