Play Magnus (mobile app)

Last updated

Play Magnus
Original author(s) Tord Romstad et al. [1]
Developer(s) Play Magnus AS
Initial release1 January 2014;9 years ago (2014-01-01)
Operating system iOS, Android
Type Computer chess
License Commercial software
Website playmagnus.com

Play Magnus is a commercial computer chess mobile app available for the iOS and Android mobile operating systems. [2] [3] The software is named after former World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and features adjustable difficulty levels for chess players of various skills. [4] [5] It has been available since 2014 and is developed by the Norwegian company Play Magnus AS, which was co-founded by Carlsen. [6]

Contents

Description

The program is a chess engine tuned to play at 30 different skill levels based on Magnus Carlsen's ability at given ages. [7]

Users earn points by playing chess, or can purchase points for money. Points can be spent on querying the engine for move suggestions, and on the undo function (the cost of this is higher at the higher levels). With a large points balance, it used to be possible to win a chance of playing Magnus in person [7] but this is no longer mentioned by the app.

After each game, the app gives the user a chance to "share" their result on Facebook or Twitter, or to save the game as PGN. It also includes various quotes from Magnus that are presented between games.

The first skill level ("age 5") plays moves predominantly at random. [7]

History

The development of Play Magnus began after Carlsen founded Play Magnus AS and invested his own money and funds from investors into the company. [6] It was developed by a team including Tord Romstad, one of the creators of Stockfish, [8] who said he based the engine on his Stockfish predecessor "Glaurung" to avoid copyright issues with Stockfish itself. [9] Romstad also said they "intentionally made the progression up to about age 14 a bit more linear than it was in reality (in an attempt to make the progression not be too steep, but user feedback indicates that it might be too steep nevertheless)". [10]

Play Magnus was released in January 2014 for iOS and late 2014 for Android. It received close to one million downloads by November 2016. [8] It had risen to 2.8 million downloads as of December 2017. [11]

In August 2022, the Play Magnus Group accepted an offer of acquisition from Chess.com, for nearly $83 million. [12] [13] [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Play Magnus". Play Magnus. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Play Magnus - Chess on the App Store".
  3. ↑ "Chess Free - Play Magnus - Android Apps on Google Play".
  4. ↑ "'Play Magnus' for iPhone pits you against a young chess grandmaster". 28 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Play Magnus for iPhone Let's You Play Against Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen". 1 March 2014.
  6. 1 2 Paul, Aniek (10 November 2014). "Magnus Carlsen parlays chess success into hot tech start-up". livemint.com.
  7. 1 2 3 Buist, Erica (11 May 2016). "Magnus Carlsen: the cool grandmaster who cries when he loses to himself". The Guardian.
  8. 1 2 "This Simulation Of Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Ready To Checkmate You - Fast Company". 14 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Developer Tord Romstad's comments
  10. ↑ Comment by developer Tord Romstad on Reddit
  11. ↑ "Magnus Carlsen jakter 41 millioner kroner". Hegnar (in Norwegian). 15 December 2017.
  12. ↑ Team (CHESScom), Chess com. "Chess.com Makes Offer To Play Magnus Group". Chess.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Robinson, Andrew Beaton and Joshua (4 October 2022). "Chess Investigation Finds That U.S. Grandmaster 'Likely Cheated' More Than 100 Times". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  14. ↑ Poindexter, Owen (25 August 2022). "Top Chess Player, Platform Join Forces in $82.9M Deal". Front Office Sports. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
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