20-2-2013 version 4.1.7
* fixed crash on 32 bit systems in combination with 7 piece endgames
* print game option
* updated french translation (hirel)

27-1-2013 version 4.1.6
* slightly less memory use
* several bugfixes

11-1-2013 version 4.1.3
This release addresses several bugs and improves playing strength

Interface changes:
* improved pdn import for files generated by Turbo dambase
* damexchange: minor bugfixes
* damexchange: dragon now limits the amount of hash tables it uses if it thinks the setting is too high (using too large tables will hurt performance)
* cleaned up some of the extended statistics

Engine changes: (resulting in about 30-50 elo points strength improvement)
* increased performance: about 50% more evaluations per second
* improvements in evaluation function
* fixed a bug that caused dragon to occasionaly play a random (bad) move

Notes:
- Please note that Dragon performs best on multicore-64 bit systems

8-10-2012 version 4.1
Main change in this version is the inclusion of a more advanced evalution function, which plays a lot better. This function is used when dragon plays tournaments and is now available in this version. Because it uses large tables, dragon 4.1 starts a bit slower than the older versions.

user interface:
- game analyses now shows variants directly
- damexchange: dragon can now accept the time control suggestion from the client (option is configurable)
- added option to create error report in case of a engine crash
- various bugfixes: languages, scroll, copy&paste, opening some pdn files, game color in saved positions, playout game, permanent brain
engine:
- inclusion of breakthrough and other tables that increase dragon's playing strength (about 140 elo points)
- better move ordering (+20%), faster evaluation (+%2), large page support (+3%-6%) (about 15 elo points)
- bugfixes: endgame generation, minor fixes in eval function

21-9-2011 version 4.0 SetupDragon v4.0.msi
- completely new user interface
- engine search speed is increased by a factor between 2 and 3, due to improved multithreading algorithms and switch to bitboards.
- endgame database generation is fully multithreaded and can generate up to 8 piece endgames (given sufficient ram)


12-1-2008 version 3.0 (still available as setup dragon-3.0beta.exe)
#Massively improved game analyses:
Dragon spends more time on interresting positions, less on obvious moves
Analyses is created as game variant
Continuation is done on full search depth
Evaluation at end of game
Quick game analyses option: checks for blunders and gives quickly produces score graph
Automatic threshold: lower the comment threshold at longer thinking times

#General changes:
Fixed bug when windows went into screensaver
Form to quickly enter a new game, or copy & paste a game from a website or other document
Game moves are now implemented as a tree, allowing for variants, and variants of variants, ad infinitum
Graph displaying score during the game
Option form split in 3 seperate tabs
Options to change some of dragon's colors.

#Engine improvements
Dragon can now utilise multi-core processors. Speedup is still modest though. Measured as time to reach a certain level of play, dragon is 1.55 times faster on dual core, and 1.99 times on a quad-core. Set up the number of processors you want dragon to use in the options.
Endgame databases are now accessed directly from disk if there are not available in memory
Improved database compression. All 6 piece endings now fit on a single CD
About 10% speed improvement
Improved move ordering
Improved identication of drawn endgames

#Bugfixes:
Lastgame.pdn can't be overwritten anymore by an empty game
Save as applet problem fixed
Infinite analyses did not work when still in opening book
Position analyses sometimes produced invalid continuations on lower depths

06-07-2005 Version 2.4 (still available as dragonDraughts for windows v2.4.1)

• Beta version of 64 bit engine (requires 64 bit capable windows version) This allows up to 8 GB hashtables, and endgame databases are limited by available ram only
• Dragon now plays immidiately if it recognizes that all moves lead the same result (this happens for instance when there are two ways of capturing the same piece)
• Switched on anisotropic filtering for better graphics (Set anti-aliasing to 4x or 6x)
• Improved performance of the 3d-board, now using hardware T&L
• Automatic reboot if the engine should crash

09-05-2005 Version 2.3

new game variant: killer draughts (demotie dammen). This variant doesn't suffer from the very high draw percentage in international draughts. To active, open the options window and select the 'killer/demotie' engine. rules here (online link)

Loading a different engine can now be done without restarting the entire program

14-04-2005 Version 2.2.3

Several small bugfixes

Fixed lastgame.pdn problem when dragon quits while editing a position

Update for french language, by Yves Hirel

New engine option: 'dragon + extra memory usage'. When selected, dragon runs about 12% faster, but uses 64 MB extra memory

New quiescence searcher: --> 15% speed improvement, and some score improvement (51.5% wins)

25-03-2005 Version 2.2

Fixed bug in analyses of entire game

Saving the game as pdn file: now saves without the engine search information comments. (unless you turn them specifically on)

Tutor mode: dragon tells you if make a mistake or miss a good move

Added option to toggle sound on/off

Added search option in import pdn file

24-11-2004 Version 2.1

General:

• Dragon now has a TCP based connection between the user interface and the engine, making the user interface respond much faster.
• Analyse position now shows the first few moves of the principle variation
• New analyses option: infinite analyses (shift-F3). When using this option dragon does not move after the anayses is stopped.
• Incoming damexchange connections are now turned of by default for security reasons.

3D-board improvements:

• Added 6x anti-aliasing option
  
• Added graphics benchmark option in the view menu.
  
• Pieces now have shadows (enable/disable in the options)
  
• Dragon can now run in fullscreen mode (use alt-tab to switch on/off)
  
• Highlighted fields still show background (enable/disable transparancy in the options)
  
• Last move by dragon is now highlighted
  
• 3D-board now loads 8 times faster

Engine improvements:

• Improvements and bugfixes in search engine --> 52% speed improvement.
• In memory compression of endgame databases: this allows to use between 4 and 8 times as many endgame positions in a given amount of memory.
  To compress your existing databases, start the database generator and use the command 'compall'. When this is done, you can increase the number of databases that dragon uses.
• Improved move ordering --> 20% speed improvement.
• Incremental computation of hashes --> 8% speed improvement.
• Major bug fix: sometimes the internal board became corrupted, leading to illegal positions
• Detection of draw by repetition

10-3-2004 Version 1.2.5 (still available as dragon 1.2.5 version (v1.2.5))

Help text has been translated to french

More and improved lithuanian and french translations

If the engine should crash, you can recover the current game by selecting menu-->lastGame.pdn

1-2-2004 Version 1.2.3

New endgame database module: [help]

• Database generation requires a lot less computer memory (RAM). 6 pieces win/draw/lose database now only require 128 Mb RAM (256 MB recommended for faster computation)
  
• Option to generate 'Distance to win' databases, for flawless moves in the endgame. With these databases, dragon wins all endgames in the shortest possible time.
  
• Generation of 7 piece databases is now feasable if you have 1 GB of RAM. However this does take 3 months.
  
• The endgame databases can be loaded on demand now rather than at the start of the program. This makes dragon start up faster.
  
• New and better interface to generate and select the loading of databases.
  
• You can now run the generator and dragon simultaneously.
  
• Verification process can now be stopped and continued

Unfortunately these databases are incompatible with dragon's earlier databases. If you have previously generated some databases, you need to do this again. Select 'view --> options' from the menu. Then click on 'endgame database setup' to generate the new databases.

If a game is in progress when closing dragon, it is now automatically saved as 'lastgame.pdn'

Bugfix: analyse all moves sometimes didn't show all possible moves

Changed the license of the endgame generator from the GPL to the LGPL. This makes it easier for other programs to access dragon's endgame databases.

Added a system to choose between multiple moves with the same begin- and end-fields.

Bugfix: solved crash when taking back moves

Bugfix: reading PDN files: solved bug for files with multiple FEN-positions

Bugfix: solved bug in move generator when king could capture 4 or more pieces

Smaller font for low-resolution displays

Damexchange: dragon can now initiate connections to other programs

Bugfix: node count now shows correctly after more than 2 billion nodes searched

Dragon now remembers to show 2D-board on startup

Lithuanian (Lietuviu) language option included. Thanks to Gintaras Magelinskas for the translation

Bugfix: player vs player mode did not work correctly with forced moves

13-11-2003 Version 1.1.10

More dutch and French translations (thanks Yves!)

Dragon nows tells you when you win or lose

Installation issue for windows 98 solved

Switching between 2d and 3d view now works correctly

14-9-2003 Version 1.1.8

Changed piece dragging from mouse position to center of piece position

Single mouseclick automatically plays forced move

Solved some issues with window position and size on startup

25-8-2003 Version 1.1.2

Removed expiration date

some minor fixes and changes

french language option included. Thanks to Yves Hirel for the translation

bugfix: solved sluggish checker movement on slow computers for 2d-board

new: option to save board as image file

28-7-2003 Version 1.0.13b

bugfix: player vs player mode did not work correctly

21-7-2003 Version 1.0.13

change: small improvements in engine

change: improved responsiveness of the windows interface

bugfix: problem with ambigious moves solved

new: multiple stone textures included

14-7-2003 Version 1.0.10

new: endgame database generator included

bugfix: Rotating the board or using the board-reverse option did not reverse player names

bugfix: Draging a piece outside the 2d-board gave problems

bugfix: Some installation issues solved

change: Added some error trapping

bugfix: Option 'Two ply increments' did not function

11-7-2003 Version 1.0.8

First release of dragon for windows

Nieuw mechanisme voor herkenning tactische patronen

Verbeterde evaluatie functie

Beter gebruik van de beschikbare bedenktijd

Ondersteuning voor 6 en 7 stukken databases. Voor het genereren van de 7 stukken database is wel 16 GB ram nodig.

Extensie voor slagzetten met 2 mogelijkheden

12-6-1996 Versie 0.2
Grafische interface voor linux
1996    Versie 0.1
1996    Versie 0.0 DragonDraughts-0.0.tgz
Eerste release