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Engines

The Engines page is where you manage the chess engines that power analysis and computer opponents in En Parlant~. Download popular engines with a single click, add your own, and fine-tune their settings.

Chess engines are the analytical backbone of En Parlant~. They evaluate positions, find the best moves, generate analysis reports, and serve as opponents when you want to play against the computer. The Engines page lets you install, configure, and manage all of them in one place.

En Parlant~ offers several top engines for direct download from within the app:

EngineELO
Stockfish3635
RubiChess3600
Dragon by Komodo3533
Komodo3479
Leela Chess Zero3440

ELO ratings are sourced from CCRL.

To install an engine, select it from the list and click download. The app handles the rest — no manual file management needed.

You can also add any UCI-compatible engine by pointing En Parlant~ to the executable file on your computer. This is useful if you have a custom build, a development version, or a less common engine that isn’t in the built-in list. As long as it speaks the UCI protocol, it will work.

Each engine has a profile you can customize:

  • Name and version identification
  • ELO rating — Estimated engine strength
  • Custom image — Pick an icon or image for the engine

These parameters control how the engine analyzes positions, corresponding to standard UCI protocol commands:

SettingDescription
TimeAnalysis duration in seconds
DepthSearch to a specific ply level
NodesMaximum node count for evaluation
InfiniteUnlimited analysis mode

For most use cases, the default settings work well. If you want faster but shallower analysis, reduce the depth. If you want the engine to think as long as it needs, use Infinite mode.

  • MultiPV — The number of variations the engine outputs. Set this to 2 or 3 to see alternative lines alongside the best move. Higher values give you more options but slow down the analysis.
  • Threads — CPU thread allocation. More threads means faster analysis, but leave some headroom for the rest of your system. A good starting point is half your CPU’s total thread count.
  • Hash — Memory allocation in MB for the engine’s position hash table. Larger hash tables let the engine remember more positions and avoid recalculating them. 256 MB or more is a reasonable default for modern machines.

Uci_Chess960 is automatically enabled for Chess960 games (those with the header Variant 'Chess960'). Do not enable it manually in the engine settings. Turning it on by hand can break standard chess analysis and produce incorrect evaluations.