Don Dailey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Don Dailey
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Dailey (right) in 1992
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| Born | March 10, 1956 Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.
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| Died | November 22, 2013 (aged 57) Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
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| Occupation | Game programmer |
Don Dailey (March 10, 1956 – November 22, 2013) was an American computer expert. He was a special kind of game programmer who focused on making computers play chess. He worked with a partner named Larry Kaufman. Together, they created a very strong chess engine called Komodo.
Don started making chess programs in the 1980s. He wrote or helped write many chess programs for both companies and schools. He was also active in online groups where people talked about computer chess and even computer Go (another strategy game). In October 2013, Don announced a new version of Komodo, Komodo 6. Sadly, he also shared that he was very sick with a serious illness called leukemia. He introduced Mark Lefler as a new member of the Komodo team to continue their work. Don sadly passed away from this illness at age 57 on November 22, 2013.
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Don Dailey's First Chess Program: Rex
Rex was Don Dailey's very first chess program. He created it in the 1980s with Sam Sloan and Larry Kaufman. Rex competed in big computer chess tournaments, like the North American Computer Chess Championships and World Computer Chess Championships. Later, Rex was made even better and sold as RexChess.
Working with Heuristic Software
In the early 1990s, Don started working with a chess master and computer programmer named Julio Kaplan. They worked together at Kaplan's company, Heuristic Software. The chess program they developed was called Heuristic Alpha. This program later grew into other famous chess programs like Socrates, Socrates II, and a popular game called Kasparov's Gambit.
Don's Connection with MIT
At a computer chess tournament in 1993, Don's program Socrates II won! It even beat a powerful computer program called Cray Blitz. At this event, Don met Bradley Kuszmaul and Charles Leiserson from MIT. They were impressed and asked him to help them create a new, super-fast chess program.
Later, when Heuristic Software closed, Don started working part-time at MIT with Charles Leiserson. They worked on a new program called Star Socrates. This program was designed to use many computers at once to play chess. Star Socrates played very well at the 1995 World Computer Chess Championship in Shatin, Hong Kong. It almost won, but lost in a close match to Fritz. Don continued to work with Charles Leiserson on another powerful chess program called Cilkchess.
Corel Chess and Mini
During the 1990s, Don Dailey also continued to work with Larry Kaufman. They created a chess program for everyone to buy called Corel Chess. Besides Cilkchess, Don and Larry also had another chess program called Mini. Mini competed in the World Computer Chess Championship in 1999 in Paderborn.
Doch and the Famous Komodo
After taking a break from computer chess for a few years, Don returned in 2009. He created a new chess program called Doch. This program, and its improved version Komodo, were once again a team effort with Larry Kaufman.
In Fall 2013, a special test version of Komodo won an important stage of the Thoresen Chess Engines Competition. Even after Don's passing, Komodo went on to win the final match against another strong program called Stockfish. The final version of Stockfish in that match was even named Stockfish DD, which stood for Don Dailey, to honor him. Komodo-TCEC, the commercial version, was released a few days later.
