Many people have never heard of John Funderburg...and that includes most of the HPC community. John's claim to fame lies in his authoring of what is arguably the best chess game ever designed for the HPC. That game is titled PalmChess! Oh, now you recognize something, eh? I doubt there is any HPC user who hasn't played with PalmChess, at least once.



PalmChess is a feature packed chess game written specifically for the HPC. When it was first released, it was the only program for Windows CE to support portable game notation (PGN). PGN is a standard file format for writing chess games, which means you can save games in PalmChess and then open them in your favorite desktop chess program. PalmChess can also read PGN files. There are literally thousands of games available on the internet that you can download and view in PalmChess!

With PalmChess, you can go head to head with the computer or match wits with a friend. Or just sit back and watch the computer play itself. Got into trouble? No problem. Tap a button and instantly switch sides with your opponent! If you need a little help you can ask PalmChess to give you a hint, or simply tell it to make a move for you. And if you're feeling really devious, go into Set Up mode and add a few more pieces to your side!

John Ottini wrote a nice review of it for HPCFactor a few years back that you can read about HERE.

One really nice feature of PalmChess is that John Funderburg wrote two different versions of the same game. The one you see above for HVGA screens that we use on our HPCs, and another made for SVGA HPC screens such as the Mobilepro 880 or Jornada 820. It looks kind of funny on my Mobilepro 900 as shown below...



But it looks really fantastic on my CE6 Netbook, filling up the entire 10" screen!

Synctel is no longer around. But John Funderburg still is for those who are savvy enough to locate him. I did just that. No easy task I assure you. Nonetheless, I wrote to John and he told me that PalmChess was the only application he wrote for the HPC. Still, if you only write one, why not write one so great that it will forever immortalize you as an author.

John did one other thing just as important to the average HPC user. He did that just this week. He has given us permission into release PalmChess to the public domain. That means you now get it free! You can download either version in the HPCFactor download center. Please understand that this software is offered without support from Synctel or the author.

The registration code is: ScEA-RgFK-mfLm-dCbF

Our sincere thanks to John Funderburg for his generosity! It is only through him and others like him that we continue to save and offer these older legacy programs for the world's HPC enthusiasts.

View: HPC:Factor Download Center