Mastering a new processor architecture is never easy for programmers, but it becomes even more of a challenge when you’re concurrently preparing to introduce the latest version of a chess application to compete in the World Computer Chess Championship.

Weeks before the 14th annual tournament, Israel-based developers Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky embarked on a course to tune and optimize their program, Deep Junior, for the next-generation Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5100 series (codenamed Woodcrest). Facing stiff competition from opponents using 4-way and 8-way systems powered by AMD Opteron* processors, the Deep Junior team worked closely with an Intel application engineering unit headed by Pablo Calabrese in the Swindon, England, data center. The team threaded the application for maximum performance, compiled it to exploit the new microarchitecture, and performed tuning and optimization to boost its capacity for analyzing chess board positions during live match play.

The result was a decisive win in the tournament, a tribute to the expertise and dedication of Ban and Bushinsky, complemented by the capabilities of the dual-processor Woodcrest system and outstanding support from the Intel® Software and Solutions group. Intel® Software Development Products—including Intel® compilers, debuggers, and tuning and optimization software—helped increase the capacity for evaluating board positions from 8.2 million positions per second to 9 million positions per second over the course of the engagement.

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