Beating up on Stockfish

 Improving your game by beating up chess programs is a lot harder these days than when I used to do it in the 1980's. Most engines these days are used for analysis, which means they are usually set for the hardest level, rather than the easiest when up and running. 

While I still recommended using an engine to improve your play, I did wonder if finding such an engine (with playable strength levels) was becoming impossible. It turns out that there still a few around, and as a bonus, they are accessible online.

lichess.org has a version of Stockfish which can be set to play at specific levels. The easiest level is estimated to be rated around 800, and each new level adds 300 rating points to the strength. For new players the first 3 levels should provide enough practice to learn not to 'hang' pieces, especially if the 1400 version produces the following games! (The Black Queen was trapped on move 6)

1. e4 e6 2. d4 { C00 French Defense: Normal Variation } Qh4 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd3 Qf6 5. Nf3 Ne7 6. e5 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Qxf3 8. Qxf3 O-O 9. O-O Rd8 10. Qe4 h6 11. Qh7+ Kf8 12. Qh8+ Ng8 13. Bh7 Nc6 14. Qxg8+ Ke7 15. Qxg7 a6 16. Bxh6 b5 17. Bg5+ Ke8 18. Qg8# { White wins by checkmate. } 1-0