I think the price should be such that it makes the effort worthwhile, but doesn't put people in the poorhouse.

I am not sure what the market will bear, but I think $50 for about a combined 500 hours of effort to produce and test the program should be about right.

I have given some thought to making different flavors available. For example, a free version would still give most people a battle, but if we limit it to 9 plies of search, we can be assured that it will not destroy the game playing population on here if some evil people were turning it loose on others.

Maybe the $50 version would have some additional features, like maybe 11 plies of search (maximum) and a larger opening book.

A higher end version might also have endgame databases, like those dreadful Rook and Pawn endings or Queen vs. Archbishop (now that would be cool.)

The problem is, how can we be sure that releasing a program will not kill the fun of playing online, yet at the same time give people some cool features (a strong playing partner and a worthy opponent) ?

This is the debate.