Penguin is a PGN viewer / reader / editor and desktop board software for the review and analysis of games of Chess.

It is a freeware program for Windows, and can be downloaded from this web page.

Penguin can interface with UCI chess engines to analyse game positions. It also contains a database of opening positions from the world's premier tournaments to enable you to explore the most popular lines of opening play.

Use Penguin to

• Store and replay your games and the games of the professionals.
• Launch a quick chess board from your desktop.
• Analyse game positions with the help of a UCI game engine and identify the best sequence of moves.
• Guide you along the best lines of opening play, lines favoured by the top professionals of today.

My objective was to create a compact, non-commercial product that could stand alongside the existing editors and offer some original functionality. I hope that you will find it an enjoyable and useful product and that it will help you improve your skill at Chess.

Gorrion Game Server. Gorrion is my online game playing site. Chess is one of the games supported. Please do try. [ gorrion ]

November 2025. Some users with Windows 11 are having problems running the program and get an error message that mentions a bad CTL3D32.DLL file. If you get this please read the solution further down.

June 2021. Version 17.3 of Penguin was released.

Penguin is available in two download versions: standard and portable. Standard continues the line of releases that have been available so far. The portable version is for users who need to keep Penguin on a USB drive or other portable device.

Standard Version.  The download is one executable installation program file. To download the file hit the link below. Run the installation program and follow the on-screen prompts. The installation program unpacks all the Penguin files that are needed. Please read the ReadMe and Licence files that are included.

Download Penguin v17.3

Portable Version.  The download is a compressed archive of all the files you will need. Unzip the archive and store the contents in a directory on your device. Please read the information in the CHM document about the portable version.

Download Penguin v17.3 ( portable )

Under Windows 11 you might get an error message that says that CTL3D32.DLL is not correct or cannot be found.

For many years CTL3D32.DLL has been a Windows system file. But a recent update for Windows 11 removed this DLL. Microsoft announced some time ago that this file would be deprecated. Now Windows 11 will display a 'missing CTL3D32.DLL' whenever you try to run an application that relies on this DLL.

The DLL will need to be restored, back into directory C:\Windows\SysWOW64. A copy of the DLL might possibly be found in a directory of the form C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft-windows-ctl3d32_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. If it is there ( or somewhere else in the C:\Windows subdirectories ) copy it to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and see if that works. If that doesn't work then you might need a different CTL3D32.DLL file. You will need to search and find one online. If that one still doesn't work contact me and I will try to help.

Heroes 5 Widescreen - Fix Best

Without a doubt, the most effective and easiest way to get proper widescreen support in Heroes V is to update your game to the latest version of the Tribes of the East expansion. Unlike the base game or Hammers of Fate, which would only stretch the image to fill a wide display, this expansion received an official patch that included native widescreen support and a user interface adapted to your monitor's aspect ratio without stretching. The "v3.1" patch is the singular most important step you can take for a seamless, official fix.

While often used for newer games, the Flawless Widescreen tool can sometimes assist with FOV and resolution issues in older titles. Unofficial Patches

expansion do not natively support widescreen resolutions (resulting in a "squished" or stretched look), Tribes of the East (v3.1) includes native widescreen support. 1. The "All-in-One" Mod (Recommended)

: You get the improved engine features—including native 1920x1080 support, improved AI, and bug fixes—while playing the original story. Availability heroes 5 widescreen fix best

Heroes of Might and Magic V (Heroes 5) remains a masterpiece of turn-based strategy, but playing it on a modern 1080p, 1440p, or 4K monitor can be frustrating. Released in 2006, the base game lacks native support for modern aspect ratios, resulting in a stretched User Interface (UI), distorted graphics, or ugly black bars.

The "best" approach depends on your system configuration, the game's version, and your monitor's specifications. Here are some tips:

The mod was created to rebalance the game, but its engine overhaul includes a flawless widescreen/ultrawide implementation. It doesn't just stretch the image—it recalculates the UI, the 3D battle camera, and the adventure map viewport. Without a doubt, the most effective and easiest

The gaming community often creates fixes and mods for older games to make them compatible with modern hardware and resolutions.

: It introduces a complete remaster of the game with enhanced AI, larger battlefields, new heroes, and HD textures.

Start the game, select your desired widescreen resolution (e.g., ), and enter a map. While often used for newer games, the Flawless

The "best" widescreen fix for Heroes of Might and Magic V depends on whether you are playing the base game or its expansions. While the original game often stretches the image in widescreen resolutions, making characters look "squished", several modern solutions can provide a true widescreen experience.

Save the file and set it to (Right-click file -> Properties -> Check "Read-only") so the game does not overwrite your changes. Method 3: Fixing the Original Base Game & Hammers of Fate

Penguin can interface with chess engines that support the Universal Chess Interface ( UCI ) protocol.

Chess engines are stand alone executables that form the computational core of a chess playing program. They can analyse game positions and suggest best moves. If an engine supports multi best line analysis then the relative strengths of different moves can also be obtained.

64 Bit Engines.  Many chess engines come in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, but only 64-bit engines will work on a 64-bit computer.

No UCI engine comes packaged with Penguin. Users will need to download their own. There are many UCI engines available for download and most will require no special configuration or setup. Penguin is not a chess playing tool ( i.e. human vs. computer ) but a tool for game analysis, so not all engines will be suitable for use with Penguin.

The following UCI chess engines ( all 32-bit ) work well and require no configuration. Try these first.

• Critter 1.2
• Fruit 2.3.1
• Gambit Fruit 1.0 Beta 4bx
• Houdini 1.5a w32
• Rybka 2.3.2a mp 32-bit
• Stockfish 2.1.1 JA
• Toga II 2.0 SE

Hnefatafl,  Tawlbwrdd,  Tablut,  Brandubh.

I have been able to adapt the Penguin program and create a version of that software for the games of Hnefatafl, Tawlbwrdd, Tablut, Brandubh.  Download it from my web page.

[ heron.html ]

[ Rules for Tablut and the other games ]

A companion game editor, GoRilla, is available for the games of Connect6, Go, Havannah, Hex, Kropki, Othello ( Reversi ), Pente, Unlur.  Download it from my web page.

[ gorilla.html ]

Gorrion is my online game playing site.  In addition to Chess it also supports games of Backgammon, Brandubh, Breakthrough, Go, Havannah, Hawalis, Hex, Hnefatafl, JadeJack, Kauri, Margo, Merels, Onyx, Othello ( Reversi ), Pente, Tablut, Tawlbwrdd, Toguz Kumalak, Unlur, Y.  Please do try.

[ http://www.dashstofsk.net/gorrion.php ]

You may contact me at [ ].

Please put forward any comments and suggestions you may have. If you experience something you think might be a bug then do let me know. Likewise if there is some feature or enhancement that you feel would make a nice improvement. All opinions will be welcomed.

Your Valued Support. If this program is useful to you please take a moment to make a donation. Penguin cost me a lot of time and personal effort and your donation will help keep my interest alive in this project and will fund further development.