FW Editor: Aurora Borealis received numerous rewards and positive reviews from software websites and magazines from all over the world. What is the secret in creating such a popular application?
Alexander Svirin: Staying tuned with users needs - that's the best way to create a popular application, I believe. Those who use the application know the things better and their desires are not something to reject.

FW Editor: Can you tell us a few words about yourself as well? Which is your source of inspiration in developing new applications?
Alexander Svirin: I'm very keen on music and movies. Trying to write songs and shoot films. Aurora is the only application I created, so there is no need for inspiration in developing new applications. But anyway, as they say, music helps us to live.

FW Editor: Aurora Borealis comes with a Professional package which includes several additional features. Can you tell us a few things about these extra features?
Alexander Svirin: The most important things are endgame databases. Full databases containing all positions with 10 draughts or less in 3.0 version are as large as 400 GB. These databases are the largest in the world at this time and help a lot in middle-game and endgame analysis.

FW Editor: Aurora Borealis Professional incorporates a challenging AI. It is possible to select a certain difficulty level? How AI will react in various games situations? Can he adapt based on user's decisions
Alexander Svirin: Yes, it is possible to select a level. The program can be used both by amateur and top-level players. In the newest 3.0 version AI can adapt using self-teaching option, but it works better with stronger opponents (i.e. opponent has to win for better results). However, AI can learn for example using complex positions from books.

FW Editor: From graphical point of view, Aurora Borealis comes with a simple 2D graphical engine. Many people are used nowadays with a complex 3D graphics for almost any application. Do you have any plans to upgrade Aurora Borealis's graphical engine?
Alexander Svirin: Sure, I have such plans. Aurora Borealis was created as a tool for draughts professionals, so appearanse was not the most important thing, I tried to make all efforts to create a useful and powerfool tool first. But the time to work on graphics has come so I'm planning to improve the graphical engine in the near future.

FW Editor: There are several possibilities to receive a Aurora Borealis Professional key for free. Can you tell us a few things about this program?
Alexander Svirin: First of all, Aurora Borealis can be received for free with TrialPay - you choose and pay for goods or service available for your area and get a registration key for free as a bonus. Sometimes there are announced competitions on draughts-related websites where one can win Aurora as a prize.