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Subject: Why dont engines support the egtb format that Chessmaster uses?

Author: Jason Kent

Date: 10:56:25 04/01/04


I just read this in the FEG.txt that i got off the chessmaster website.

XVI. WHY THE FEG FORMAT? ================================================

Perhaps, after reading all of this, you are wondering why Chessmaster
9000 does not use either of the more commonly used EGDB formats, namely
those created by Eugene Nalimov or Ken Thompson (both of which bear the
names of their creators). There are many reasons for this:

1. FEG data is about 20% smaller. Additionally, half-sets can be used if
   hard drive space is an issue, making a "full useable" file set that is
   almost 1/3 the size of the complete Nalimov file set.
2. FEG generation is much faster and doesn't need a huge amount of free
   RAM to create a set of files.
3. FEG can do any 6-man files on a 32-bit platform.
4. The Thompson format is not a complete set (especially pawns on both
   sides are lacking).
5. The Thompson format stores DTC (Distance to Conversion) values,
   meaning that it stores the number of moves to either mate OR to a
   capture/promotion, and will play whichever move has the smallest
   winning value. This can result in silly moves (a capture that leads to
   a mate in eight moves instead of a non-capture that leads to mate in
   three moves).
6. Since Chessmaster 9000 is a mass market product, the majority of its
   users are not aware of these other formats and how to get them. Also
   for the ease of development it is easier not to be dependent on
   technical support for data that was created using tools that were not
   developed by Ubi Soft.



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