Author: John Merlino
Date: 16:56:29 11/29/00
Go up one level in this thread
On November 29, 2000 at 18:58:13, William Penn wrote: >CM8000- Thinking Lines window > >There is no detailed explanation of the Thinking Lines window in the CM8000 >documentation. At first glance I thought I understood it, but apparently not. >What is the purpose of having three different boxes to check in the Thinking >Lines window (white, black, and Chessmaster)? Exactly what does each box do? > >The Thinking Lines window acts strangely when using a defined personality with >black to move, either a personality which I define or some of the predefined >personalities. For example with a 11 ply calculation it showed the following: > >time ply score positions moves >2:23 11 0.07 3004826 e5 dxe5... >2:45 11 0.15 3929873 Re8 Bc4... > >The above calculation appears to be in the wrong direction. It should be trying >to find smaller scores, not larger scores, when black is on the move!? That's >with the black box checked. If I check the Chessmaster box for the same >position, it calculates correctly. Or if I use the Chessmaster personality and >check the black box, it also calculates correctly. But my custom defined >personalities and some of the predefined personalities (such as Kasparov) won't >work right with black to move. > >I must qualify the above paragraph... It was working OK at first, then it >stopped for unknown reasons, and I am unable to get it working correctly again. >I've tried system resets, redefining my custom personality in various ways, etc. > I can't figure out what is going on here. Yes, I have the CM8000 CD in the >drive... > >Maybe I just don't understand what's happening with the Thinking Lines window, >and would greatly appreciate some clarification from someone who really >understands it! >Thanks, >WP To answer your questions: -- Each checkbox allows you to toggle whether or not you want to see that engine's current thinking output. Therefore you can see White AND Black at the same time if you check both boxes. There is also a third box that lets you see the "Mentor" engine. This engine has several functions: advice, analysis, solve for mate, etc. When any of those functions are running, having this checkbox selected will allow you to see the appropriate output from that engine (which is always The King with the Chessmaster personality, by the way). If NONE of these functions are running, AND the Chessmaster personality is not one of the players in the current game, checking this box will allow you to see Chessmaster's opinion of the current position. -- Your example of the thinking output "going in the wrong direction" is explainable. Basically, (in your example) e5 was given a score of 0.07. After FURTHER searching, The King discovered that e5 actually had a worse score than Re8's 0.15. Therefore, Re8 became the chosen move. You are not told what e5's NEW score is, but this is what happened. -- Human-defined personalities will score positions differently from Chessmaster, obviously, because of their different personality settings. When you have the White checkbox checked, you are seeing White's opinion of the position, NOT Chessmaster's (unless Chessmaster is playing White, of course). Therefore, using a personality such as Logan (who is strong but has a very low contempt for draw) can produce very odd thinking output, because one or more of the settings are quite a long way from the "ideal" settings used for the Chessmaster personality. I hope that answered your questions. If not, let me know.... jm
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