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Subject: Re: CM8000 - the signs of scores are confused

Author: William Penn

Date: 05:45:40 12/13/00

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On December 12, 2000 at 16:25:13, John Merlino wrote:

>On December 12, 2000 at 00:06:23, William Penn wrote:
>
>>On December 11, 2000 at 16:06:07, John Merlino wrote:
>>
>>>On December 11, 2000 at 14:52:28, William Penn wrote:
>>>
>>>>The signs of scores are confused in CM8000.  Previously it was confirmed there
>>>>is a problem with omitting the minus sign when the score number is in the range
>>>>of -0.01 to -0.99.  Now, here is an example of the signs being wrong when the
>>>>score number is larger than 1.00.
>>>>
>>>>BR  --  --  BQ  BK  --  BN  BR
>>>>--  BP  BP  BB  --  --  --  --
>>>>--  BB  --  --  BP  BP  --  BP
>>>>BP  WP  --  BP  WP  --  BP  --
>>>>WP  --  --  WP  --  --  --  WN
>>>>--  WN  WP  WB  --  --  --  WP
>>>>--  --  --  --  --  WP  WP  --
>>>>WR  --  WB  WQ  WR  --  WK  --
>>>>
>>>>White: a custom personality   Black: human   Black to move
>>>>
>>>>if Chessmaster box checked in Thinking Lines window
>>>>Time  Depth Score Positions Moves
>>>>0:07  7     5.25  210887    h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Qc2
>>>>0:27  8     5.01  716123    h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Qd2
>>>>1:11  9     5.46  2169809   h5 Ng6 Rh6 Bxg5 fxg5 Qf3 Bxb5 Bxb5+ ...
>>>>3:46  10    5.71  7208736   h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 h4 ...
>>>>21:56 11    6.15  42116395  h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Nf3 ...
>>>>
>>>>if White box checked in Thinking Lines window
>>>>Time  Depth Score Positions Moves
>>>>0:04  7     -5.25  210887    h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Qc2
>>>>0:13  8     -5.01  716123    h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Qd2
>>>>0:35  9     -5.46  2169809   h5 Ng6 Rh6 Bxg5 fxg5 Qf3 Bxb5 Bxb5+ ...
>>>>1:52  10    -5.71  7208736   h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 h4 ...
>>>>10:49 11    -6.15  42116395  h5 Ng6 Rh7 exf6 Qxf6 Ne5 Rh6 Nf3 ...
>>>>
>>>>Everything is the same in these two charts except the signs of the scores and
>>>>the times. That's because the custom personality is identical to Chessmaster,
>>>>just with a different name.  The first chart takes twice as much time because
>>>>another engine was running in the background, unknown to me (inadvertently, i.e.
>>>>that's another major problem with CM8000!?).
>>>>
>>>>Although it would be possible to define a special protocol to make these results
>>>>acceptable, that would complicate things unnecessarily, and will cause mass
>>>>confusion because it departs from what almost everyone expects.  Again, the
>>>>standard protocol is that the score is positive when white has an advantage, and
>>>>is negative when black has an advantage -- independent of who has the move.  It
>>>>should also be independent of which box(es) is checked in the Thinking Lines
>>>>window!
>>>>
>>>>Obviously white is winning in this position, so the signs of the scores should
>>>>be positive in all cases.
>>>>WP
>>>
>>>I cannot duplicate this. How are you setting up a position with Black to move,
>>>and then clicking on the White checkbox and getting output? The White engine
>>>should not start thinking (in this instance) until it is its turn to move? Could
>>>you give the full move list that arrived at this position?
>>>
>>>Also, it should be noted that the bug involving negative scores less than -1.00
>>>has been found and fixed. Thanks again for your assitance,
>>>
>>>jm
>>
>>The move sequence leading to the above position is:
>>1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 Bb4+ 5.c3 Ba5 6.Bd3 Bd7 7.0-0 h6 8.b4 Bb6 9.a4 a5
>>10.b5 Nce7 11.Nbd2 Nf5 12.Nb3 g5 13.h3 f6 14.Re1 Nh4 15.Nxh4
>>You can enter the moves as human vs. human, then change the white player to a
>>custom personality via Ctrl-G. I used Chessmaster#0, just a different name for
>>Chessmaster, but it's treated as a custom player. Then check the white box and
>>the analysis begins. Actually it begins as soon as you change the player to a
>>custom personality, but you must check the white box to see it. To initialize
>>things, I usually save the game to the hard drive then reload it, which seems to
>>kill any other engines that might be running in the background, etc.
>>
>>Checking the white or black box always shows an active evaluation in progress in
>>the Thinking Lines window if one of the players is a custom personality. That's
>>as it should be. I like it that way! When fixing this problem, I hope you don't
>>kill that kind of versatility!?  The only problem (apparently) is that the signs
>>of the scores are wrong.
>>
>>I'm glad to hear that the -0.01 to -0.99 problem was fixed. Just one little baby
>>step at a time, as Bill Murray said...  :)
>>WP
>
>The problem has been found and fixed. It would only occur with infinite time
>controls, because engines are put into analyze mode in that time control,
>causing their scores to report differently than if they think they are actually
>playing one of the sides in the game.
>
>Thanks again for the examples and the detailed descriptions,
>
>jm

That's good to know.  Thanks for the feedback.  It sounds like the patch will do
a lot, and my only suggestion would be not to rush it.
WP



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