Author: Hermano Ecuadoriano
Date: 11:06:20 01/09/01
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On January 08, 2001 at 10:16:16, Vincent Diepeveen wrote: snip >I mean posts like: "clearing hashtable" that's bullshit. snip from the Xboard/Winboard protocol at http://www.research.compaq.com/SRC/personal/mann/xboard/engine-intf.html Begin snip from protocol ChessBase/Fritz now implements the xboard/winboard protocol and can use WinBoard-compatible engines in its GUI. ChessBase's version of the protocol is generally the same as version 1, except that they have added the commands fritz, reset, and ponder, and the edit subcommands castle and ep. snip [BOLD on for your edification] IF YOU WANT YOUR ENGINE TO WORK WELL WITH THE CHESSBASE/FRITZ GUI, YOU MAY NEED TO IMPLEMENT THESE ADDITIONAL COMMANDS, AND YOU SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE OF THE PECULIAR WAY THAT CHESSBASE USES THE PROTOCOL. [BOLD off] snip End snip from protocol You already know that they invented the "fritz" command to inform the engine that it is playing under the CB GUI. (Good. This is like the "xboard" flag. It is necessary that the programmer conform to the GUI, if he wants to play there.) It needs to be told, partly because of the following, "reset", command. Now I will tell you why they invented the "reset" command. Programmers have been setting up new hashtables and doing other initialization at the start of every game. That makes sense. And the command was "new". Strictly speaking, the protocol did not REQUIRE the hashtable clearing and initialization. It, properly, did not presume to tell the programmer how to start a new game. Chessbase's new command "reset" DOES specify that the hashtables be cleared. They then use "new" to send each new move. Which programmers clear their hashtables at the beginning of a new game? Here's one, Gandalf's author, Steen Suurballe: http://www.icdchess.com/forums/1/message.shtml?148947 If you read that, you will see how devastating it would be to its performance in zero increment or small increment games especially. I started the thread to ask the question, whether or not it is the case that the Shredder GUI is now doing what Chessbase initially did. It is a reasonable, interesting, relevant, and topical question.
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