Author: Adam Oellermann
Date: 08:00:46 09/06/01
Go up one level in this thread
On September 05, 2001 at 22:56:07, Christophe Theron wrote: >On September 05, 2001 at 12:33:11, Adam Oellermann wrote: > >>On September 05, 2001 at 11:35:26, Edward Seid wrote: >> >>>A newbie question, so thanks for your patience. >>> >>>I'm thinking about programming a simple chessplaying program to NOT play on a >>>chess server, but to play thru a web interface. I was wondering which language >>>would be most appropriate for such interactivity. The first that came to mind >>>was Java or Javascript. But since I'm new to programming in general, something >>>more Englishlike, like VB, would be desirable. >>> >>>The chessplaying program would be a much simplified version of real chess, based >>>on the "pawn game" as described in Vol 1 of Lev Alburt's Comprehensive Chess >>>Course. No pieces, no 50 move rule, no 3 time repetition, no complicated pawn >>>promotions... about the most complicated thing would be en passant. I think >>>that this game is completely solvable given the power of today's PCs and it >>>would be interesting to know the truth. I chose this project to complement my >>>other chess education project, which should be up some time in 2002...the Hawaii >>>Chess Project. >>> >>>Comments are greatly appreciated. Since I'm totally new to programming, if some >>>ambitious person wants to take on this project, that would be cool. >>>Unfortunately, the pay is ZERO, just like mine, but you would have the >>>satisfaction of knowing the ultimate truth of chess, or at least the game >>>without pieces :) >>> >>>Thanks in advance for your feedback. >>> >>>Ed Seid >>>Hawaii Chess Project (coming soon) >> >>[D] 8/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/8 w - - 0 1 >> >>Blikskottel plays e4 after a brief 8-ply search. The NPS rate is just about >>double that of the starting position in regular chess. I'm sure the efficient >>engines (particularly where the hash tables aren't broken) will rip through the >>plys much faster. >> >>- Adam > > > >Most chess engines will reject the position because there are no kings. > >Even if I got rid of the "no king" test in Chess Tiger, my algorithms would >crash because I always assume each side has at least one piece, a king. And if >there are no kings, I prefer to not think about the resulting nightmare: >infinite loops, index out of range, the eval always returning checkmate, or >stalemate... :( > >I'm pretty sure many chess programs will have the same problem. > > > Christophe As I indicated, my engine (Blikskottel) is too stupid to suffer these problems, and managed OK. The result is rather meaningless, though, because it's still using the standard-chess eval (maybe the centre isn't such a big deal in the pawn game), and it also thinks it can promote pawns, which it can't. Still, there you have it... e4, certainly the strangest test position I've ever run. - Adam
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