Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 11:52:39 12/02/98
Go up one level in this thread
On December 01, 1998 at 15:02:48, John Merlino wrote:
>On November 30, 1998 at 02:03:43, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On November 30, 1998 at 00:16:47, Reynolds Takata wrote:
>>
>>>I attempted to play CM3000(in micro chess layout) against CM4000, CM5500, and
>>>CM6000. CM3000 was actually winning about 30% of the games! I expected that it
>>>wouldn't win any, as i have found CM3000 positionally weak, though the tactics
>>>aren't too bad. These games were on one comp running both progs, how much
>>>effect should this have?
>>
>>If you play programs on one computer, you should disable thinking on opponent's
>>time on both, or else the result means nothing.
>>
>>
>> Christophe
>
>The main problem is verifying that both engines are getting equal CPU time.
>Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely because Chessmaster 3000 is a DOS
>application and 4000 and 5500 are Windows applications. Due to the way Windows
>switches back and forth between DOS applications, it is very unlikely that both
>programs are getting relatively equal time to think, regardless of whether you
>have both engines thinking during their opponent's time.
>Windows tends to give a higher priority to DOS applications, which accounts for
>CM3000's unexpectedly high win percentage.
>Turning off "deep thinking" will not make a difference as far as CPU time goes,
>because Windows switches back and forth between apps very quickly. What it WILL
>do, however, is make the engines play worse overall. And, I imagine that this is
>unintended.
>
>jm
You can play a DOS program against a Windows program giving equal chances to
both programs. You can also play 2 DOS programs.
It will work with most programs except some bad behaviour Windows programs.
The MAIN thing is to disable permanent brain (or deep thinking, or thinking on
opponent's time) in BOTH programs.
Then just set up the properties of your DOS box to:
* Run the DOS program full screen and switch between the programs with Alt-Tab
* Give the DOS box maximum CPU time when it has the focus (sensitivity slider
all the way to the left).
* Give the DOS box NO CPU time when it is in the background (always suspend when
in the background).
When you use these settings, Windows will give 97% CPU time to the program that
gets the focus, and will not switch back and forth between apps as you say. You
should of course close any other program.
However this does not work with some bad written Windows programs. For example
Genius5 will steal 30% of CPU time to the DOS program. To solve this, use the
DOS version of Genius5 and use the settings described for a DOS box.
Before doing a match, you should ensure that no program runs slower. Use a test
position at a given depth, and run the program on this position:
1) when it is alone in the system
2) when the other program is open in the background
If you follow these rules, you can play fair matches manually using only one
computer. I do this very often, and believe me I am much concerned about
fairness, as I use these matches to decide if Chess Tiger plays better or not.
Christophe
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