Author: Bob Durrett
Date: 17:41:46 04/05/04
Go up one level in this thread
On April 05, 2004 at 19:36:41, Andrew Wagner wrote: >On April 05, 2004 at 17:14:57, Bob Durrett wrote: > >>On April 05, 2004 at 16:25:04, Mike Taylor wrote: >> >>>On April 05, 2004 at 13:31:55, Bob Durrett wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>>It strikes me that chess software designed specifically to be run on chess >>>>servers and server interface software [such as Blitzin] designed for use on user >>>>computers attached [via internet, etc.] to chess servers have not been discussed >>>>much here at CCC and I wonder why. >>>> >>>>Someone mentioned that some of the familiar interface programs can be used for >>>>that purpose [e.g. to replace Blitzin] and it would be nice to read more about >>>>the technical aspects of that. >>>> >>>>In view of the extensive use of chess servers for running computer chess >>>>tournaments it would seem that the interface issues would get more discussion. >>>> >>>>What am I missing? >>>> >>>>Bob D. >>> >>>Everyone picks the Front-End that works best for them. In my case, I have >>>always used Winboard for Telnet play, as it has every feature I need, including >>>a large adjustable board :) >>> >>>I have Chesspartner and Arena, which are both playable on Telnet, but WB is for >>>me :) >>> >>>I would like to seem upgrades for WB, but it does not look like Tim Mann will >>>ever work on his project ever again. Take a look at all the great GUIs and >>>transpose their best features to Winboard, that would make me happy :) >> >>Sounds good. Maybe another programmer will pick up that baton and run with it! >> >>It would also be nice to hear from someone who is, or has been, involved in >>creation of software designed to run on chess servers. It's like we see only >>one side of the interface, the side of the server's user. What does that >>interface look like from the server side? >> >>Bob D. > > >Hi Bob. > >I've written several programs that connect directly to chess servers. I'm not >sure exactly what you're looking for, but it's all pretty standard winsock >stuff. The server has a thread that sits around and listens for connection >attempts, and once a connection is made, it hits that connection with some kind >of packets in a pre-defined format. For example, >ftp://ftp.chessclub.com/pub/icc/formats/formats.txt has a detailed description >of the ICC protocol. The FICS stream is a LOT less organized. I've never written >a bot for that, nor would I particularly care to, since most of the time would >be spent doing annoying parsing. But at any rate, whatever else you'd like to >know about it I can probably tell you or figure out. Andrew I went through the reference [It gave me a headache!] and can see that it would be very useful to someone writing a program to connect directly to an ICC chess server. Presumably, this is common knowledge among those here who write such programs. I would hazard a guess that Crafty may have a built-in interface to ICC which uses the information of the reference. My impression is that the copy of Blitzin I have on my computer has a lot more in it than what is suggested by the reference. Although it has been a long time since I have played any games on any chess server [!!], I use ICC daily to watch games of others and to review recorded games. In my case, I do not have any use for "premove" nor for using my Chess-playing programs to help me select my moves [since I do not make any moves] but I'm sure that the ICC server operators are concerned about the possibility of such things happening. Incidentally, such things would make no sense, presumably, for computer vs computer tournaments. The people who design and operate chess servers probably have a lot to "worry about" and keep them busy above and beyond what likely would be discussed in this forum. In fact, I don't recall reading anything here written by such individuals insofar as I could tell. Thanks for the data. I hope it will stimulate any new chess programmers who may not yet have run their chess programs on a chess server. However, the fact that there are ongoing computer vs computer chess tournaments suggests that most are already "up-to-speed" on interfacing their programs with chess servers. Otherwise they are not playing in the tournaments. Thanks again, Bob D.
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