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Subject: Re: The key to improving a program

Author: Volker Böhm

Date: 08:52:31 05/26/04

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The following helps and are not mentioned allready:

1. add a flag or a compiler option to remove any pruing or extending code from
your search. The result should be a perft command! I think it is very powerful
to be able to check the real movegen and search with this test.

2. WAC Test-Positions. Very simple position. If you can´t find the result you
have a bug or other problems (ca. 10 positions need eval, all others should be
found without eval very fast).

3. Build a standard tournament with about 8 engines with littel more strength an
2 engines of much lower strength. Play 200 games (20 against each engine) after
each relevant change. Allways use the same 200 opening position (example to
depth 10), disable book. Compare the results to older tests.

4. Build a functionality to debug your search tree. I think a simple log-file is
not a good soloution. I suggest to add code whitch is able to "follow" a given
variant. And dont forget to print the node count at every position so you can
add a break point if this node count is reached.

5. Look at the node count if you change eval. Most eval changes that increases
node count in a bunch of good test positions will have bugs. I am not really
able to explain but in most cases this holds true.

Greetings Volker



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