Author: Dave Gomboc
Date: 12:18:40 06/01/99
Go up one level in this thread
On June 01, 1999 at 02:54:42, CLiebert wrote:
>THE HIARCS7.32-WINBOARD-REPORT V 1-6-1999
>
>- copy from www.computerschach.de/forum -
>
>One of the most interesting functions of the Fritz5.32/Hiarcs7.32-GUI is the
>support of winboard-engines. Time to make a new summary.
>
>Used Winboard-beta engine: 1-17-99 , 22528 KB,
>used surface: Hiarcs7.32, May 99
>
>A discription how to use the winboard-engine you will find at
>www.chessbase.com.
>A lot of winboard engines and information you will find at
>www.computerschach.de
>www.computerschach.de/forum
>
>
>THESE WB-/AMATEUR-ENGINES ARE WORKING WITH HIARCS 7.32
>(no ranking list)
>
>1 CRAFTY16.06 with TableBases-Support
>by R. Hyatt
>ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt
>
>fritz-engine, on the h7.32-cd or at www.chessbase.com
>wb-engine (16-8) is weaker under fritz (0,5-1,0 ply less depth)
>
>The strongest free-engine for fritz!
>
>2. LITTLE GOLIATH GOLD 2.05
>by Michael Borgstaedt,
>http://www.computerschach.de
>
>The second best problem-solving-engine behind fritz,
>may be even the very best (including the professionals)!
>
>DOWNLOAD NOW AVAILABLE
>
>More details about the lgg-history and latest changes in css 3/99
>
>3. THE CRAZY BISHOP 0043
>Author Rémi Coulom
>www-leibnitz.imag.fr/~coulom
>
>Strong french engine. Sometimes there are problems with LGG,
>which doesn´t unload when tcb is playing in the same tournament?!
>It it is recommend to watch the cpu-allocation with wintop!
>
>Some more details in css 3/99
>
>4. COMET B02
>by U. Tuerke,
>www.chessbase.com
>
>fritz-engine on the hiarcs-cd and at the cb-homepage,
>wb-engine plays weaker under fritz
>
>Some more details in css 3/99
>
>
>5. PHALANX XXI
>Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 Dusan Dobes
>- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/games/strategy/
>- ftp://ftp.math.muni.cz/pub/math/people/Dobes/
>
>6. GROMIT 2.13
>by Frank Schneider
>http://home.t-online.de/home/hobblefrank
>
>Interview with Frank Schneider in css 3/99
>
>7. SSECHESSII 2.02
>by S. Slutzky
>http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/slutzksn/chess.html
>
>
>8. TRISTRAM 4.1.2.
>by James F. Long
>http://home.fda.net/~wzrdking
>
>9. CILIAN 4.13
>www.cent.co.yu/chess
>http://www.computerschach.de
>
>by François Scheurer
>
>works (eng-eng, too) with these settings:
>[Parameter]
>CommandLine = -xboard -mvnw
>Debug = False
>
>[Support]
>AnalyzeMode = False or True
>PonderMode = False (True: Eng-Eng st. doesn t work)
>
>it moves a too fast, f. ex. always after a 0,5-1s in 5m/game.
>St. it refuses unloading.
>
>Changes 4.13, 26th Apr. 1999:
> -little fix in the extension search (bug);
> -little improvement in the extension search;
> -Opennings Book implemented (new).
>
>
>10. OLITHINK 2.2.1
>(c) 1998 Oliver Brausch,
>http://www.phy.uni-bayreuth.de/~btp434/
>
>
>11. ZCHESS 1.2
>by Fank Zibi
>http://www.worldnet.net/~fzibi/zchess.htm
>
>[Support]
>AnalyzeMode = True
>PonderMode = False
>
>
>12.ARASAN 5.x
>www.computerschach.de
>jdart@best.com.
>
>
>13. FORTRESS 1.52
>www.cent.co.yu/chess
>
>no permanent brain (info)
>
>settings:
>
>[Parameter]
>CommandLine = -xboard -mvnow
>Engine = Fortress 1.52
>Author =
>Debug = False
>
>14. ANT 3.61
>by Tom Vijlbrief (tom.vijlbrief@knoware.nl)
>
>AVAILABLE NOW at www.computerschach.de
>(3.61 vs. 3.60: better connection to fritz)
>
>Dutch engine, working with hiarcs/fritz now!
>
>
>15. Bionic Impact 4.01
>http://www.impakt.be/bionic/download
>
>16. Inmichess 2.15
>copyright 1998 by Inmann Werner
>werner.inmann@magnet.at
>http://members.magnet.at/werner.inmann
>
>the second newcomer for fritz!
>
>
>17. LA DAME BLANCHE 2.0c
>by M.-P. Huget
>www.????
>
>It works with:
>[Parameter]
>CommandLine = xb hash 8
>Engine = LaDameBlanche 2.0c
>Author = Marc-Philipe Huget
>Debug = false
>
>[Support]
>AnalyzeMode = True
>PonderMode = True
>CastleAndEP = False
>
>
>18. GNUCHESS
>J. Stanback
>available with winboard
>
>19. EXCHESS 2.51
>Dan Homan
>Fritz-engine on fritz5.32 cd
>Wb-engine available too (see www.chessbase.com)
>
>20. DOCTOR 3.0?
>Dr. H.-J. Kraas + Dr. G. Schrüfer
>Fritz-engine on h7.32 cd
>
>
>REMARKS
>
>Crafty, Comet, Exchess are available in two versions: as winboard-engines (with
>adapter for fritz) and as fritz-engines (like hiarcs or junior). Doctor is the
>only amateurengine with no wb-version (in this list). Some wb-engines are
>playing weaker using the adapter (for ex. Zchess, Crafty, Bionic or Gromit).
>To my mind it doesn t matter. For playing with a maximum of strenght you should
>choose hiarcs, junior or fritz and not one of these engines. The interessing
>point for me is the differnence of style and the challenge to beat engines like
>gromit or zchess (not easy!) on my own. For researching the real elo-perfromance
>(whats this??) you should use the winboard interface!
>
>Together with 5 Fritz-Engines (5.16, 5.32, 4.01, 3.01, 1.2), 2 Junior (4.6,
>5.0), 3 Hiarcs- (7.32, 6.0, 4.0) and the Nimzo-Engine99 we have so far 32
>Engines (minimum - not counting several versions of Crafty, Exchess, Comet,
>etc.). 24 Engines of different authors! And there are still a few more engines
>which are not public yet (f. ex. Patzer).
>
>Programmers who would like to discuss details and problems should email to
>chessbase (see website and the following info). If you find mistakes, if you
>have tips, ideas or tricks to avoid special problems please feel free to email.
>Hope you enjoy these informations...
>
>BEST WISHES
>FROM HAMBURG / GER
>
>CHRISTIAN LIEBERT
>
>
>More infos you will find in CSS 1/99 and CSS 3/99 (german)
>
>
>Technical side of the Winboard Interface (Chessbase)
>
>Dear chess software developer,
>
>Fritz 5.32, Nimzo99, and ChessBase 7.0 support the Winboard interface. If you
>would like to make your engine compatible with those programs, please have a
>look at the below specifications.
>
>Here's what you need:
>
>Mandatory:
>"new" (some programs don't have that, they won't work)
>"edit" - "#" - "c" - "."
>"force"
>"go" - "?"
>"level"
>"quit"
>Special cases:
>- "hard" - "easy" (pondering has to be off; you may ignore it if this is the
>default)
>- "post" (only if this isn't default; you may ignore it if this is the default)
>Additional:
>- "analyze" - "exit" (print an error message like: "Error (unknown command):
>analyze" if you don't have it)
>- "white" - "black" (may be ignored if Tim Mann's way works)
>- "ponder" (new command, only used if activated through initfile)
>- "fritz" (sent once as first command, engine may switch state to be better
>support our interface)
>- "reset" (clear the hashtables, and other chess related information)
>
>If you don't support some of the winboard keywords, please don't implement them
>with a different meaning. Please read Tim Mann's Chess Engine Communication
>Protocol from Jun 12 1998 for further information.
>
>Please note that the Fritz interface has a different logic compared to Winboard.
>Before any computation is started the engine will receive a "new", "edit" (if
>it's a position), "force" (if there are moves), and all moves of the game. Then
>the engine will receive "level n t p" (n=moves left for next time control,
>t=time left for next time control, p=additional time per move). Then "hard",
>"easy" to switch off pondering ("new" may trigger it again, I want to be sure).
>The analysis is started with "go", or "analyze". "?" is used to stop a search if
>necessary. To be sure, "white" or "black" is sent before "go", but you may
>ignore it. If black is to start, the interface also uses Tim Mann's way of
>"new", "a2a3", "edit", furthermore it will always leave "edit" with the colour
>to move.
>You should switch off the logfile (Crafty starts a new logfile with every "new"
>otherwise). You shouldn't implement Winboard commands with different meanings
>(Some engines use "exit" to quit the program, and "?" to show help).
>There is a special command for pondering which was suggested by Crafty. If the
>engine doesn't support this command a suboptimal pondering will be used. A
>standard search will be started in this, so the opponent time may not be fully
>used.
>
>Enhancements:
>1. For coding of mate values please use Steven J. Edwards' proposal in his EPD
>specification. (mate value is 32767; 32767-1 is #1, -32767+2 is -#1, 32767-3 is
>#2, -32767+4 is -#2, etc.)
>2. The first command sent to the engine is "fritz", the second is "xboard".
>3. I introduced a new command "ponder e2e4"; this command is sent instead of
>"go" if the engine should start pondering. The engine should execute the move
>and start pondering on it. If the user plays that move, the move is sent.
>4. There are two new edit commands "castle <castleright>" and "ep <square>";
>castleright is one of the following: +w00, -w00, +w000, -w000, +b00, -b00,
>+b000, -b000; the "+" commands are superfluous since there's only a point in
>disabling a possible castle, but sent anyway. <square> is the targetsquare of
>the ep move, so it's a3..h3 if black to move and a6..h6 if white to move. You
>have to activate this through the init-file.
>5. Please don't clear the hashtables with "new", otherwise the engine may lose
>information. There's a specific command to clear the hashtables and other chess
>related information: "reset", which is used in tactical test suites, not during
>games or analyzing. Please note that current versions of Fritz 5.32 won't send
>this command yet. We will introduce it in the future because some programmers
>critisized that Fritz never actively resets the hash tables by himself and so
>tactical test suites might become indeterministic.
>Shortcomings:
>1. We found no way to set the ep square or the castle flags. So after "edit"
>it's always assumed that all possible castle are legal, and ep is always reset.
>The former may actually cause illegal moves in Fritz (which are detected and
>cause no further problems), but that can't be helped. Luckily these cases are
>rare. And most games will start from the starting position anyway.
>2. Pondering may stop before the opponent made a move and if the ponder command
>is not supported. This won't cause problems, but the thinking time is not used
>optimal. In most cases it doesn't matter.
>3. Some engines may not be suited perfectly to get the whole information with
>every position to search, they where written to work best incrementally. For
>example hashtables may be cleared with "new". Solution: Simply do not clear your
>hashtables when you know you are in Fritz mode (first command was Fritz, see
>above).
>Initfile:
>[Parameter]
>CommandLine = {add command line parameters, if any}
>Author = {insert your name}
>Engine = {the name displayed in Fritz}
>Debug = True/False {if True, a console window with the output of the engine is
>opened}
>
>[Support]
>AnalyzeMode = True/False {if True, engine supports "analyze", i.e. infinite
>mode}
>PonderMode = True/False {if True, engine supports new command "ponder e2e4"}
>CastleAndEP = True/False {if True, engine supports new edit commands castle and
>ep}
>
>
>This is a draft of the interface, comments of chess programmers are very
>welcome.
>
>Mathias Feist
>ChessBase GmbH, 17.12.98
How about making the interface for Fritz/Junior/Hiarcs/etc. public? That would
actually be useful.
Dave
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