Author: KarinsDad
Date: 08:24:35 08/24/99
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On August 24, 1999 at 10:37:12, Pete Galati wrote: >On August 24, 1999 at 10:23:02, Guido wrote: > >>Why in the FEN format is it necessary to write the number of empty >>square till the end of each rank and eventually to the end of the board? >> >>Example: 2K5/2P5/8/6k1/3P4/8/3r2N1/8 w .... >>Why not so: 2K/2P//6k/3P//3r2N w .... >> >>It seems equally readable by humans, very easy to implement in the >>programs without losing compatibility with the current format and >>saves some bytes. >> >>Guido > >Partly I'm sure because it's intended for a computer to read, so with the part >you mention that goes 2K5/ you have the 2 empty squares, the K, 5 more empty >squares, and the end of that rank. So everything is accounted for. His system would work just as well for a computer. The two main advantages of the FEN system over his is that it is easier to read for humans and there is a slight check for accuaracy in FEN. If you had 2K6, then a program knows there is a mistake which if you really wanted 1K6, would not get caught with just a system that read 2K. Of course, FEN cannot fix the problem, but it can catch it. The main advantage of his system is that it would save space. For that matter, FEN could have been written: 2K52P586k13P483r2N18w or even 2K7P19k4P15r2N9w which in most cases would be even smaller than what Guido proposed, but then it would not have been as readable to humans. KarinsDad :) > >But if you want to write a program with a new position notation system, I'm sure >it's not too hard to do it your way, you might be the only one using it for a >while though. > >Pete
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