Winboard Forum

Hello!

I've recently discovered chess engines capable of playing chess variants with custom pieces, and downloaded them along with Winboard. I'm using Winboard 4.9.1 along with Fairy-Max 5.0b3.
I tried to configure a custom chess variant, but I've encountered some trouble.

Following is the code I entered at the end of the fmax.ini text file:

Code: Select all

//My variant 1
Game: my_game_1 # nocastle # PNVR..AKpnvr..ak
9x8
3 4 5 6 7 6 5 4 3
3 4 5 6 7 6 5 4 3
p:100 -16,7
p:100 16,7
R:450 1,3 16,3 -1,3 -16,3
n:300 14,7 31,7 33,7 18,7 -14,7 -31,7 -33,7 -18,7
v:150 15,7 17,7 -15,7 -17,7
a:125 1,7 -1,7 16,7 -16,7
k:-1  1,7 16,7 15,7 17,7 -1,7 -16,7 -15,7 -17,7

The desired result was:
A chess board of dimensions 9×8,
Pawns both move and capture forwards.
Rooks and knights are normal starting on both edges of the board.
Next to the knights are two ferzes using the bishop graphic.
Next to them are two wazirs using the archbishop graphic.
In the middle is a normal king except that there is no castling.

The result I got is:
The board loads the correct size, there is a black rook and knight at the top left squares, but the rest of the squares are empty. The game cannot proceed.

While researching how to fix this problem I found the Sjaak II engine and installed the version 1.4.1. I tried to replicate the same game there.
This is what I added to the variants.txt file:

Code: Select all

#############################################################
# My_game_1                                                 #
#############################################################
Variant: Mygame1 (9x8)
Board: 9x8
FEN: "rnbakabnr/ppppppppp/9/9/9/9/PPPPPPPPP/RNBAKABNR w - - 0 1"
XBoard pieces: "PNBR...AKpnbr...ak"
Zone: rank9 = a9,b9,c9,d9,e9,f9,g9,h9,i9
Zone: rank1 = a1,b1,c1,d1,e1,f1,g1,h1,i1

Piece: Knight
Move: leap (2,1)
Symbol: "N", "N,n"
Value: 320

Piece: Rook
Move: slide (H,V)
Symbol: "R", "R,r"
Value: 500

Piece: Ferz
Move: leap (1,1)
Symbol: "F", "B,b"
Value: 150

Piece: Wazir
Move: leap (0,1)
Symbol: "W", "A,a"
Value 125

Piece: King
Move: leap (0,1)|(1,1)
Symbol: "K", "K,k"
Flags: royal

Piece: Pawn
Move: step N
Symbol: " ", "P,p"
Promotion: rank9, rank1, "BA"
Value: 100

Rule: checkmate = win
Rule: stalemate = draw
Rule: repeat3 = draw

The result is bugged again.
The board looks the same, but there is also an error that pops up saying:

unknown piece type 'r' (bad FEN rnbakabnr/ppppppppp/9/9/PPPPPPPPP/RNBAKABNR w KQkq -)

Three instances of this error pop up. The error seems to reference an earlier version of the FEN.

The values assigned to the pieces is arbitrary, as changing them will be easy once I make a variant for real, this is more of a test/exercise to get a hold on the configuration files.

Would someone kindly provide some help for configuring either or both of these engines.

Thank you for your trouble.

Update, I've configured Sjaak II successfully. It seems I've pointed the engine to the wrong folder, an older one. And I also messed up the symbols for the Ferz and the Wazir.
This is the final code:

Code: Select all

#############################################################
# My_game_1                                                 #
#############################################################
Variant: Mygame1 (9x8)
Board: 9x8
FEN: "rnfwkwfnr/ppppppppp/9/9/9/9/PPPPPPPPP/RNFWKWFNR w - - 0 1"
XBoard pieces: "PNFR.........WKpnfr.........wk"
Zone: rank9 = a9,b9,c9,d9,e9,f9,g9,h9,i9
Zone: rank1 = a1,b1,c1,d1,e1,f1,g1,h1,i1

Piece: Knight
Move: leap (2,1)
Symbol: "N", "N,n"
Value: 320

Piece: Rook
Move: slide (H,V)
Symbol: "R", "R,r"
Value: 500

Piece: Ferz
Move: leap (1,1)
Symbol: "F", "F,f"
Value: 150

Piece: Wazir
Move: leap (0,1)
Symbol: "W", "W,w"
Value 125

Piece: King
Move: leap (0,1)|(1,1)
Symbol: "K", "K,k"
Flags: royal

Piece: Pawn
Move: step N
Symbol: " ", "P,p"
Promotion: rank9, rank1, "BA"
Value: 100

Rule: checkmate = win
Rule: stalemate = draw
Rule: repeat3 = draw

Now, I still have to set up Fairy-Max.

Ivan P wrote:Following is the code I entered at the end of the fmax.ini text file:

Code: Select all

//My variant 1
Game: my_game_1 # nocastle # PNVR..AKpnvr..ak
9x8
3 4 5 6 7 6 5 4 3
3 4 5 6 7 6 5 4 3
p:100 -16,7
p:100 16,7
R:450 1,3 16,3 -1,3 -16,3
n:300 14,7 31,7 33,7 18,7 -14,7 -31,7 -33,7 -18,7
v:150 15,7 17,7 -15,7 -17,7
a:125 1,7 -1,7 16,7 -16,7
k:-1  1,7 16,7 15,7 17,7 -1,7 -16,7 -15,7 -17,7

You have specified the pieceToCharTable and the parent variant in the wrong order. These are parameters that are meaningless to Fairy-Max, but are sent to WinBoard to configure it for the variant. So WinBoard uses "nocastle" for assigning ids to the pieces, and then doesn't understand the position FEN Fairy-Max sends it for the start position (which it makes on the basis of the ids given on the piece lines).

Changing the first line to

Game: my_game_1 # PNVR..AKpnvr..ak # nocastle

should make it work.

It works. Thank you.
I have two further problems:
1. I've tried adding more variants to the file after this one, but when I go to the menu to choose a new variant, I can only see this one, as the entry in the right of the last row and I can't see the further variants.
2. I've tried to get Sjaak II to play against itself. I've loaded it as both engines and set both so that the "fairy" variant is the one I defined, but when I try to change the mode to "Two Machines", it gives me an error saying. "The second engine doesn't play this." I've tried the same for some of the predefined/example chess variants and it works for some and for others it doesn't. If, on the other hand I repeatedly change between the modes "Machine White" and "Machine Black", the engine plays the game normally. Is there anything that can be done here?

Just in, I got Fairy-Max to play against itself on the variant you just helped me fix, and it seems that it got stuck. It forfeited due to invalid move. In the meantime I renamed it to my_game_0.

Here are the moves:

[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "DESKTOP-LJ4G40U"]
[Date "2021.04.23"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Fairy-Max 5.0b3"]
[Black "Fairy-Max 5.0b3"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "40/300"]
[Variant "my_game_0"]
[FEN "rnfwkwfnr/ppppppppp/9/9/9/9/PPPPPPPPP/RNFWKWFNR w - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

{--------------
r n f w k w f n r
p p p p p p p p p
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
P P P P P P P P P
R N F W K W F N R
white to play
--------------}
1. Nc3 Ng6 2. Nd5 Na6 3. c3 d6 4. Ne3 f6 5. Ng3 Wd7 6. f3 Nc5 7. c4 Ne6 8.
Ne4 Wff7 9. g3 c6 10. Wf2 Ne5 11. Rb1 g6 12. b3 Nd4 13. Rb2 h6 14. c5 b6
15. Ng4 Nxg4
{Xboard: Forfeit due to invalid move: g3g4 (g3g4 via `0, `0) res=24} 0-1

A white pawn tried to move into the space of the black knight. As in, move into the space without/instead of taking the knight.

The problem is that you told Fairy-Max that you want Pawns to capture straight ahead, but that WinBoard has its own idea about what are legal moves for a Pawn. You should either switch of legality testing in WinBoard, or make Fairy-Max tell WinBoard that it wants an altered Pawn move. The latter can be done by adding the lines

#
# P& fW

to the game definition. Unfortunately Fairy-Max is not able to create such move descriptions for use by WinBoard from the way moves are defined in the game definition.

WinBoard can only display a limited number of 'engine-defined variants' in its New Variant dialog. Just make sure the definitions you add are early enough in the fmax.ini file that they belong to those that are shown.

So, for every piece that doesn't move as in the game i specified as in the game I specified after the pieceToCharTable I have to append how it moves to tell that to WinBoard as well. Is that correct?
What about my problem with Sjaak II? Can it be configured to play against itself?

Ivan P wrote:So, for every piece that doesn't move as in the game i specified as in the game I specified after the pieceToCharTable I have to append how it moves to tell that to WinBoard as well. Is that correct?

That is correct. WinBoard has a built-in conception of how each piece symbol is allowed to move. (Which sometimes is dependent on the (parent) variant; e.g. in Shogi the piece that normally moves as Ferz will move as a Silver General). If you want WinBoard to accept different moves, you either should switch legality testing off (but that would also lose you functionality such as move-target highlighting and mate detection), or append the alternative move to the game definition in the format that WinBoard will understand.

Ideally it would have been possible to configure boh Fairy-Max and WinBoard through move definitions in the same format, so that you would have to do it only once in the fmax.ini file. I think Sjaak II has already achieved that; it can generate the Betza notation for the moves that WinBoard uses from the definitions in its native format. For Fairy-Max this is sill on my to-do list. The native format there is rather cumbersome, so I would rather take the opposit approach to Sjaak's, specify the moves only in Betza notation, and then generate the move-step lists from those internally.

What about my problem with Sjaak II? Can it be configured to play against itself?

I don't know Sjaak as well as I know Fairy-Max. But playing against itself (or any other engine) under WinBoard should not be something the engine should be configured for. It is a function of WinBoard, which just starts two independent engine processes, which each have no idea who they are playing against. So it should be possible to play any engine against any other, including itself. (Sjaak also has a stand-alone mode to run it in a terminal window from the keyboard; I suppose you are not using that.)

The error you describe ("second engine does not play this") sounds strange to me. Sjaak should report that it supports variant 'fairy', or you shouldn't even be able to switch the first one to it. And if you have selected the same meaning for 'fairy' in both engines, it is supposed to work. Note that this whole business of 'masking' a specific variant (say XXX) as 'fairy' is basically a work-around for the fact that WinBoard only shows a limited number of engine-defined variants in its New Variant dialog, and that Sjaak II supports many more than that. Anything that you can select through the Engine Settings dialog as the meaning of 'fairy' should also be directly accessible (e.g. by running WinBoard with the Additional option -variant "XXX"). It just cannot be selected through the menus. I suppose I really should replace the radio buttons in the New Variant dialog of WinBoard by a combobox that can hold an arbitrary number of engine-defined variants.

Anyway, this isn't of much help now. To get an idea for what exactly is going on, can you run WinBoard with Additional option -debug, and then do what you did with two Sjaaks to get this error message? And then post the winboard.debug file that is created in the WinBoard folder here? Then I can see what WinBoard and the engines have been saying to each other to cause this mishap.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Here you go: I loaded the program, i used the engine menu to load sjaak twice, then I changed both of their settings to the same game, loaded that game and then tried to set the Two Engines mode. I got the same "The second engine doesn't play this." error. After that I closed the program.

This is the contents of the winboard.debug file:

Code: Select all

recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
shuffleOpenings = 0
Version: WinBoard 4.9.1 + fmax
Reset(1, 0) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
shuffleOpenings = 0
StartChildProcess (dir="Fairy-Max") fmax
611 >first : xboard
protover 2
611 <first : tellics say     Fairy-Max 5.0b3
611 <first : tellics say     by H.G. Muller
627 <first : feature myname="Fairy-Max 5.0b3"
627 >first : accepted myname
627 <first : feature memory=1 exclude=1
627 >first : accepted memory
627 >first : accepted exclude
627 <first : feature setboard=0 xedit=1 ping=1 done=0
627 >first : accepted setboard
627 >first : accepted xedit
627 >first : accepted ping
627 >first : accepted done
627 <first : feature variants="normal,nocastle,shatranj,asean,makruk,cambodian,ai-wok,courier,knightmate,capablanca,gothic,janus,falcon,cylinder,berolina,super,seirawan,spartan,great,light-brigade,king-of-the-hill,bifurcator,team-mate,los-alamos,ciccolini,mexican,grande-acedrex,roman,almost-wildebeest,apothecary1,elven,apothecary2,my_game_0,fairy"
627 >first : accepted variants
627 <first : feature option="Resign -check 0"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Resign Threshold -spin 800 200 1200"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Claim draw after -spin 50 0 200"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Ini File -file ./fmax.ini"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Multi-PV Margin -spin 0 0 1000"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Variant fairy selects -combo FIDE-Clobberers /// Clobberers-FIDE /// FIDE-Nutters /// Nutters-FIDE /// Clobberers-Nutters /// Nutters-Clobberers /// FIDE-Rookies /// Rookies-FIDE /// Clobberers-Rookies /// Rookies-Clobberers /// Nutters-Rookies /// Rookies-Nutters"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Makruk rules -combo makruk /// Cambodian /// Ai-wok"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Dummy Slider Example -slider 20 0 100"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Dummy String Example -string happy birthday!"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Dummy Path Example -path ."
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Automatic persistent-hash dialog -check 0"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Info -button"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Save in hash file -button"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature option="Clear Hash -button"
627 >first : accepted option
627 <first : feature done=1
627 >first : accepted done
642 >first : memory 68
642 >first : new
random
642 >first : level 40 5 0
642 >first : post
642 >first : hard
642 >first : ping 1
Impossible move , type = 0
658 <first : pong 1
 
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                    or specify one below:
Nickname (optional): [______________________________________]
[x] Use nickname in PGN tag   
Engine (.exe or .jar [______________________________________]
command-line paramet [______________________________________]
Special WinBoard opt [______________________________________]
          directory: [______________________________________]
(Directory will be derived from engine pa
[x] UCI                        [x] Add this engine to the li
[x] WB protocol v1 (skip wait  [x] Must not use GUI book     
[x] UCCI/USI/Arena960 (throug  [x] Force current variant wit
7568 >first : quit
Unload first
StartChildProcess (dir="E:\Downloads\Winboard-4.9.1\Winboard-4.9.1\SjaakII") SjaakII_win64_MS.exe
8119 >first : xboard
protover 2
Reset(1, 1) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
8119 >first : force
shuffleOpenings = 0
8119 >first : new
random
8119 >first : level 40 5 0
8119 >first : post
8119 >first : hard
Impossible move , type = 0
8119 <first : Sjaak II version 1.4.1 (x86_64)
8119 <first : Type 'help' for a list of commands and help topics
8119 <first :  8r n b q k b n r
8119 <first :  7p p p p p p p p
8119 <first :  6               
8119 <first :  5               
8119 <first :  4               
8119 <first :  3               
8119 <first :  2P P P P P P P P
8134 <first :  1R N B Q K B N R *
8134 <first :   a b c d e f g h
8134 <first : #[Chess] 0w>
8134 <first : feature setboard=1 time=1 sigint=0 colors=0 highlight=1 ping=1 memory=1 analyze=1 pause=1 nps=1 sjef=1 myname="Sjaak II 1.4.1" myversion="[1.4.1 (x86_64)]" variants="fide_chess,wolves_and_sheep,maharaja,peasant,corridor_chess,legan,diamond_chess,diagonal_chess,corner_chess,ninth_century_indian_chess,troitzky_chess,troitzky_chess_byway,twilight_chess,judkins,omicron_chess,euroshogi,yarishogi,gorogoro_shogi,gorogoronl_shogi,cambodian,mini_xiangqi,elven,3check,lion,chancellor,amazon,musketeer,spanish_archer,enlarged_and_improved_chess,diana,sherwin,viceroy,chaturanga,suicide,roman,schoolbook,supercapablanca,wildebeest,wa-shogi-drop,wa-shogi,theban,nightrider,caissa_britannia,mygame0,mygame1,mygame2,myshogi1,myshogi2,seirawan,shatar,makruk,shatranj,sittuyin,crazyhouse,chessgi,asean,ai-wok,super,spartan,pocketknight,kingofthehill,knightmate,berolina,losalamos,micro,capablanca,gothic,embassy,greatshatranj,courier,grand,opulent,omega,minishogi,shoshogi,shogi,torishogi,xiangqi,chess960,fischerandom,fischerrandom,nocastle,wildcastle,great,caparandom,minisho,5x5+5_shogi,tori,7x7+6_shogi,sho,9x9+0_shogi,king-of-the-hill,fairy,8x8+0_fairy,8x8+6_fairy,8x8+1_fairy,6x6+0_fairy,5x5+0_fairy,10x8+0_fairy,12x8+0_fairy,10x10+0_fairy,12x12+0_fairy,5x5+5_fairy,9x9+0_fairy,9x9+8_fairy,7x7+6_fairy,9x10+0_fairy,normal"
8134 >first : accepted setboard
8134 >first : accepted time
8134 >first : accepted sigint
8134 >first : accepted colors
8134 >first : accepted highlight
8134 >first : accepted ping
8134 >first : accepted memory
8134 >first : accepted analyze
8134 >first : accepted pause
8134 >first : accepted nps
8134 >first : rejected sjef
8134 >first : accepted myname
8134 >first : rejected myversion
8134 >first : accepted variants
8134 <first : feature option="Variant fairy selects -combo chess (8x8+0) /// seirawan (8x8+0) /// shatar (8x8+0) /// makruk (8x8+0) /// shatranj (8x8+0) /// sittuyin (8x8+6) /// crazyhouse (8x8+6) /// chessgi (8x8+6) /// asean (8x8+0) /// ai-wok (8x8+0) /// super (8x8+0) /// spartan (8x8+0) /// pocketknight (8x8+1) /// kingofthehill (8x8+0) /// knightmate (8x8+0) /// berolina (8x8+0) /// losalamos (6x6+0) /// micro (5x5+0) /// capablanca (10x8+0) /// gothic (10x8+0) /// embassy (10x8+0) /// greatshatranj (10x8+0) /// courier (12x8+0) /// grand (10x10+0) /// opulent (10x10+0) /// omega (12x12+0) /// minishogi (5x5+5) /// shoshogi (9x9+0) /// shogi (9x9+8) /// torishogi (7x7+6) /// xiangqi (9x10+0) /// fide_chess (8x8) /// wolves_and_sheep (8x8) /// maharaja (8x8) /// peasant (8x8) /// corridor_chess (8x8) /// legan (8x8) /// diamond_chess (8x8) /// diagonal_chess (8x8) /// corner_chess (8x8) /// ninth_century_indian_chess (8x8) /// troitzky_chess (10x10) /// troitzky_chess_byway (10x10) /// twilight_chess (8x8) /// judkins (6x6) /// omicron_chess (12x10) /// euroshogi (8x8) /// yarishogi (7x9) /// gorogoro_shogi (5x6) /// gorogoronl_shogi (5x6) /// cambodian (8x8) /// mini_xiangqi (7x7) /// elven (10x10) /// 3check (8x8) /// lion (8x8) /// chancellor (8x8) /// amazon (8x8) /// musketeer (8x8) /// spanish_archer (10x8) /// enlarged_and_improved_chess (10x10) /// diana (6x6) /// sherwin (8x8) /// viceroy (8x8) /// chaturanga (8x8) /// suicide (8x8) /// roman (10x10) /// schoolbook (10x8) /// supercapablanca (12x8) /// wildebeest (11x10) /// wa-shogi-drop (11x11) /// wa-shogi (11x11) /// theban (8x8) /// nightrider (8x8) /// caissa_britannia (10x10) /// mygame0 (9x8) /// mygame1 (9x8) /// mygame2 (15x8) /// myshogi1 (9x9) /// myshogi2 (9x9) /// chess960 (= chess) /// fischerandom (= chess) /// fischerrandom (= chess) /// nocastle (= chess) /// wildcastle (= chess) /// great (= greatshatranj) /// caparandom (= capablanca) /// minisho (= minishogi) /// 5x5+5_shogi (= minishogi) /// tori (= torishogi) /// 7x7+6_shogi (= torishogi) /// sho (= shoshogi) /// 9x9+0_shogi (= shoshogi) /// king-of-the-hill (= kingofthehill)"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Mate search -combo Disabled /// *Enabled for drop games /// Enabled"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Level -combo Clueless /// Random /// Static /// *Normal"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="MultiPV -spin 1 1 256"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Draw offer threshold -spin 0 0 1000"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Moves before draw offer (0 to disable) -spin 0 0 1000"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Resign threshold -spin 500 100 16000"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Moves before resigning (0 to disable) -spin 0 0 1000"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Randomise opening moves -spin 10 0 40"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Random amplitude (0 to disable) -spin 20 0 100"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Send 'piece' descriptions -check 1"
8134 >first : accepted option
8134 <first : feature option="Mark holes in board -check 1"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="List user-defined variants before buildin variants -check 1"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Report fail low -check 0"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Report fail high -check 0"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Claim repetitions -check 1"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Send O-O/O-O-O for castling -check 1"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Remember evaluation parameter file -check 0"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Variant 'normal' is -string chess"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Set variant alias -string "
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Variant configuration file -file E:\Downloads\Winboard-4.9.1\Winboard-4.9.1\SjaakII\variants.txt"
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature option="Evaluation parameter file -file "
8150 >first : accepted option
8150 <first : feature done=1
8150 >first : accepted done
8150 <first : # New game 'Chess'
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
8166 >first : memory 68
8166 >first : new
random
8166 >first : level 40 5 0
8166 >first : post
8166 >first : hard
8166 >first : ping 1
Impossible move , type = 0
8166 <first : # New game 'Chess'
8166 <first : pong 1
 
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                               
                    or specify one below:
Nickname (optional): [______________________________________]
[x] Use nickname in PGN tag   
Engine (.exe or .jar [______________________________________]
command-line paramet [______________________________________]
Special WinBoard opt [______________________________________]
          directory: [______________________________________]
(Directory will be derived from engine pa
[x] UCI                        [x] Add this engine to the li
[x] WB protocol v1 (skip wait  [x] Must not use GUI book     
[x] UCCI/USI/Arena960 (throug  [x] Force current variant wit
Unload second
Reset(1, 1) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
12569 >first : force
12569 >first : ping 2
shuffleOpenings = 0
12569 >first : memory 68
12569 >first : new
random
12569 >first : level 40 5 0
12569 >first : post
12569 >first : hard
12569 >first : ping 3
Impossible move , type = 0
12585 <first : pong 2
12585 <first : # New game 'Chess'
12585 <first : pong 3
         Mate search [ COMBO ] Variant fairy select [ COMBO ]
               Level [ COMBO ]              MultiPV [    +/-]
Moves before draw of [    +/-] Draw offer threshold [    +/-]
Moves before resigni [    +/-]     Resign threshold [    +/-]
Random amplitude (0  [    +/-] Randomise opening mo [    +/-]
[x] Report fail high           [x] Send 'piece' descriptions
[x] Claim repetitions          [x] Mark holes in board       
[x] Send O-O/O-O-O for castli  [x] List user-defined variant
[x] Remember evaluation param  [x] Report fail low           
 Variant 'normal' is [______________________________________]
   Set variant alias [______________________________________]
Variant configuratio [______________________________________]
Evaluation parameter [______________________________________]
34270 >first : option Variant fairy selects=mygame0 (9x8)
StartChildProcess (dir="E:\Downloads\Winboard-4.9.1\Winboard-4.9.1\SjaakII") SjaakII_win64_MS.exe
42068 >second: xboard
protover 2
42068 <second: Sjaak II version 1.4.1 (x86_64)
42068 <second: Type 'help' for a list of commands and help topics
42068 <second:  8r n b q k b n r
42068 <second:  7p p p p p p p p
42068 <second:  6               
42068 <second:  5               
42068 <second:  4               
42068 <second:  3               
42068 <second:  2P P P P P P P P
42068 <second:  1R N B Q K B N R *
42068 <second:   a b c d e f g h
42068 <second: #[Chess] 0w>
42068 <second: feature setboard=1 time=1 sigint=0 colors=0 highlight=1 ping=1 memory=1 analyze=1 pause=1 nps=1 sjef=1 myname="Sjaak II 1.4.1" myversion="[1.4.1 (x86_64)]" variants="fide_chess,wolves_and_sheep,maharaja,peasant,corridor_chess,legan,diamond_chess,diagonal_chess,corner_chess,ninth_century_indian_chess,troitzky_chess,troitzky_chess_byway,twilight_chess,judkins,omicron_chess,euroshogi,yarishogi,gorogoro_shogi,gorogoronl_shogi,cambodian,mini_xiangqi,elven,3check,lion,chancellor,amazon,musketeer,spanish_archer,enlarged_and_improved_chess,diana,sherwin,viceroy,chaturanga,suicide,roman,schoolbook,supercapablanca,wildebeest,wa-shogi-drop,wa-shogi,theban,nightrider,caissa_britannia,mygame0,mygame1,mygame2,myshogi1,myshogi2,seirawan,shatar,makruk,shatranj,sittuyin,crazyhouse,chessgi,asean,ai-wok,super,spartan,pocketknight,kingofthehill,knightmate,berolina,losalamos,micro,capablanca,gothic,embassy,greatshatranj,courier,grand,opulent,omega,minishogi,shoshogi,shogi,torishogi,xiangqi,chess960,fischerandom,fischerrandom,nocastle,wildcastle,great,caparandom,minisho,5x5+5_shogi,tori,7x7+6_shogi,sho,9x9+0_shogi,king-of-the-hill,fairy,8x8+0_fairy,8x8+6_fairy,8x8+1_fairy,6x6+0_fairy,5x5+0_fairy,10x8+0_fairy,12x8+0_fairy,10x10+0_fairy,12x12+0_fairy,5x5+5_fairy,9x9+0_fairy,9x9+8_fairy,7x7+6_fairy,9x10+0_fairy,normal"
42068 >second: accepted setboard
42068 >second: accepted time
42068 >second: accepted sigint
42068 >second: accepted colors
42068 >second: accepted highlight
42068 >second: accepted ping
42068 >second: accepted memory
42068 >second: accepted analyze
42068 >second: accepted pause
42068 >second: accepted nps
42068 >second: rejected sjef
42068 >second: accepted myname
42068 >second: rejected myversion
42068 >second: accepted variants
42068 <second: feature option="Variant fairy selects -combo chess (8x8+0) /// seirawan (8x8+0) /// shatar (8x8+0) /// makruk (8x8+0) /// shatranj (8x8+0) /// sittuyin (8x8+6) /// crazyhouse (8x8+6) /// chessgi (8x8+6) /// asean (8x8+0) /// ai-wok (8x8+0) /// super (8x8+0) /// spartan (8x8+0) /// pocketknight (8x8+1) /// kingofthehill (8x8+0) /// knightmate (8x8+0) /// berolina (8x8+0) /// losalamos (6x6+0) /// micro (5x5+0) /// capablanca (10x8+0) /// gothic (10x8+0) /// embassy (10x8+0) /// greatshatranj (10x8+0) /// courier (12x8+0) /// grand (10x10+0) /// opulent (10x10+0) /// omega (12x12+0) /// minishogi (5x5+5) /// shoshogi (9x9+0) /// shogi (9x9+8) /// torishogi (7x7+6) /// xiangqi (9x10+0) /// fide_chess (8x8) /// wolves_and_sheep (8x8) /// maharaja (8x8) /// peasant (8x8) /// corridor_chess (8x8) /// legan (8x8) /// diamond_chess (8x8) /// diagonal_chess (8x8) /// corner_chess (8x8) /// ninth_century_indian_chess (8x8) /// troitzky_chess (10x10) /// troitzky_chess_byway (10x10) /// twilight_chess (8x8) /// judkins (6x6) /// omicron_chess (12x10) /// euroshogi (8x8) /// yarishogi (7x9) /// gorogoro_shogi (5x6) /// gorogoronl_shogi (5x6) /// cambodian (8x8) /// mini_xiangqi (7x7) /// elven (10x10) /// 3check (8x8) /// lion (8x8) /// chancellor (8x8) /// amazon (8x8) /// musketeer (8x8) /// spanish_archer (10x8) /// enlarged_and_improved_chess (10x10) /// diana (6x6) /// sherwin (8x8) /// viceroy (8x8) /// chaturanga (8x8) /// suicide (8x8) /// roman (10x10) /// schoolbook (10x8) /// supercapablanca (12x8) /// wildebeest (11x10) /// wa-shogi-drop (11x11) /// wa-shogi (11x11) /// theban (8x8) /// nightrider (8x8) /// caissa_britannia (10x10) /// mygame0 (9x8) /// mygame1 (9x8) /// mygame2 (15x8) /// myshogi1 (9x9) /// myshogi2 (9x9) /// chess960 (= chess) /// fischerandom (= chess) /// fischerrandom (= chess) /// nocastle (= chess) /// wildcastle (= chess) /// great (= greatshatranj) /// caparandom (= capablanca) /// minisho (= minishogi) /// 5x5+5_shogi (= minishogi) /// tori (= torishogi) /// 7x7+6_shogi (= torishogi) /// sho (= shoshogi) /// 9x9+0_shogi (= shoshogi) /// king-of-the-hill (= kingofthehill)"
42068 >second: accepted option
42068 <second: feature option="Mate search -combo Disabled /// *Enabled for drop games /// Enabled"
42068 >second: accepted option
42068 <second: feature option="Level -combo Clueless /// Random /// Static /// *Normal"
42068 >second: accepted option
42068 <second: feature option="MultiPV -spin 1 1 256"
42068 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Draw offer threshold -spin 0 0 1000"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Moves before draw offer (0 to disable) -spin 0 0 1000"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Resign threshold -spin 500 100 16000"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Moves before resigning (0 to disable) -spin 0 0 1000"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Randomise opening moves -spin 10 0 40"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Random amplitude (0 to disable) -spin 20 0 100"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Send 'piece' descriptions -check 1"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Mark holes in board -check 1"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="List user-defined variants before buildin variants -check 1"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Report fail low -check 0"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Report fail high -check 0"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Claim repetitions -check 1"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Send O-O/O-O-O for castling -check 1"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Remember evaluation parameter file -check 0"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Variant 'normal' is -string chess"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Set variant alias -string "
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Variant configuration file -file E:\Downloads\Winboard-4.9.1\Winboard-4.9.1\SjaakII\variants.txt"
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature option="Evaluation parameter file -file "
42084 >second: accepted option
42084 <second: feature done=1
42084 >second: accepted done
         Mate search [ COMBO ] Variant fairy select [ COMBO ]
               Level [ COMBO ]              MultiPV [    +/-]
Moves before draw of [    +/-] Draw offer threshold [    +/-]
Moves before resigni [    +/-]     Resign threshold [    +/-]
Random amplitude (0  [    +/-] Randomise opening mo [    +/-]
[x] Report fail high           [x] Send 'piece' descriptions
[x] Claim repetitions          [x] Mark holes in board       
[x] Send O-O/O-O-O for castli  [x] List user-defined variant
[x] Remember evaluation param  [x] Report fail low           
 Variant 'normal' is [______________________________________]
   Set variant alias [______________________________________]
Variant configuratio [______________________________________]
Evaluation parameter [______________________________________]
51333 >second: option Variant fairy selects=mygame0 (9x8)
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess_byway' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess_byway' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'twilight_chess' (-1) as variant twilight
recognized 'judkins' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess_byway' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'twilight_chess' (-1) as variant twilight
recognized 'judkins' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'omicron_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'fide_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'wolves_and_sheep' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'maharaja' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'peasant' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corridor_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'legan' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diamond_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'diagonal_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'corner_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'ninth_century_indian_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'troitzky_chess_byway' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'twilight_chess' (-1) as variant twilight
recognized 'judkins' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'omicron_chess' (-1) as variant normal
recognized 'euroshogi' (-1) as variant normal
Reset(1, 1) from gameMode 0
recognized 'fairy' (-1) as variant fairy
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
67532 >first : force
67532 >first : ping 4
shuffleOpenings = 0
67563 >first : memory 68
67563 >first : new
random
67563 >first : variant fairy
67563 >first : level 40 5 0
67563 >first : post
67563 >first : hard
67563 >first : ping 5
Impossible move , type = 0
67563 <first : pong 4
67563 <first : # New game 'Chess'
67579 <first : # New game 'Mygame0 (9x8)'
67579 <first : setup (PNFR.........WKpnfr.........wk) 9x8+0_fairy rnfwkwfnr/ppppppppp/9/9/9/9/PPPPPPPPP/RNFWKWFNR w - - 0 1
recognized 'fairy' (-1) as variant fairy
shuffleOpenings = 0
FEN castling rights: 134 134 134 134 134 134
67610 <first : piece N& N
67610 <first : piece R& R
67610 <first : piece F& F
67610 <first : piece W& W
67610 <first : piece K& K
67610 <first : piece P& fW
67610 <first : pong 5
71264 >first : force
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
71280 >first : force
71280 >first : ping 6
71280 >second: force
71280 >second: ping 1
71280 <first : pong 6
71280 <second: pong 1
GameEnds(29, xboard exit, 2)
77963 >first : quit
77963 >second: quit

Meanwhile, regarding the Fairy-Max version, I tried to run a full game of my_game_0 using two instances of Fairy-Max and it ran smoothly until the endgame when it had no choice but to try to promote a pawn. Then it forfeited again because of illegal moves. I understood that happened because of the order of figures in the fmax.ini so I swapped the king and the wazir so that the wazir would be in the seventh line. Now when I load a game and go to Two Machines, it gets stuck "Waiting for first chess program".

For reference, this is the current code of my_game_0:

Code: Select all

//My variant test 0
Game: my_game_0 # PNFR.........WKpnfr.........wk # nocastle
9x8
3 4 5 7 6 7 5 4 3
3 4 5 7 6 7 5 4 3
p:100 -16,7
p:100 16,7
R:450 1,3 16,3 -1,3 -16,3
n:300 14,7 31,7 33,7 18,7 -14,7 -31,7 -33,7 -18,7
f:150 15,7 17,7 -15,7 -17,7
k:-1  1,7 16,7 15,7 17,7 -1,7 -16,7 -15,7 -17,7
w:125 1,7 -1,7 16,7 -16,7
#
# P& fW

Well, I pasted your game definition in my fmax.ini file, and it runs smoothly.

I still have to switch WinBoards legality testing off, though, because you use a Bishop as Ferz, and an 'Augmented Bishop' as Wazir. As the F and W moves are allowed on these pieces as far as WinBoard is concerned, WB does not refuse their moves outright. But it sometimes refuses other moves, when it thinks the Bishop is checking you with a distant move, and insist you must evade the check first. You can prevent that by also making WB aware that you altered the Bishop moves. By adding the lines

# F& F
# W& W

to the definition.

It is strange that Fairy-Max would not do anything at all. Are you sure that no stray characters have ended up in the fmax.ini file that it could choke on?

I must still study the debug file for the Sjaak game.

I have retyped the entire game by hand in fmax.ini and now it works for some reason. The two codes are identical, though. I even used a program to compare them and it found no differences...
Any progress with the Sjaak file?

I think I see what the problem is. When engine 1 is told to play 'fairy', it specifies this to WinBoard as 9x8+0_fairy in the 'setup' command. And WinBoard considers 9x8+0_fairy as distinct from plain 'fairy', because 9x8 is not the standard board size. But 9x8+0_fairy is not in the list of variants that Sjaak II says it supports.

I suppose this should count as a bug in Sjaak II: if it allows mygame1 to be selected in the 'play as fairy' option, it should also put the name that translates to (board-size overrides + parent variant) in its list of supported variants. Or playing as second engine would indeed not work.

The only work-around I see is not use this Sjaak option to substitute the variant for 'fairy', but directly tell WinBoard it should select mygame1. Because of the limitation you cannot do this from the New Variant dialog. But you can do it by starting WinBoard with the Additional option -variant mygame1.

Thank you. I've reported the bug to the author of Sjaak II. I guess I now have to wait until the next version comes out.
Does this also explain the following problem:
In the past few days I created something similar to Sho-shogi for Sjaak II. I used the 'fairy' method to run it and Sjaak actually wanted to play against itself. About half of the time the game would work as fine, but every once in a while one of the Sjaaks would forfeit due to an illegal move, and once there was a "false illegal move declaration".
Is that the problem? The two instances of Sjaak II think that they are playing slightly different versions of the game and get in a fight in the odd case when the difference matters.

I think I have just one more problem, when I start WinBoard and get the setup window, Sjaak II doesn't show up in the drop-down menu when selecting engines, but it does show up when I enter the program and then go to "load first/second engine".

This is very strange. The comboboxes in the startup dialog are created from the same list of engines as the listboxes in the Load Engine dialogs. (Which you would also see when you hit the Edit Engine List menu item.)

As to the illegal moves / false claims: you would really have to check for the case at hand who is at fault. If WinBoard considers a move to be illegal, this can be an error of WinBoard as much as it can be an error of the engine. The only thing you know for sure is that they do not agree. It is strange, though, that two instances of Sjaak playing against each other would not accept each other's moves. (Which WinBoard apparently judged to be OK.) When WinBoard forfeits an engine because of an illegal move, it prints that move in the result message. While in case of a false claim, the engine refused the last move in the game record. So you can always check from the game record what the offending move was, and whether there could be a likely explanation for the refusal of it (e.g. if they are all promotions).

I have managed to partially fix the problem, now I can select Sjaak II from the first engine list but it doesn't appear in the second engine list. (This is for the start up window, I can load it when WinBoard already starts.)
Another question: I downloaded Nebiyu (1.7.0) to see try it out but when I tried to load it I noticed that there is no .exe file to be found in the directory. Which file in the directory am I supposed to point WinBoard to?

The second engine list is really a deprecated feature of WinBoard. It is usually much more convenient to configure it with the option /singleEngineList=true, so that it uses the same list in both comboboxes. The only cases where I still use the second list is when I create a package for basically a single engine, where I abuse the engine list for choosing the variant (including a /variant=... option in the engine list). And then the engine without variant option in the second combobox, so that users who want to use the engine in wo Machines mode don't have to worry about conflictin /variant options.

When I use Nebiyu it is usually NebiyuAlien.exe. Which I think has the most flexible configurability for chess variants.

I see, I didn't know that option exists. Why is singleEngineList off by default?
The .exe files for Nebiyu came without extensions, I had to manually add them. I guess that's what confused me.

Ivan P wrote:I see, I didn't know that option exists. Why is singleEngineList off by default?

My policy when adding new options was always to keep the old behavior as default, but configure WinBoard in the master ini file that comes with it to run with the preferred behavior.

The .exe files for Nebiyu came without extensions, I had to manually add them. I guess that's what confused me.

Hmm, you must have another version than I have, then. Which is very possible, as I haven't downloaded Nebiyu for a very long time.

I downloaded Nebiyu from here: https://sites.google.com/site/dshawul/
I'm still trying to get it to run, though. It is loaded and I select a variant, click ok, but then nothing happens. The board is still the standard chess board.

I suppose you took version 1.7 from there. There seems to be something very wrong with that. It is already suspect that there are no .exe extensions on the filenames. When I rename NebiyuAlien with a .exe extension, I cannot even run it direcly; it immediately crashes.

Beter try the older version (1.45); I think I once used that. (My main PC is currently out of order due to a broken video card, so I cannot check it.)