Glaurung 0.2.5j FRC

[Tord Romstad]

Hi all,

You will now find the source code for Glaurung 0.2.5j FRC on my Glaurung and Scatha page. This is a new beta version which is supposed to be compatible with the new Shredder GUI (it will not work in Arena). Because I don't run Windows, I haven't been able to test it. It is therefore possible that it does not work at all. I would appreciate if somebody could compile a Windows executable and give it a try in the Shredder GUI.

The updated FRC code is not the only news. Glaurung 0.2.5j FRC also contains some new, really weird and poorly tested additions to the search. The new version could be 100 points Elo points weaker or 50 Elo points stronger than 0.2.4. The former is much more likely than the latter, but the latter is not at all impossible. If somebody wants to run some tests (FRC or normal chess) with 0.2.5j, I would be happy to see the results. It is definitely not ready for use in serious tournaments, though.

Tord

[Richard Pijl]

I've downloaded it and try to compile it.
As you probably expected, some code changes are necessary to compile it. I'll make the changes and send them back to you.
Richard.

[Tord Romstad]

I've downloaded it and try to compile it.
As you probably expected, some code changes are necessary to compile it. I'll make the changes and send them back to you.
Richard.

Hi Richard,

In fact, I didn't expect any code changes to be necessary. As far as I know, Glaurung 0.2.4 compiled in Windows without any code changes,
and I cannot recall having done any changes which should affect portability since then.

Anyway, thanks for your help!

Tord

[Bryan Hofmann]

Compiled with no changes at http://www.freewebs.com/bkhofmann/Glaurung-025j-FRC.zip


Bryan

[Richard Pijl]

I'm using MS VC++ 6. That version does not support 'long long' and 'ULL' suffixes.
I haven't tried the VC 2005 beta on this source yet (isn't installed at the machine that I'm at now).
Richard.

[Joachim Rang]

Compiled with no changes at http://www.freewebs.com/bkhofmann/Glaurung-025j-FRC.zip
Bryan

Thanks for the compile. However I get a "This is not an UCI-Engine" when I try to install it in ShredderClassic.

In Arena it does not start either:

Arena 1.1
1903**-------------NewGame!!!-------------
19598*1*----------------------Starte Motor 1 Glaurung-025j-FRC----------------------
19598*1*Configured Engine 1 Type: UCI
19718*1*Engine 1 dir: C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines
19759*1*Engine 1 commandline: "C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines\Glaurung-025j-FRC.exe"
19999<1:kpk.bin not found!
20139>1:uci
28181>1:isready


regards Joachim

[Peter Eizenhammer]

"Thanks for the compile. However I get a "This is not an UCI-Engine" when I try to install it in ShredderClassic.

In Arena it does not start either:"...

Hello Joachim,
glaurung needs the kpk.bin to work properly.
Just add it to the folder and it works (well, I hope so).

(First impression of the new version is very good, but of course this is just an impression after very few games, nothing else...)

Peter

[Tord Romstad]

Thanks for the compile. However I get a "This is not an UCI-Engine" when I try to install it in ShredderClassic.

In Arena it does not start either:

Arena 1.1
1903**-------------NewGame!!!-------------
19598*1*----------------------Starte Motor 1 Glaurung-025j-FRC----------------------
19598*1*Configured Engine 1 Type: UCI
19718*1*Engine 1 dir: C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines
19759*1*Engine 1 commandline: "C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines\Glaurung-025j-FRC.exe"
19999<1:kpk.bin not found!

Hi Joachim,

As Peter points out, and as you can see from the Arena error message above, the problem is definitely the missing kpk.bin file. Glaurung will not run without it. If you have Glaurung 0.2.4 installed, you can just copy the kpk.bin file to the directory where Glaurung 0.2.5j is installed. If you don't have 0.2.4 or some older version including kpk.bin, you can now download a zipped bundle containing Bryan's executable, kpk.bin, a readme file (not updated for 0.2.5j) and everything else you need from my page.

Thanks to Bryan for compiling the Windows executable!

Tord

[Bryan Hofmann]

Thanks for the compile. As Peter points out, and as you can see from the Arena error message above, the problem is definitely the missing kpk.bin file. Glaurung will not run without it. If you have Glaurung 0.2.4 installed, you can just copy the kpk.bin file to the directory where Glaurung 0.2.5j is installed. If you don't have 0.2.4 or some older version including kpk.bin, you can now download a zipped bundle containing Bryan's executable, kpk.bin, a readme file (not updated for 0.2.5j) and everything else you need from my page.

Thanks to Bryan for compiling the Windows executable!

Tord

I have added the kpk.bin the the zip file to avoid problems.

Bryan

[Joachim Rang]

Thanks for the compile. However I get a "This is not an UCI-Engine" when I try to install it in ShredderClassic.

In Arena it does not start either:

Arena 1.1
1903**-------------NewGame!!!-------------
19598*1*----------------------Starte Motor 1 Glaurung-025j-FRC----------------------
19598*1*Configured Engine 1 Type: UCI
19718*1*Engine 1 dir: C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines
19759*1*Engine 1 commandline: "C:\Programme\ShredderChess\Shredder 9 UCI\Engines\Glaurung-025j-FRC.exe"
19999<1:kpk.bin not found!

Hi Joachim,

As Peter points out, and as you can see from the Arena error message above, the problem is definitely the missing kpk.bin file. Glaurung will not run without it. If you have Glaurung 0.2.4 installed, you can just copy the kpk.bin file to the directory where Glaurung 0.2.5j is installed. If you don't have 0.2.4 or some older version including kpk.bin, you can now download a zipped bundle containing Bryan's executable, kpk.bin, a readme file (not updated for 0.2.5j) and everything else you need from my page.

Thanks to Bryan for compiling the Windows executable!

Tord

I see, I was not aware of that. Now with kpk.bin everything works fine. I play the first FRC-Match between Glaurung and Shredder

regards Joachim

[Tord Romstad]

I see, I was not aware of that. Now with kpk.bin everything works fine.

Great! In case you wonder, the kpk.bin file is a bitbase for KP vs K endgames.

I play the first FRC-Match between Glaurung and Shredder

What a cruel choice of opponent for the first match!

Tord

[Jack Hyams]

Hello Tord,
You asked for feedback. I installed this version using the "create UCI engine" instruction in Shredder 8 and it appears to run perfectly normally. I was interested in the effects of your modifications and so I played a couple of short matches against List 5.12 and Toga.
The conditions were 1 minute per game plus 1 second per move on a 2.7GHz Celeron, all engines with the same neutral book. Some people would describe this as a ridiculous time limit. I would describe it as a time limit.
The results suggested that this version of Glaurung is slightly stronger than List and slightly weaker than Toga. I then played a 100 game match against Ruffian Leiden, the engine that I judge to be midway between List and Toga in these conditions. The results were, from the side of Glaurung :+42 =20 -38
It would seem that, under these conditions, your modifications have produced changes closer to +50 Elo than -100 Elo.

Regards
Keith

[Tord Romstad]

Hi Jack!

Or is it Keith? Your name doesn't match the signature.

Thank you very much for your tests! These are phenomenal results; much better than I expected (even more so because of the time controls, my experience is that Glaurung usually doesn't play well at 1 1). If 0.2.5j is as strong as it looks in your tests, there is hope that my little toy engine will play really well when I have polished the new search tricks I am playing with.

I am not yet entirely convinced, though. I prefer to have data from several sources under different conditions before I make any conclusions.

Tord

[Patrick Buchmann]

Hi,

Some games by Glaurung 0.2.5j on my homepage

Indicative rating: 2553

Glaurung 0.2.4 first rating 2555 and now, after 126 games 2562

Regards,
Patrick

[Tord Romstad]

Hi,

Some games by Glaurung 0.2.5j on my homepage

Indicative rating: 2553

Glaurung 0.2.4 first rating 2555 and now, after 126 games 2562

Thanks, Patrick!

Unfortunately, I think your results are a bit closer to the truth than Jack's. It's still not too bad, though. Even a rating on the same level as 0.2.4 is better than I expected for this very experimental version.

Tord

[Robert Allgeuer]

Tord,
I had the intention to test Glaurung next in YABRL (starting mid next week or so). Which version should be the one? Or would it be better to wait for an imminent (and official) 0.2.5 release?
It would be a pity to test 0.2.4 for 9 days, just to have a newer and 50 points stronger 0.2.5 out a couple of days later.

Thanks
Robert

[Tord Romstad]

Tord,
I had the intention to test Glaurung next in YABRL (starting mid next week or so). Which version should be the one? Or would it be better to wait for an imminent (and official) 0.2.5 release?
It would be a pity to test 0.2.4 for 9 days, just to have a newer and 50 points stronger 0.2.5 out a couple of days later.

Hi Robert,

If you really want to start testing next week, you should definitely use 0.2.4. Perhaps it would be better to wait, though. There will probably be a new version directly after the tournament in Mainz next month.

Tord

[Robert Allgeuer]

thanks,
so I guess I will wait until then with testing of Gl ....

[Patrick Buchmann]

Hi Tord,

New results with Glaurung 0.2.5j.

Tournoi th?matique - C42 D?fense Petrov

It's a particular tournament:
5'+2" Opening C42 Petrov

Shredder Classic 1.3 win but Glaurung 0.2.4 is first engine from the Division, Glaurung 0.2.5j three points from 0.2.4!

Regards,
Patrick

[Anonymous]

Hi Tord,

I have let 20 games play with 12+6.
Download of the games

www.wolfgangdraeger.de/wd_frc.zip

Best
Wolfgang