About lag

[Fermin Serrano]

It would be nice a feature into winboard that when query by the engine, it tells the lag is in the ics server. I have lost a few games because lag.
Anyway, as a workaround, is there any way I can solve this? I can stimate a static value that always added to stimated move time, but have no idea what would be a reasonable value.

thanks

[H.G.Muller]

Lag shouldn't be a problem if you use timeseal (FICS) or timestamp (ICC) as -icshelper. Because the ICS measures your engine's thinking time on your own machine, so that it should be unaffected by any network lag.

[Fermin Serrano]

if I have another proccesses in the machine which are connect internet, like p2p, view online video or podcast, or similar, can that affect the timeseal or timestamp deals with lag? I suppose it is advisable to dont run that apps.

[H.G.Muller]

I don't think so. Timestamp / timeseal read the clock of your own computer when they hand your opponent's move to WinBoard, and then read that clock again when WinBoard hands them the move of your engine. It then subtracts the two, and sends the difference to the ICS (together with your move), to let it know how long you have been thinking.

Only when you run something that would cause such a severe system load that you get delays between timeseal and WinBoard, or between WinBoard and the engine, this lag would be added to yor thinking time. But WinBoard could never know the latter. The only way to know it is let the engine record how long it has been thining on the last move, and then compare that to how much the GUI (or ICS) decreased the time on its clock because of that move. Any difference must have been lag (or rounding).