crafty_2014 with TB make illegal move

[Massimo Gumiero]

I try to run crafty_2014 with TB (using winboard) on a simple end-game position KPK (8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1) (crafty vs human)

After my move Crafty makes an illegal move

Crafty.rc:

hash=24M
hashp=6M
tbpath=c:\test\tb

Follow game.001 and log.001 (I have illegal move also with diferent position).

Thanks

Game001:
pass
Ke6
Kh5

Log001:

Code: Select all

hash table memory =   24M bytes.
pawn hash table memory =    4M bytes.
4 piece tablebase files found
1401kb of RAM used for TB indices and decompression tables

Crafty v20.14 BH (1 cpus)

White(1): xboard
White(1): protover 2
feature ping=1 setboard=1 san=1 time=1 draw=1
feature sigint=0 sigterm=0 reuse=1 analyze=1
feature myname="Crafty-20.14 BH" name=1
feature playother=1 colors=0
feature variants="normal,nocastle"
feature done=1
White(1): accepted ping
White(1): accepted setboard
White(1): accepted san
White(1): accepted time
White(1): accepted draw
White(1): accepted sigint
White(1): accepted sigterm
White(1): accepted reuse
White(1): accepted analyze
White(1): accepted myname
White(1): accepted name
White(1): accepted playother
White(1): accepted colors
White(1): accepted variants
White(1): accepted done
White(1): new
White(1): random
White(1): level 40 1 0
40 moves/1 minutes primary time control
40 moves/1 minutes secondary time control
White(1): post
White(1): hard
pondering enabled.
White(1): ping 1
pong 1
White(1): force
White(1): setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1

       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    8  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    7  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    6  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    5  | . |   | . |<K>| . |   |-P-|   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    4  |   | . |   | . |   | . |-K-| . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    3  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    2  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    1  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
         a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

Black(1): Ke6
White(2): name GumieroM
Crafty 20.14 BH vs GumieroM
White(2): time 6000
time remaining:   1:00 (crafty).
White(2): otim 6000
time remaining:   1:00 (opponent).
White(2): go
              time surplus   0.00  time limit 1.25 (+0.00) (8.75) [easy move]
              depth   time  score   variation (1)
              time=0.02  mat=1  n=9  fh=100%  nps=1.0M
              ext-> check=0 1rep=0 mate=0 reductions=0/0
              predicted=0  evals=1  50move=1  EGTBprobes=1  hits=1
              hashing-> 71%(raw) 71%(draftOK)  0%(saturation)
              hashing-> 71%(exact)  0%(lower)  0%(upper)
              SMP->  splits=0  aborts=0  data=0/256  elap=0.02

mate in 16 moves.

White(2): Kh5
              time used:   0.02

       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    8  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    7  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    6  |   | . |   | . |<K>| . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    5  | . |   | . |   | . |   |-P-|-K-|
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    4  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    3  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    2  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    1  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
         a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

note: scores are for the white side
material evaluation.................   1.00
development.........................   0.00
pawn evaluation.....................   0.66
passed pawn evaluation..............   0.40
passed pawn race evaluation.........   0.00
knight evaluation...................   0.00
bishop evaluation...................   0.00
rook evaluation.....................   0.00
queen evaluation....................   0.00
king evaluation.....................  -1.80
total evaluation....................   0.26
LearnBook() executed
Black(2): force
Black(2): ping 2
pong 2
Black(2): quit

[Volker Pittlik]

I try to run crafty_2014 with TB (using winboard) on a simple end-game position KPK (8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1) (crafty vs human)

After my move Crafty makes an illegal move
...
Ke6
Kh5
...

And what was illegal?

Volker

[Massimo Gumiero]

Hi Volker,

of course the moves Ke6 and Kh5 are legal. But after my move Ke6 and Crafty move Kh5, Winboard gives me this message

Illegal move "Ke6!" from first machine

and the game stop.

Thanks

Massimo

[Volker Pittlik]

...after my move Ke6 and Crafty move Kh5, Winboard gives me this message

Illegal move "Ke6!" from first machine
...

winboard.debug and crafty's log files are the places to search for a solution.

Volker

[Massimo Gumiero]

I turn debug on. Follow the last part of winboard.debug file.

I think Crafty (it's white) sends to winboard the "thinking line"
<first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6!
and winboard means this line as "move Ke6" (the true move is Kh5) and so the error

What do you think about?

Thanks a lot

Massimo


[...]
609 >first : new
random
609 >first : level 40 1 0
609 >first : post
609 >first : hard
609 >first : ping 1
640 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 BH (1 cpus)
640 <first : pong 1
11098 >first : force
11114 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
15402 >first : Ke6
17754 >first : name GumieroM
17754 >first : time 6000
otim 6000
17754 >first : go
17754 <first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6! Kg8! 4. Kg6! Kf8! 5. Kh7! Ke7 6.
17786 <first : g6! Kd6 7. g7! Kc5 8. g8=Q Kb4 9. Qe8 Kb3 10. Qc6 Ka2 11. Qb7 Ka1
17786 <first : 12. Kg7 Ka2 13. Kf6! Ka1 14. Ke5! Ka2 15. Kd4! Ka1 16. Kc3! Ka2 17. Qb2#
17786 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14 BH! (1 cpus)
17786 <first : move Kh5
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
21307 >first : force
21307 >first : ping 2
21307 >first : quit

[Guenther Simon]

Hi Massimo,

The problem so far is you say, Winboard said once 'illegal move Ke6',
but none of the debugs/logs you posted contains such a message.
Without the debug part, which shows something irregular on
either Craftys or WBs side no one can help you.

Regards,
Guenther

[Volker Pittlik]

I turn debug on. Follow the last part of winboard.debug file.

I think Crafty (it's white) sends to winboard the "thinking line"
<first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6!
and winboard means this line as "move Ke6" (the true move is Kh5) and so the error

What do you think about?
...

It would be against the protocol and I don't see an illegal move in the debug or any claims by Crfaty or Winboard that there has been one.

I can create strange debug output here but none of them destroys the game and there are no illegal moves.

Volker

Code: Select all

37556 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
37819 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
37819 <first : pong 2
57001 >first : name volker
57001 >first : time 30000
otim 30000
57001 >first : go
57098 <first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6! Kg8! 4. Kg6! Kf8! 5. Kh7! Ke7 6.AnimateMove: piece 11 slides from 3,4 to 4,5
57252 <first : g6! Kd6 7. g7! Kc5 8. g8=Q Kb4 9. Qe8 Kb3 10. Qc6 Ka2 11. Qb7 Ka157252 <first : 12. Kg7 Ka2 13. Kf6! Ka1 14. Ke5! Ka2 15. Kd4! Ka1 16. Kc3! Ka2 17. Qb2#
57252 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14!
57252 <first : move Ke6
Ignoring move out of turn by first, gameMode 2, forwardMost 2
57252 <first : Hint: Kh5
71520 >first : name volker
71520 >first : time 28599
otim 30490
71520 >first : go
71619 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14!
71620 <first : move Kh5
AnimateMove: piece 5 slides from 6,3 to 7,4
71772 <first : Hint: Kf7
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
101845 >first : quit


[Roger Brown]

Hello Massimo,

Now I am intrigued.

To add to Guenther's excellent advice:

Please turn Crafty's logging function on.

Please delete the Winboard debug and turn debugging on.

Run the position.

Post both files in full here.

This is a mystery.

Later.

[Guenther Simon]

Hmmm... after I saw Volkers output now it seems _there is_
a problem, because this is a bad sign:

Code: Select all

57252 <first : move Ke6
Ignoring move out of turn by first, gameMode 2, forwardMost 2

Even more, after I saw this I remembered I had read something
similar at the CCC forum. I did a search for 'Crafty + bug' and found
this thread(you need an account to look at it IIRC):

http://216.25.93.108/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6793&highlight=crafty+bug

Reading this thread it seems there is a disagreement between several
users and Bob Hyatt about the existance of such a bug.
It looks as if the the result of the discussion was somewhat disappointing
for the users and Bob didn't answer the last message...

Regards,
Guenther

P.S. I will do a test on my own now.

[Volker Pittlik]

Hmmm... after I saw Volkers output now it seems _there is_
a problem, because this is a bad sign:

Code: Select all

57252 <first : move Ke6
Ignoring move out of turn by first, gameMode 2, forwardMost 2

....

What could easily explained with the ICC issue Bob described.

...P.S. I will do a test on my own now.

Good idea! I'm curious if you can provoke an illegal move.

Volker

[Guenther Simon]

Hmmm... after I saw Volkers output now it seems _there is_
a problem, because this is a bad sign:

Code: Select all

57252 <first : move Ke6
Ignoring move out of turn by first, gameMode 2, forwardMost 2

....

What could easily explained with the ICC issue Bob described.

...P.S. I will do a test on my own now.

Good idea! I'm curious if you can provoke an illegal move.

Volker

Hello again!

Meanwhile I tried the position posted originally by Massimo
and my conclusion is that there is _no_ problem at least
in WB 4.27x despite the 'move out of turn' from Crafty.
(reason why Crafty acts that way is explained in my CCC link,
it just tries to have already a move to ponder when setting
up a position)

I tried with ponder on and ponder off(legality check true).
Both times I could play on as White as if nothing had happened.
(I used the Crafty 20.14 exe from Bobs site compiled at
July 1st) As there was no problem I believe I don't need
to post my logs/debugs.

I have no idea why Massimo had a problem(which never was
shown BTW in his output)?
(Different broken Crafty? Different very old WB? May be no
WB at all, but Arena? Just my speculations...)

Regards,
Guenther

[Massimo Gumiero]

Hi,

I detail the context of the problem. So I think you can replicate the problem (if you want).

Thanks
Massimo

1) Crafty version 20.14 download today from ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt/executables

2) Winboard version Download Winboard 4.2.7a download today from http://www.tim-mann.org/xboard.html

3) PC mono CPU with Windows XP SP2 (I have the same problem with two different PC)

4) crafty.rc

tbpath=c:\test1\tb

(Note: i have only the complete 3-4 piece tablebase from Hyatt)

5) winboard.ini (default, only add crafty engine)

Code: Select all

;
... <alot of rubbish deleted by admin>


chess.unix-ag.uni-kl.de /icsport=5000 /icshelper=timeseal
chess.mds.mdh.se /icsport=5000
}
/firstChessProgramNames={GNUChess
crafty-20.14.exe
"GNUChes5 xboard"
}
/secondChessProgramNames={GNUChess
"GNUChes5 xboard"
}
/showButtonBar=true

6) start position

8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1

7) the test: I open winboard with option /debug, with first engine Crafty

8)I load the start position as in item 6)

9) I make the first move with black Ke6

10) Using winboard menu, I set "Machine White"

11) The engine makes the move Kh5 and immediately winboard gives the error "illegal move Ke6! from first machine"

12) Winboard.debug

Code: Select all

recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
WinBoard 4.2.7 + crafty-20.14.exe
Reset(1, 0) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
StartChildProcess (dir="") crafty-20.14.exe
547 >first : xboard
protover 2
547 <first :
547 <first : Initializing multiple threads.
547 <first : System is SMP, not NUMA.
547 <first : EPD Kit revision date: 1996.04.21
547 <first : unable to open book file [./book.bin].
547 <first : book is disabled
547 <first : unable to open book file [./books.bin].
547 <first : 4 piece tablebase files found
547 <first : 1401kb of RAM used for TB indices and decompression tables
547 <first :
547 <first : Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
547 <first :
547 <first : White(1):
547 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
547 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14! (1 cpus)
547 <first : feature ping=1 setboard=1 san=1 time=1 draw=1
547 >first : accepted ping
547 >first : accepted setboard
547 >first : accepted san
547 >first : accepted time
547 >first : accepted draw
547 <first : feature sigint=0 sigterm=0 reuse=1 analyze=1
547 >first : accepted sigint
547 >first : accepted sigterm
547 >first : accepted reuse
563 >first : accepted analyze
563 <first : feature myname="Crafty-20.14" name=1
563 >first : accepted myname
563 >first : accepted name
563 <first : feature playother=1 colors=0
563 >first : accepted playother
563 >first : accepted colors
563 <first : feature variants="normal,nocastle"
563 >first : accepted variants
563 <first : feature done=1
563 >first : accepted done
578 >first : new
random
578 >first : level 40 5 0
578 >first : hard
578 >first : ping 1
578 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
578 <first : pong 1
4797 >first : force
4797 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
6500 >first : Ke6
9001 >first : name GumieroM
9001 >first : time 30000
otim 30000
9001 >first : go
9016 <first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6! Kg8! 4. Kg6! Kf8! 5. Kh7! Ke7 6.
9016 <first : g6! Kd6 7. g7! Kc5 8. g8=Q Kb4 9. Qe8 Kb3 10. Qc6 Ka2 11. Qb7 Ka1
9016 <first : 12. Kg7 Ka2 13. Kf6! Ka1 14. Ke5! Ka2 15. Kd4! Ka1 16. Kc3! Ka2 17. Qb2#
9016 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14! (1 cpus)
9016 <first : move Kh5

13) Crafty log
<formatted by admin>

Code: Select all

4 piece tablebase files found
1401kb of RAM used for TB indices and decompression tables

Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)

White(1): xboard
White(1): protover 2
feature ping=1 setboard=1 san=1 time=1 draw=1
feature sigint=0 sigterm=0 reuse=1 analyze=1
feature myname="Crafty-20.14" name=1
feature playother=1 colors=0
feature variants="normal,nocastle"
feature done=1
White(1): accepted ping
White(1): accepted setboard
White(1): accepted san
White(1): accepted time
White(1): accepted draw
White(1): accepted sigint
White(1): accepted sigterm
White(1): accepted reuse
White(1): accepted analyze
White(1): accepted myname
White(1): accepted name
White(1): accepted playother
White(1): accepted colors
White(1): accepted variants
White(1): accepted done
White(1): new
White(1): random
White(1): level 40 5 0
40 moves/5 minutes primary time control
40 moves/5 minutes secondary time control
White(1): hard
pondering enabled.
White(1): ping 1
pong 1
White(1): force
White(1): setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1

       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    8  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    7  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    6  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    5  | . |   | . |<K>| . |   |-P-|   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    4  |   | . |   | . |   | . |-K-| . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    3  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    2  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    1  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
         a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

Black(1): Ke6
White(2): name GumieroM
Crafty 20.14 vs GumieroM
White(2): time 30000
time remaining:   5:00 (crafty).
White(2): otim 30000
time remaining:   5:00 (opponent).
White(2): go
              time surplus   0.00  time limit 7.25 (+0.00) (50.75) [easy move]
              depth   time  score   variation (1)
              time=0.00  mat=1  n=9  fh=100%  nps=1.0M
              ext-> check=0 1rep=0 mate=0 reductions=0/0
              predicted=0  evals=1  50move=1  EGTBprobes=1  hits=1
              hashing-> 71%(raw) 71%(draftOK)  0%(saturation)
              hashing-> 71%(exact)  0%(lower)  0%(upper)
              SMP->  splits=0  aborts=0  data=0/256  elap=0.00

mate in 16 moves.

White(2): Kh5
              time used:   0.00

       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    8  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    7  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    6  |   | . |   | . |<K>| . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    5  | . |   | . |   | . |   |-P-|-K-|
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    4  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    3  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    2  |   | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    1  | . |   | . |   | . |   | . |   |
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
         a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

              puzzling over a move to ponder.
              depth   time  score   variation (1)
Black(2): Kf7 [pondering]
              time surplus   0.00  time limit 7.43 (+0.00) (52.01)
              depth   time  score   variation (1)
              time=0.00  mat=1  n=9  fh=100%  nps=1.0M
              ext-> check=0 1rep=0 mate=0 reductions=0/0
              predicted=0  evals=1  50move=2  EGTBprobes=1  hits=1
              hashing-> 71%(raw) 71%(draftOK)  0%(saturation)
              hashing-> 71%(exact)  0%(lower)  0%(upper)
              SMP->  splits=0  aborts=0  data=0/256  elap=0.00
Black(2): force
Black(2): ping 2
pong 2
Black(2): quit

[Volker Pittlik]

...

9) I make the first move with black Ke6

10) Using winboard menu, I set "Machine White"

11) The engine makes the move Kh5 and immediately winboard gives the error "illegal move Ke6! from first machine"

...

Confirmed:

Code: Select all

59715 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
60059 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
60059 <first : pong 2
85536 >first : Ke6
89373 >first : name volker
89373 >first : time 30000
otim 30500
89373 >first : go
89514 <first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6! Kg8! 4. Kg6! Kf8! 5. Kh7! Ke7 6.
xboard: Illegal move "Ke6!" from first machine


Here is something wrong definitely. I have no idea if it is caused by xboard or the engine.

Volker

[Volker Pittlik]

...
Here is something wrong definitely. I have no idea if it is caused by xboard or the engine.

Volker

There is nothing in the crafty.log beginning with "1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5!" what causes the trouble.

However, that line: 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5!... has been send by Crafty to xboard. As far as I understood it is not in accordance to the standards described in sections 9 and 10 of the protocol. But I may be wrong.

If that output solves some problems when playing at chess servers it is maybe possible to send it only if really playing at a server.

Volker


P.S. The same setting with Glaurung:

Code: Select all

29238 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
29708 <first : pong 2
38227 >first : usermove 38227 >first : d5e6
44225 >first : name volker
44225 >first : time 30000
otim 30500
44225 >first : go
44490 <first : 2 +2101 15 16 Kh5 Kd5
44492 <first : 3 +2101 15 74 Kh5 Kf7 Kh6
44493 <first : 4 +2101 15 153 Kh5 Kf7 Kh6 Kg8


normal thinking output decribed in section 10

[Guenther Simon]

Ok with Crafty playing White and me making the first move
as Black I can confirm that behaviour too!
(I first thought the colours should be the other way round
and that worked perfectly)

There will be an illegal move popup then. If I just ignore
it though I can move on as nothing had happened.
IMHO it seems Craftys behaviour is not according
to the WB protocol. If it needs to ponder on a move it
simply should not make that move _on the board_.
Crafty sends its pondered first move ...Ke6 and the real move
Kh5 in one turn! (why not just kibitz the first pondered move?)

Edited: oops on a second view it seems it can be a WB
bug? Don't you need to send 'move XYZ' with the real move?
I need to look again in the protocol. What do you think Volker,
should '...Ke6' interpreted as real move or not by WB?


7170 >first : setboard 8/8/8/3k2P1/6K1/8/8/8 b - - 0 1
7871 <first : tellicsnoalias set 1 Crafty v20.14 (1 cpus)
7871 <first : pong 2
11286 >first : Ke6
13119 >first : name Guenther Simon
13119 >first : time 12000
13119 >first : otim 12000
13119 >first : go
13139 <first : 1. ... Ke6! 2. Kh5! Kf7! 3. Kh6! Kg8! 4. Kg6! Kf8! 5. Kh7! Ke7 6.
13139 <first : g6! Kd6 7. g7! Kc5 8. g8=Q Kb4 9. Qe8 Kb3 10. Qc6 Ka2 11. Qb7 Ka1
13139 <first : 12. Kg7 Ka2 13. Kf6! Ka1 14. Ke5! Ka2 15. Kd4! Ka1 16. Kc3! Ka2 17. Qb2#
13149 <first : tellicsnoalias kibitz Hello from Crafty v20.14! (1 cpus)
13419 <first : move Kh5

Regards,
Guenther

[Volker Pittlik]

...
oops on a second view it seems it can be a WB
bug? Don't you need to send 'move XYZ' with the real move?
I need to look again in the protocol. What do you think Volker,
should '...Ke6' interpreted as real move or not by WB?...

When it comes to the protocol you have to be pedantic.
From my point of view

firstly "1...Ke6" shouldn't be send be xboard/winboard because it is against the standard. ("...In general, an engine should not send any output to xboard that is not described in this document...")

secondly "1...Ke6" must not be interpreted as a move by the GUI.

From my point of view there are two little bugs here.

BTW: thanks to Massimo! It is very hard to convince others that there is a bug when it is so hard to reproduce.

Volker

[Thomas McBurney]

...
oops on a second view it seems it can be a WB
bug? Don't you need to send 'move XYZ' with the real move?
I need to look again in the protocol. What do you think Volker,
should '...Ke6' interpreted as real move or not by WB?...

When it comes to the protocol you have to be pedantic.
From my point of view

firstly "1...Ke6" shouldn't be send be xboard/winboard because it is against the standard. ("...In general, an engine should not send any output to xboard that is not described in this document...")

secondly "1...Ke6" must not be interpreted as a move by the GUI.

From my point of view there are two little bugs here.

BTW: thanks to Massimo! It is very hard to convince others that there is a bug when it is so hard to reproduce.

Volker

G'day Volker!

I think this is a legitimate move format. The reason why I think that is because this move format ("1. ... Ke6") is used by GNU Chess, and as you may already know, Xboard/Winboard was originally written as the GUI for GNU Chess. I also know from my experience of writting the TLCV broadcast server that there are bunch of engines that use this move format. Eg. Yin, Akibu, Dragon, Little Goliath and more use this move format.

So this move format is still a part of Xboard & Winboard for historical reasons, so I guess Crafty needs to be a little bit more carefull with it's output.

Cheers,
Tom.