Chess Analysis Project FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions)
Project manager: Dann Corbit
Email: dcorbit@connx.com
C.A.P. FAQ authors: Dann Corbit; Richard Fowell; Shaun Brewer
C.A.P. Newsgroup http://www.dejanews.com/~c_a_p
Chess Data: ftp://38.168.214.175/pub
The location of this
document:
HTML: ftp://38.168.214.175/pub/Chess%20Analysis%20Project%20FAQ.htm
Word97: ftp://38.168.214.175/pub/Chess%20Analysis%20Project%20FAQ.doc
RTF: ftp://38.168.214.175/pub/Chess%20Analysis%20Project%20FAQ.rtf
Text: ftp://38.168.214.175/pub/Chess%20Analysis%20Project%20FAQ.txt
Benefactors (more to come,
pending permission):
|
name |
url |
notes |
|
Applied Computer Concepts Ltd. |
http://www.acc-ltd.demon.co.uk/ |
Mark Uniacke has been very helpful in supplying the
C.A.P. project with the advanced HIARCS 7 computer program. |
|
Bookup Corporation |
http://www.bookup.com/ |
Mike Leahy "The Database Man" has been very
helpful in supplying excellent Bookup software for our C.A.P. project |
|
Chess Assistant Co. |
http://www.chessassistant.com/ |
Victor Zakharov of Chess Assistant has been absolutely
instrumental in supplying the C.A.P. team with top-notch database
software. Victor has given many hours
of special consulting and has even written custom software especially for the
project. Victor is also the most
active current participant, with a huge collection of machines operating
towards project goals. Victor
Zakharov is probably the most important and influential member of the C.A.P.
team (including the founder). |
|
Dr. Robert M. Hyatt, Ph.D. |
http://www.cis.uab.edu/info/faculty/hyatt/hyatt.html |
Dr. Robert Hyatt of the University of Alabama at
Birmingham has been incredibly helpful, both in supplying the Crafty chess
program and also incredibly useful advice to the C.A.P. project. |
|
Pace University |
http://www.pace.edu/mainN.html |
Pace University has been very helpful in active
participation in the project, through use of computer equipment, time and
resources. We are very grateful. Peter Knopf and Erich Markert have been
instrumental in lending assistance to the project. |
|
Schröder BV |
http://www.rebel.nl/ |
Ed Schröder has been very helpful in supplying the
C.A.P. project with the powerful Rebel 10 chess program. |
Current
Active Participants............................................................................................................................................................... 5
How do I use Rebel to analyze .EPD files?........................................................................................................................................ 7
How do I use Hiarcs to analyze .EPD files?...................................................................................................................................... 7
Why is the project so "Crafty-Centric?"........................................................................................................................................ 8
I don't see my name in the list of contributors, where is it?......................................................................................................... 8
I can’t run analyze.cmd.
My computer says “Bad command or file name.”.............................................................................. 9
I don’t understand this
junk in crafty.rc....................................................................................................................... 9
Can I use my opening
books during analysis?................................................................................................................. 11
Can I use my tablebase
files during analysis?.............................................................................................................. 11
Can I use “time cpu”
instead of “time elapsed” (the default)?............................................................................ 11
Can I use sd instead of
st?...................................................................................................................................................... 11
I shut crafty down by
killing the task and all the analysis went away. What should I do?........... 11
How can I get the
utmost performance out of Crafty?......................................................................................... 11
I get “EG fault: a
problem occurred during epdpfga processing.”...................................................................... 11
Sending Results................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
The mailer gave me an
error. What should I do?...................................................................................................... 12
I heard about another
mailer. Can I use that?.......................................................................................................... 12
Since I can’t get the
automatic mailers to work, what should I do?............................................................. 12
Can I combine result
sets?..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Workload or processing difficulties.............................................................................................................................................. 12
I ran out of time and
had to use my machine. Should I start
the batch over?.......................................... 12
Your daily batches are
much too long. Can you shorten them?....................................................................... 12
Your weekend batches
are much too long. Can you shorten
them?................................................................ 12
I just can’t keep up
with all these files you are sending.
Should I drop out of the project?............. 12
I want out. What do I have to do to quit?.................................................................................................................. 12
I want back in. What do I have to do to get back in?............................................................................................. 12
The ‘magic’ directory........................................................................................................................................................................ 13
How can I get to the
‘magic’ directory, and what is stored there?................................................................. 13
I’ve been trying to get
on to your FTP site for the last couple of days. I can get to the /usr/analyzer
directory, but not to any of the subdirectories. Is this intentional?.................................................................................. 13
Generic project miscellaneous goo................................................................................................................................................. 14
What are the goals of
the project?................................................................................................................................ 14
What is the status of
the project?.................................................................................................................................. 14
What about using the
resources of Distributed.net?............................................................................................. 14
Can I make a project
suggestion?....................................................................................................................................... 15
Project ECO:.............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Project OrAnG UtAn:............................................................................................................................................................... 15
Project Apocalypse:................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Project Heartwood:.................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Project Stonewall:.................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Project Connect The
Dots:...................................................................................................................................................... 15
Project Brainy-SOC:................................................................................................................................................................ 16
Project NOSE:........................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Project Ghost Games
-- the road not traveled:.................................................................................................................... 16
Project Whirlwind:................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Project Bulldozer:..................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Project "What a
War in '24":................................................................................................................................................ 16
Project "Clash
of the Titans":............................................................................................................................................... 16
Project "Johnny
Walker Takes the Fifth":......................................................................................................................... 16
As a sanity check have
you run any statistics on the data for the current project?........................... 16
Do I have to use Crafty
to do the analysis?................................................................................................................. 16
I asked to join, but
you never sent me a batch. Where is it?................................................................................ 16
I thought this project
was to study openings. Why does my
output have checkmates in it?!............ 16
Credit where credit is
due: Where does the idea for this project originate?............................................. 17
What is the best way to view C.A.P. data?.................................................................................................................... 18
What is this 'Brainy' thing and how does it work?.................................................................................................... 18
I am finally seeing the
ECO project data. Am I to infer that the analysis shows that 1. d4 is
white's strongest opening since it's the highest value of (+20)?................................................................................................................ 18
This is a notice for the "Chess Analysis Project, Phase
II"...................................................................................................... 18
What will be needed
from those who wish to participate?................................................................................ 18
What is the status of
the data for the Chess Analysis Project, Phase II?..................................................... 19
How does one become a
captain?........................................................................................................................................ 19
What will be the scale
of the Chess Analysis Project, Phase II?........................................................................ 19
What engines can be
used to analyze?........................................................................................................................... 19
|
"Active Participants" |
|
Anonymous Mr. |
|
Anthony Crawley {On Break} |
|
Bart Van Hoyweghen |
|
Bernhard Bauer {On Break} |
|
Bert Quijalvo |
|
Bill Murphy |
|
Brandon Beasley {On Break} |
|
Brandon Galbraith |
|
Brian Deane |
|
Brian Schroeder {On Break} |
|
Bruce Ford |
|
Bryan R. Drysdale {On Break} |
|
cell . {On Break} |
|
Dan Andersson |
|
Danniel Corbit |
|
Dave Gomboc |
|
Dave Pantaleo |
|
Derek Adair |
|
Douglas Elznic |
|
Ed Seid {On Break} |
|
Erich Markert {On Break} |
|
Francesco Di Tolla {On Break} |
|
Glenn Frazier |
|
Jeremiah Penery {On Break} |
|
Joao Rita |
|
John Hartley {On Break} |
|
John Perry {On Break} |
|
Johnny McMenamin {On Break} |
|
Larry Applebaum {On Break} |
|
Les Fernandez |
|
Manuel J. Petit de Gabriel |
|
Mark Ping {On Break} |
|
McRiley . {On Break} |
|
Michel Langeveld |
|
Mike McKee |
|
Mr. Anonymous |
|
Paul Walker |
|
Pete Berger {On Break} |
|
Pete Rihaczek |
|
Quenton Fyfe {On Break} |
|
Ricardo Sant'Ana |
|
Richard Fowell {On Break} |
|
Rob Shultz {On Break} |
|
Roger Davis {On Break} |
|
Russ Garratt |
|
S Warren Lohr |
|
Secret Secret |
|
Shaun Brewer |
|
Stefan Hildingstam {On Break} |
|
Terry Bohannon |
|
thewiz . {On Break} |
|
Thomas F. Mooney, III |
|
Tom Davie |
|
Tony Day {On Break} |
|
Victor Zakharov |
A few of these are on "unofficial" break…
Contributed by Shaun
Brewer
1.
Ensure the EPD file
to analyze has the .EPD extension. (Note: analysis is written to this file so
it would be prudent to take a backup first).
2.
If the first line
of the EPD file contains TIME=mm:ss then this will be used for the analysis
time otherwise you will be asked to enter a time.
3.
Start Rebel10 (For
the best performance Run in DOS this will give approximately 5% improvement in
NPS. Machines with 64mb or more RAM may experience problems if you reboot to
DOS from Windows95. Shutdown Windows95 and restart in DOS safe mode to avoid
this, you have to load the mouse drivers yourself). If you have problems with
this email me, Shaun@brewer-1.freeserve.co.uk, and I will try to help).
4.
Ensure Rebel10 has
the following settings, these are Rebel10's default setting apart from the
Combination setting (Settings can be found under the 'Options' menu):
·
Anti-GM set to
SMART
·
EOC use
(Encyclopedia of Chess) set to 'N'
·
Combination to Off
- This is probably the only setting you will have to change, off is the default
for game play and therefore this will, I believe, give the best results for
normal positions.
5.
From the 'Extra'
menu select 'Analyze EPD file' then select the file to analyze. (Fairly
standard 'Windows type' file selection).
6.
If the 'TIME' line
was not present in your EPD file you will be asked for the time control
otherwise analysis will commence immediately.
Example of an EPD file
for REBEL10 for 15 minute analysis a valid file name would be 'TEST.EPD'.
TIME=15:00
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1p2n2/3P1P2/8/N3P3/r2PQ1PP/5RK1 w - -
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/1r2P3/3P4/4Q1PP/5RK1 w - -
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/1r2P3/3P4/6PP/3Q1RK1 b - -
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/4P3/3P4/1r3RPP/3Q2K1 b - -
Example output (30
second analysis).
TIME=00:30
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1p2n2/3P1P2/8/N3P3/r2PQ1PP/5RK1 w - - ce -317; pv
00:00:18 4.00 -3.18 Na3-b1 c6xd5 Nb1-c3
Ra2-b2 Nc3-d1 Rb2-c2 Nd1-c3 ; c0 Analysis by Rebel 10.0; c1 fixed: ; c2 Key move
not found after 30 seconds; c3 Total moves found sofar 0; c4 Total time sofar
30 seconds;
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/1r2P3/3P4/4Q1PP/5RK1 w - - ce -417; pv
00:00:12 6.00 -4.18 Qe2-d2 Qf7-b3
Qd2-e1 Kg8-h8 Qe1-g3 Nf6-e8 ; c0 Analysis by Rebel 10.0; c1 fixed: ; c2 Key
move not found after 30 seconds; c3 Total moves found sofar 0; c4 Total time
sofar 60 seconds;
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/1r2P3/3P4/6PP/3Q1RK1 b - - ce 508; pv
00:00:22 7.00 5.09 Qf7-c7 Kg1-h1 Qc7xc6
Qd1-a1 Qc6-b7 Rf1-c1 Rb4-b2 ; c0 Analysis by Rebel 10.0; c1 fixed: ; c2 Key
move not found after 30 seconds; c3 Total moves found sofar 0; c4 Total time
sofar 90 seconds;
2b3k1/p4qpp/p1P2n2/5P2/4P3/3P4/1r3RPP/3Q2K1 b - - ce 493; pv
00:00:23 8.00 4.93 Qf7-b3 Qd1xb3+
Rb2xb3 Rf2-d2 Rb3-c3 Rd2-a2 Rc3xc6 ; c0 Analysis by Rebel 10.0; c1 fixed: ; c2
Key move not found after 30 seconds; c3 Total moves found sofar 0; c4 Total
time sofar 120 seconds;
The Rebel homepage is here:
http://www.rebel.nl/edindex.htm
Using HIARCS to analyze .EPD files
Contributed by Richard A. Fowell
Suppose you have a file full of .epd problems. To be specific, perhaps
Dann Corbit sent you a file and asked you to analyze each problem for
907 seconds.
1) Strip off all the non-epd lines from the file, to get a file
that consists of nothing but
lines like the six below.
(if you're curious - the last
few characters of the first line mean:
Black (b) is on the move,
white can legally castle on either the
king or queen side (KQ), black
can legally castle only on the
king side (k), and the side on
the move can capture en passant
on the f3 square. For the
position in the second line, White is
on the move (W), neither side
can legally castle (-), and there
are no legal en passant
captures (-).)
1nb1kb1r/1p1p1ppp/1qp2n2/4r3/2PNpP2/P1N1P3/3P2PP/R1BQKB1R b KQk f3
1nb1r1k1/1p3ppp/2p1pn2/q2p4/2P5/2N1PN2/3PBPPP/3Q1RK1 w - -
1nb1kb1r/1p1p1ppp/1qp2n2/4r3/2P5/P1N1PN2/3P2PP/R1BQKB1R b KQk -
1nb1k2r/1pq1bppp/2pp1n2/1P6/8/2N5/3PPPPP/B2QKBNR w Kk -
1nb1r1k1/1p3ppp/2p1pn2/q2p4/2P5/2N1PN2/3PBPPP/2Q2RK1 b - -
1nb1r1k1/1p3ppp/2p1p3/q2p4/2PPn3/2N1PN2/4BPPP/2Q2RK1 b - d3
2) Start up HIARCS, and set up the following settings:
(do this in the order specified
- some commands are order dependent)
Level: Infinite
HIARCS: unselect "Permanent Brain"
HIARCS: Selectivity = 5
HIARCS: Style = Normal
Options: Book = Off
Options: Max Time = 907
(This last bit is what set the
thinking time)
3) Go to File: Analyse EPD, and select the file with the EPD positions.
4) Go to lunch, work, sleep, whatever. Don't try to run something else
while analyzing the problem (no
programs in background, either),
or HIARCS won't get the number
of CPU cycles intended.
5) Wait until the time equal to the number of lines times the thinking
time, for HIARCS to complete.
(It will say something like:
"Your Move.
5 positions done."
in the display window at the
lower right of the main window
when it is done).
6) The .epd file should now be processed - if you look at it in
a text editor, it will look
something like the lines below.
The "ce" stands for
"centipawns" (evaluation expressed in 1/100 pawn.
The "pv" stands for
"principal variation", the best line HIARCS found.
1nb1kb1r/1p1p1ppp/1qp2n2/4r3/2PNpP2/P1N1P3/3P2PP/R1BQKB1R b KQk f3 ce
-14; pv exf3 Nxf3 Rh5 Be2 Bd6 O-O Qc7 h3 ;
1nb1r1k1/1p3ppp/2p1pn2/q2p4/2P5/2N1PN2/3PBPPP/3Q1RK1 w - - ce
-87; pv Qc2 dxc4 Bxc4 b5 Bd3 e5 Ng5 g6 ;
1nb1kb1r/1p1p1ppp/1qp2n2/4r3/2P5/P1N1PN2/3P2PP/R1BQKB1R b KQk - ce -14; pv Rh5 Be2 Bd6 O-O Qc7 h3 ;
1nb1k2r/1pq1bppp/2pp1n2/1P6/8/2N5/3PPPPP/B2QKBNR w Kk - ce
-38; pv bxc6 bxc6 e4 O-O d4 Be6 Bb2 Bg4 ;
1nb1r1k1/1p3ppp/2p1pn2/q2p4/2P5/2N1PN2/3PBPPP/2Q2RK1 b - - ce
112; pv dxc4 Bxc4 b5 Qb2 Na6 Be2 Bb7 Ra1 Qb4 Qxb4 Nxb4 d4 Nc2 ;
7) Email the processed file to Dann.
Hiarcs Home page is here:
http://www.acc-ltd.demon.co.uk/
For those who don't know about Crafty, Crafty is a freely available Chess program that runs on a large number of platforms. You don't have to use Crafty. Crafty works on Unix, Mac, PC's etc. and can be used to accomplish all of the project needs. If you have another tool that you would prefer to use, that would be just as good or better.
Currently, most of the systems in use are running Crafty. There are a few Hiarcs and Rebel entries as well. Any new system can be used, as long as the EPD output format is documented.
Superior results are sure to result from a broad range of systems and software. Where one program is weak, the other may be strong and vice-versa.
If you have suggestions as to additional tools to expand the functionality of the project, by all means, send a note to dcorbit@solutionsiq.com and/or user923005@aol.com.
You probably won't see your name in the list until I receive your first batch of data. If you have sent the data and are still not in the list, please send me an email and I will update the list. It's just an oversight. Also, if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, please remember to press the "refresh" button.
A: That’s my
fault. I should have named it
“analyze.bat” because Windows 95 does not know what to do with a file with an
extension of “.cmd”. If you simply
rename the file analyze.bat, it should run.
A: (piece by piece – for more details, get ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt/v15/crafty.doc which explains the settings in exquisite detail)
st=720.
The st
command is used to set the number of seconds used. This number will be different for each different computer. I use the NPS value given by crafty to
determine this setting.
time cpu
The default
is “time elapsed” and it turns out that this setting is better. If your computer is multi-tasking a bunch of
other programs, then this setting will ensure that process time is used,
instead of wall time. It probably won’t
make a lot of difference, since Crafty has a remarkable ability to hog cpu, but
it could make some difference.
The display settings:
display notime
display nochanges
display novariation
display nostats
display noextstats
display nomovenum
display nomoves
display nogeneral
These
display settings turn off the updating of the screen. In the case of the current analysis, they will make little or no
difference in the EPD throughput. When
the phase of the project to analyze at very short time intervals arrives, it
will make a large difference.
log off
Another
thing to prevent wasting time. I don’t
need the log files, and they just chew up a lot of space if you are going to
run crafty frequently. During the
initial stages of the project you can leave it on, if you like to read the
logs. But when it is time for short
interval analysis, please turn it off.
name ferret
This is necessary to fool crafty into thinking it is playing against a tough computer opponent. It has internal tables of names and this is one that it recognize