XBoard and epd tournament

[vladstamate]

Hi,

I currently use Arena when I want to test my engine against another engine using a set of predefined starting positions (such as Nunn 20).

However I would like to use XBoard/Winboard for this (as well). Is it possible to tell XBoard to start each game picking up a position in a given epd file, and choose a different (next) position from the epd list in each game? How about starting each position with both black and white?

I heard something about cutechess-cli. Will that accomplish what I need?

Kind regards,
Vlad.

[Richard Allbert]

Hi,

Yes you can.

For example.. the following command line..

Code: Select all

c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_gerbil02.ini

Is one line from my automated toutnament runner.

Key cammands are /lgf to load a pgn file, or use /lpi to load an epd file.

You then use /lgi to load a specific game from the pgn file, or /lpi to load a specific game from an epd file.

Code: Select all

c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_gerbil02.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 1 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @latista.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_gerbil02.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 2 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @latista.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_gerbil02.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 3 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @latista.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_gerbil02.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @alarm0931.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_latista.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @gerbil02.ini @s_wing.ini
c:\Chess\wbx\winboard.exe /mg=2 /cp /lgf c:\Chess\wbx\startpos\nunn.pgn /lgi 4 /tc 1 /inc 1 /sgf=c:\Chess\wbx\save\test.pgn /xreuse /xreuse2 @latista.ini @s_wing.ini

Hope that helps.

Oh, in the @engine.ini contains the startup info for the engine.

Richard

[hgm]

Note that the above could be appreciably shortened by writing:

/mg 8 /lpi -2

WinBoard will then play the first four positions of the file each 2 times (with black and white), so that you only need one command for each engine. With

/mg 4 /lpi -1

it would play the first 4 positions only once, alternating colors between games. If you do not want the alternation, you could write

/sameColorGames 4 /lpi -1

Then the first engine wil play white in all 4 games.

[Richard Allbert]

Well that helps a lot, thanks!!

[vladstamate]

Excellent! That is exactly the information I was looking for. Although I feel a bit ashamed for not going the extra mile and finding this for myself. However I am grateful for your help nevertheless!

Regards,
Vlad.