Fast games

Discussion of chess software programming and technical issues.

Moderators: hgm, Rebel, chrisw

kempelem

Fast games

Post by kempelem »

Apparently people are testing engines at very fast time controls (1 game/second or so) i try this in Arena but i get 80% time losses .

Are some free utility for test UCI engines in this conditions?

Do the engines need some special features?
bob
Posts: 20943
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:30 pm
Location: Birmingham, AL

Re: Fast games

Post by bob »

kempelem wrote:Apparently people are testing engines at very fast time controls (1 game/second or so) i try this in Arena but i get 80% time losses .

Are some free utility for test UCI engines in this conditions?

Do the engines need some special features?
Game in 1 second is tough. I play crafty vs crafty like that with no problems, but most programs simply can not deal with that fast a time control. I cluster test using 10s + 0.1s which works well, and I can play 30K games with no time losses. You do have to be a little selective with your opponents if you want to play fast games as too many simply can't keep up and lose on time, repeatedly.
User avatar
nthom
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:15 am
Location: Australia

Re: Fast games

Post by nthom »

kempelem wrote:Apparently people are testing engines at very fast time controls (1 game/second or so) i try this in Arena but i get 80% time losses .

Are some free utility for test UCI engines in this conditions?

Do the engines need some special features?
You cant use Arena for these fast games, it has too much overhead. I made my own tester to do game in 1sec with 0.1sec increments (configurable), you can download it from http://kimiensoftware.com/littlethought ... litzer.php if you like. It's still a bit unpolished but does the job for me. Like Bob said, there were a lot of engines that just can't handle that speed though. You have to try a bunch until you settle on some that suit.
Roger Brown
Posts: 782
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:22 pm

Re: Fast games

Post by Roger Brown »

nthom wrote: You cant use Arena for these fast games, it has too much overhead. I made my own tester to do game in 1sec with 0.1sec increments (configurable), you can download it from http://kimiensoftware.com/littlethought ... litzer.php if you like. It's still a bit unpolished but does the job for me. Like Bob said, there were a lot of engines that just can't handle that speed though. You have to try a bunch until you settle on some that suit.


Hello Nathan,

Had a quick look at your software.

It does not seem as it supports selecting the number of cores/processors to be used? Or does it automatically use the engine's default?

Later.
User avatar
nthom
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:15 am
Location: Australia

Re: Fast games

Post by nthom »

Roger Brown wrote:
Hello Nathan,

Had a quick look at your software.

It does not seem as it supports selecting the number of cores/processors to be used? Or does it automatically use the engine's default?

Later.
You're correct - it uses default for nearly everything other than the few items listed in the readme. The next version I'm working on now will be much more configurable.
Roger Brown
Posts: 782
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:22 pm

Re: Fast games

Post by Roger Brown »

nthom wrote:
Roger Brown wrote:
Hello Nathan,

Had a quick look at your software.

It does not seem as it supports selecting the number of cores/processors to be used? Or does it automatically use the engine's default?

Later.
You're correct - it uses default for nearly everything other than the few items listed in the readme. The next version I'm working on now will be much more configurable.



Hello Nathan,

Good news!

Any possibility that Winboard engines would be supported by your software? Or is that too much work?

:-)

Thanks for your software.

Later.
User avatar
nthom
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:15 am
Location: Australia

Re: Fast games

Post by nthom »

Sorry unlikely, unless I get really bored :)