ChessGUI is back.

[Roger Brown]

I hope you are having fun with it my friend. Good to see that the creative urges are tormenting you still.

Agreed.

Of course, until it looks like the Chessbase gui it will not quite have made it to the big time....

Disagree here. I think it doesn't have the same purpose so it is unimportant. It offers things the CB GUI does not. In DF12 GUI I cannot run gauntlets of more than 256 different games (128 positions inverting colors), nor can I run games using fractions of a second. Note that this isn't just interesting for massive Eng-Eng matches, it is also interesting for time handicapped matches. Ex: suppose you are a 2000 player wanting to play a g/15 match against Rybka, and you don't want it dumbed down, just limited. In the Fritz GUI there is no way to have it play game in 10 seconds (for example).

Hello Albert,

You missed the very heavy irony in my post.



Later.

[Matthias Gemuh]

Disagree here. I think it doesn't have the same purpose so it is unimportant. It offers things the CB GUI does not. In DF12 GUI I cannot run gauntlets of more than 256 different games (128 positions inverting colors), nor can I run games using fractions of a second. Note that this isn't just interesting for massive Eng-Eng matches, it is also interesting for time handicapped matches. Ex: suppose you are a 2000 player wanting to play a g/15 match against Rybka, and you don't want it dumbed down, just limited. In the Fritz GUI there is no way to have it play game in 10 seconds (for example).

Like under the Winboard GUI, each engine under ChessGUI can be handicapped by defining a "Time Fraction".

Time Fraction = 100 means only 1 % of TC Time is used.

[Engin]

Hi Matthias,

please go ahead !

if you find the bugs destroy them that makes the GUI better and better !

sometimes i will give up too with programming....but if you give up, what do you want to do then ?

the Chess GUI is the best Chess Variant and engine tournament GUI that i saw before, even Fritz and Shredder Classic GUI is behind your GUI

[Matthias Gemuh]

Hi Matthias,

please go ahead !

if you find the bugs destroy them that makes the GUI better and better !

sometimes i will give up too with programming....but if you give up, what do you want to do then ?

the Chess GUI is the best Chess Variant and engine tournament GUI that i saw before, even Fritz and Shredder Classic GUI is behind your GUI

Thanks, Engin !

I will surely continue with the ChessGUI project. I like the GUI a lot for its unique features. Currently I am running a fun Swiss tournament with 1600 engines, using a time gradient to play slow games at top of table and fast games at bottom.

Best,
Matthias.

[OliverUwira]

Currently I am running a fun Swiss tournament with 1600 engines, using a time gradient to play slow games at top of table and fast games at bottom.

Hi Matthias,

I wondered if you could tip me off about your implementation of the Swiss pairing and if your algorithm would have a chance for certification by FIDE.

I found implementing the pairing algorithm as specified by FIDE extremely difficult and I am still clueless about how to tackle it properly.

I've once read a paper about solving Swiss pairing as a Stable-Roommate problem, but up until now I haven't found any code examples of a SR algorithm. So the best I can think of is devising some sort of branch-and-bound optimization.

[Matthias Gemuh]

Currently I am running a fun Swiss tournament with 1600 engines, using a time gradient to play slow games at top of table and fast games at bottom.

Hi Matthias,

I wondered if you could tip me off about your implementation of the Swiss pairing and if your algorithm would have a chance for certification by FIDE.

I found implementing the pairing algorithm as specified by FIDE extremely difficult and I am still clueless about how to tackle it properly.

I've once read a paper about solving Swiss pairing as a Stable-Roommate problem, but up until now I haven't found any code examples of a SR algorithm. So the best I can think of is devising some sort of branch-and-bound optimization.

Hi Oliver,

it is nice to have a stable roommate, especially if she cooks well too.
I did not follow FIDE rules (strictly) in my Swiss algo and really don't care much about certification. I am satisfied with the algo.
Why not play around with ChessGUI Swiss to see whether it works according to your taste, before we talk algo ?

Cheers,
Matthias.

[OliverUwira]

Hi Oliver,

it is nice to have a stable roommate, especially if she cooks well too.
I did not follow FIDE rules (strictly) in my Swiss algo and really don't care much about certification. I am satisfied with the algo.
Why not play around with ChessGUI Swiss to see whether it works according to your taste, before we talk algo ?

Cheers,
Matthias.

I have to admit that I'm having real trouble using ChessGUI. Somehow the windows are much too large on my screen and engines won't start playing. Do you know of any issues with regard to Windows 7?

As the author of an engine GUI, I also would not really care too much about a 100% correct implementation of the FIDE rules.

However, I'd like to end up with an implementation that is FIDE proof, because SwissChess is such a horrible piece of software that I decided I'd develop a GPL tournament manager that could also be used for human tournaments (-:

[Matthias Gemuh]

Hi Oliver,

it is nice to have a stable roommate, especially if she cooks well too.
I did not follow FIDE rules (strictly) in my Swiss algo and really don't care much about certification. I am satisfied with the algo.
Why not play around with ChessGUI Swiss to see whether it works according to your taste, before we talk algo ?

Cheers,
Matthias.

I have to admit that I'm having real trouble using ChessGUI. Somehow the windows are much too large on my screen and engines won't start playing. Do you know of any issues with regard to Windows 7?

As the author of an engine GUI, I also would not really care too much about a 100% correct implementation of the FIDE rules.

However, I'd like to end up with an implementation that is FIDE proof, because SwissChess is such a horrible piece of software that I decided I'd develop a GPL tournament manager that could also be used for human tournaments (-:

Make a clean install of ChessGUI 0.204 and if your screen resolution is very high, check "Higher Grid Cells" in GUI Preferences (through tournament setup window).
If engines don't start, then visit the Time Control window.

I shall try to explain my Swiss algo later.

Matthias.

[Matthias Gemuh]

Hi Matthias,

I wondered if you could tip me off about your implementation of the Swiss pairing and if your algorithm would have a chance for certification by FIDE.

I found implementing the pairing algorithm as specified by FIDE extremely difficult and I am still clueless about how to tackle it properly.

I've once read a paper about solving Swiss pairing as a Stable-Roommate problem, but up until now I haven't found any code examples of a SR algorithm. So the best I can think of is devising some sort of branch-and-bound optimization.

ChessGUI Swiss Algo

1) Sort engines according to points Pts.
1a) If there are ties, resolve them with Sonneborn-Berger SB.
1b) If there are still ties, resolve them with Elo.
The final order is (1 ... m ... n ... T) for T engines (total).
The engines (m ... n) all have same Pts.

2) For each engine Eng in range (m ... n), scan for a "new" opponent Opp1 in
this order:
2a) (m+n+1)/2 ... n
2b) backwards (m+n-1)/2 ... m
2c) (n+1) ... T
"new" means the opponent has not been played against in previous rounds.

3) Try to get a better opponent Opp2 by repeating 2a and 2b, looking for an
opponent with white/black statistics from previous rounds that match
Eng better than the white/black statistics of Opp1. The criteria are:
3a) how often have Eng, Opp1, Opp2 played white/black.
3b) which colour did Eng, Opp1, Opp2 play in previous round.

4) Eng will play against Opp.
Opp = Opp2, if step 3 found an opponent, else Opp = Opp1.
Determine which colours they will play according to:
4a) how often have Eng, Opp played white/black.
4b) which colour did Eng, Opp play in previous round.

Currently, ChessGUI has not yet implemented step 3, but in eng-eng
tournaments it is far less important than in human tournaments.

I did not even consider fulfilling any FIDE Swiss pairing rules/proposals.

Matthias.

[Gregory Owett]

Hi Matthias,

Could You sum up the files you need to save and copy in the new version, so that You do not have to reconfigure the GUI and reinstalling the engines each time.

Thank you in advance!
Gregory