Chess for Android v5.0: Time Control

[Ferdy]

After some delay, I finally released version 5.0 of Chess for Android, available on Google Play or as direct download. New features include:

• * Time control to define a chess clock for both sides with a choice between the number of moves between time control (possibly the full game), thinking time per time control, and an optional time increment per move.
  * Double engine analysis lines during tournaments, especially useful with pondering on.
  * Re-factored a lot of the engine handling code, with improved cleanup of hanging engines.

This is a relatively major release, so please let me know if you encounter any issues. Also, as usual, suggestions for improvements are welcome.

Arasan has problems on playing with ponder on, I use the "10 games from random book" option. The match was not finished because Arasan exited. I am just posting this for you and Jon's info. I would suggest if you can expand a little bit on the event value adding ponder on/off info, something like,

Code: Select all

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament, p=on"]

Code: Select all

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Black "Arasan 17.4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. e4 {opening reply 0.001} e5 {opening reply 0.001}
2. Nf3 {opening reply 0.002} Nc6 {opening reply 0.001}
3. Bc4 {opening reply 0.001} Nf6 {opening reply 0.001}
4. Nc3 {opening reply 0.002} Nxe4 {opening reply 0.001}
5. O-O {[13/28]39 11.838} Nxc3 {[15]-4/d2c3 8.701}
6. dxc3 {[14/24]49/h7h6 10.99} h6 {[14]0/d1d5 0.045}
7. Be3 {[13/25]18/d7d6 13.192} Qf6 {[13]22/d1d5 8.501}
8. Qd3 {[12/23]8/d7d6 9.074} d6 {[14]46/c4b5 8.288}
9. Bd5 {[13/31]-13/f8e7 2.63} a6 {[15]82/b5a4 8.108}
10. Be4 {[12/25]-9/f8e7 8.726} Be7 {[16]66/d5e4 7.884}
11. c4 {[13/29]-29/e8f8 2.653} Be6 {[16]-326/c3c4 23.013}
12. Qb3 {[15/24]0/e6c8 8.422} O-O {[17]-42/c2c3 21.131}
13. Qxb7 {[14/26]65/c6d4 8.185} Na5 {[17]130/b3a4 6.49}
14. Qxc7 {[14/30]135/a5c4 7.925} 1-0 {black resigned:Time Control 0:03:50 vs. flag}

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Arasan 17.4"]
[Black "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. d4 {opening reply 0.001} d5 {opening reply 0.001}
2. c4 {opening reply 0.0} c5 {opening reply 0.001}
3. dxc5 {[14]34/d8a5 8.667} e6 {[13/26]-20/c1e3 11.772} 0-1 {white resigned:illegal move e7e6 ponder c1e3}

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Black "Arasan 17.4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. e4 {opening reply 0.001} e5 {opening reply 0.0}
2. Nf3 {opening reply 0.001} Nc6 {opening reply 0.001}
3. Bc4 {opening reply 0.0} Nf6 {opening reply 0.001}
4. Ng5 {opening reply 0.0} d5 {opening reply 0.001}
5. exd5 {[14/27]7/c6a5 11.862} Na5 {[14]-64/c4b5 9.58}
6. Bb5+ {[15/30]-2/c7c6 4.116} Bd7 {[15]-70/d1e2 6.848}
7. Qe2 {[12/24]40/f8c5 9.707} Bd6 {[15]-66/b5d7 1.025}
8. Bxd7+ {[13/25]60/d8d7 9.384} Qxd7 {[15]-66/b1c3 1.34}
9. Nc3 {[13/23]51/e8g8 9.999} c6 {[15]-78/d5c6 0.718}
10. O-O {[12/23]17/c6d5 8.816} 1-0 {black resigned:illegal move a5c6 ponder e1g1}

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Arasan 17.4"]
[Black "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "22"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. e4 {opening reply 0.0} e5 {opening reply 0.001}
2. Nf3 {opening reply 0.0} d6 {opening reply 0.001}
3. d4 {opening reply 0.0} f5 {opening reply 0.001}
4. Bc4 {opening reply 0.001} fxe4 {opening reply 0.0}
5. Nxe5 {[14]174/d6e5 8.709} dxe5 {[13/28]-107/d1h5 11.864}
6. Qh5+ {[14]187/e8d7 0.039} Kd7 {[14/23]-210 13.651}
7. dxe5 {[13]214/c7c5 0.032} Kc6 {[12/26]-252/b1c3 10.518}
8. O-O {[15]314/d7c7 8.529} Bc5 {[11/26]-207/b1c3 9.053}
9. Nc3 {[13]342/a7a6 8.313} Qf8 {[12/22]-270/h5e2 2.593}
10. Nxe4 {[15]426/b8d7 24.303} Qf5 {[10/24]-49/h5e2 8.726}
11. Rd1 {[13]424/a7a5 7.459} Qxh5 {[13/25]1008/d1d5 8.467} 0-1 {white resigned:illegal move h5e2 ponder f5g4}

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Black "Arasan 17.4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. e4 {opening reply 0.001} d6 {opening reply 0.001}
2. d4 {opening reply 0.0} Nf6 {opening reply 0.001}
3. Nc3 {opening reply 0.001} g6 {opening reply 0.001}
4. f4 {opening reply 0.0} Bg7 {opening reply 0.001}
5. Bb5+ {[12/33]12/b8c6 11.844} c6 {[14]-29/b5e2 8.708}
6. Bd3 {[13/28]9/b8a6 10.998} 1-0 {black resigned:engine terminates}

[Event "Chess for Android Tournament"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2015.01.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Arasan 17.4"]
[Black "Deuterium v14.3.34.130"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[Device "LenovoA3300-GV"]

1. e4 {opening reply 0.001} e5 {opening reply 0.001}
2. Nf3 {opening reply 0.0} d6 {opening reply 0.001}
3. d4 {opening reply 0.0} f5 {opening reply 0.001}
4. Bc4 {opening reply 0.0} fxe4 {opening reply 0.001}
5. Nxe5 {[14]174/d6e5 8.691} dxe5 {[13/29]-107/d1h5 11.839}
6. Qh5+ {[14]194/e8d7 0.036} Kd7 {[14/29]-236/d4e5 29.194}
7. dxe5 {[15]234/c7c6 0.047} Kc6 {[14/27]-246/b1c3 12.334}
8. O-O {[14]240/d7c7 8.544} Bc5 {[11/25]-228/b1c3 8.475}
9. Rd1 {[14]508/g7g6 8.32} Qf8 {[14/27]-179 8.217}
10. Rd8 {[16]610/g6h5 3.485} Qxf2+ {[4/9]mate:2/g1h1 0.195} 0-1 {white resigned:engine terminates}

[abik]

[Arasan has problems on playing with ponder on.

I made several improvements in the GUI and I can run extremely stable tournaments with ponder on now for many engines. I downloaded the latest Arasan, and it still fails, however, but the GUI is not at fault. When pondering, and there is a ponder miss, arasan sends a bestmove <move> and a bestmove 0000 in this, and thus the wrong order (I suspect the second one is the reply for go ponder on a miss, but the order change makes this fail).

[Ferdy]

[Arasan has problems on playing with ponder on.

I made several improvements in the GUI and I can run extremely stable tournaments with ponder on now for many engines. I downloaded the latest Arasan, and it still fails, however, but the GUI is not at fault.

When pondering, and there is a ponder miss, arasan sends a bestmove <move> and a bestmove 0000 in this, and thus the wrong order (I suspect the second one is the reply for go ponder on a miss, but the order change makes this fail).

I don't exactly get it, did Arasan sent 2 bestmove?

My understanding is when it is a miss, the gui will send stop command to Arasan, so that Arasan will stop pondering.
Once Arasan received the stop command it will send bestmove <move>,
that <move> can be anything (a legal move still looks better here) since the engine is just pondering and it received stop (well it is a miss) instead of ponderhit command.

[abik]

I don't exactly get it, did Arasan sent 2 bestmove?

Yes, exactly as you sketched. GUI sends stop command (which expect a bestmove return value that is ignored), and a new position and go command (which eventually expects a bestmove with the real move). Problem is that the GUI receives the moves in what appears to be the wrong order (first something valid, then a null move).

[abik]

I just posted v5.0.2 on my website for direct download.

Improvements include:

• start clock on first move in tournament mode
• rigid check prior to sending engine's ponder move back
• eng-eng tournament corner case bug fixes
• cleanup logs option
• fixed issue with starting network socket engine
• added more choices in time control

I did extensive testing, but would appreciate if some of the hard-core engine tournament runners would download this version and report back before I also put this on Google Play.

[Sedat Canbaz]

Dear Aart Bik,

First of all,
BIG thanks for all of your efforts, I really appreciated it!


I am planning to organize a serious Swiss tournament based only on Android engines

So...I have a few wishes from you
I've noticed that your GUI does not support Swiss tournament system
Can you add this tournament option (Swiss) in the next releases ?

Another very important issue is that,
Currently the opening book choice is too tiny...
I wish to use Perfect 2015 book under Chess For Android
So...I could not find/see the opening book folder on my Samsung Galaxy S4
Even I have no idea in which directory is installed Chess For Android
For example,
DroidFish GUI installation folder is easier, I mean the Droidfish's folder is clear and I can see it...
Can you do that, I mean the Chess for Android installation folder to be viewable as Droidfish folder ?
In this way, we (the testers) can prefer testing the android engines with various opening books in your great GUI !)

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work,
Sedat

[abik]

Test result with ponder on, one cpu per engine, using time control 40/60 on a Nexus 4. All resigns were due to engine resign or time control, no more engine exits or illegal moves (with these stable engines). Played from both sides of the Nunn test suite.

Code: Select all

                              Score    Komodo 8 32-bit       Stockfish 3           Gaviota v1.0          crafty-234-ja         BikJump v1.8
 1 Komodo 8 32-bit          69.5/80    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  =110101==1=00==110=1  1111111==01111111111  11111111111111111111  11111111111111111111  
 2 Stockfish 3              64.0/80    =001010==0=11==001=0  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  11=111111111==111101  1=10111111111111=111  11111111111111111111  
 3 Gaviota v1.0             39.0/80    0000000==10000000000  00=000000000==000010  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  1111011=0==1=01111=1  11111111111111111111  
 4 crafty-234-ja            27.0/80    00000000000000000000  0=01000000000000=000  0000100=1==0=10000=0  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  11111111111111111=11  
 5 BikJump v1.8 (32-bit)     0.5/80    00000000000000000000  00000000000000000000  00000000000000000000  00000000000000000=00  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[abik]

So...I have a few wishes from you

Thanks Sedat. But before going into the next round of wishes, could someone please test the ones just added in 5.0.2 and report back how they work in the field?

[Ferdy]

I just posted v5.0.2 on my website for direct download.

Improvements include:

• start clock on first move in tournament mode
• rigid check prior to sending engine's ponder move back
• eng-eng tournament corner case bug fixes
• cleanup logs option
• fixed issue with starting network socket engine
• added more choices in time control

I did extensive testing, but would appreciate if some of the hard-core engine tournament runners would download this version and report back before I also put this on Google Play.

Thanks for the update.
Cleanup logs does not work for Arasan games.pgn log. This games.pgn will show up in import engine list.
I have not tried the crafty log since I am using now the crafty compile that does not log.
Just found out a file called matar.dat, this file is created by Deep Fritz 14. This also will appear in the import engine list. Would be better to take this out of the import engine list.

[Sedat Canbaz]

So...I have a few wishes from you

Thanks Sedat. But before going into the next round of wishes, could someone please test the ones just added in 5.0.2 and report back how they work in the field?

Hello Aaart,

I've run some testings using your latest GUI

And I can say simply,
Chess For Android is the one of best Android GUIs for running engine - engine matches !

But however,
I have some more wishes for the next releases

For examples, it will be great if we will see:
Round - Robin and Gauntlet systems

Also the current pgn file can be improved,now it's a little bit complicated (a lot of data is saving)
For example I wish to see the pgn games to be simple like Arena and ChessBase GUIs how does save the pgn files (only depth, score and time)

Another important issue is that (during ponder on eng-eng matches),
Especially at blitz, it is not much clear which are whites or blacks
For example, this option can be improved too...each time the sides can changed depending players turn (whites can be in the bottom, blacks can be up)

Another options can be added,
-Adjudications (draw, win )
-Show ECO opening
etc...

I have some more wishes, but for now it is ok ))

Btw, Senpai android at TC 3 minutes does not want to play...
Arasan 17.4 android seems to be buggy too...


Best,
Sedat