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After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:12 pm
by silentshark
I have been doing some tinkering with my old chess program, Francesca.
Think I might release a new version, soon. Stuff I've been doing:
- fixed a *horrible* bug in the SEE (meant that SEE was completely broken..)
- minor fix to eval for queens and rooks - relating to king proximity
- more aggressive pruning. This is the stuff that people call 'static null move pruning' these days, but has been around forever.
- lmp implemented (although I'm not happy with it yet)
- draw code improved
- PVS finally implemented
Hello to all the old-timer computer chess folks who are still around and involved
Regards,
Tom
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:18 pm
by Guenther
silentshark wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:12 pm
I have been doing some tinkering with my old chess program, Francesca.
Think I might release a new version, soon. Stuff I've been doing:
- fixed a *horrible* bug in the SEE (meant that SEE was completely broken..)
- minor fix to eval for queens and rooks - relating to king proximity
- more aggressive pruning. This is the stuff that people call 'static null move pruning' these days, but has been around forever.
- lmp implemented (although I'm not happy with it yet)
- draw code improved
- PVS finally implemented
Hello to all the old-timer computer chess folks who are still around and involved
Regards,
Tom
Great news Tom! Still 'MAD' after all those years?
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:40 pm
by silentshark
Well, I came up with the 'MAD' acronym waaaay back, as a tip of the hat to doing something dynamic in the eval function (prior to that, back in the 1990's, everything was basically PST values).
When I added some dynamic king safety, it felt like a big deal (at the time). So I came up with MAD (manic, aggressive, dynamic). That king safety stuff is tuned back a bit these days, as it was fun, but weak.
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:42 pm
by Werner
Welcome back Tom!
Version 0.19 was the strongest version tested here:
Francesca MAD 0.19 2381
good luck and all the best for 2019
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:28 pm
by Gabor Szots
That's great news Tom. Francesca may be 8 years older but so are we so she doesn't have to worry.
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:32 pm
by Steve Maughan
Hi Tom,
Welcome back! Looking forward to testing your new creation!
Steve
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:32 pm
by silentshark
Gabor Szots wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:28 pm
That's great news Tom. Francesca may be 8 years older but so are we so she doesn't have to worry.
Indeed. In fact, Francesca must be about 28 years old now
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:34 pm
by silentshark
Steve Maughan wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:32 pm
Hi Tom,
Welcome back! Looking forward to testing your new creation!
Steve
Thanks, Steve, hopefully release the new version soon. It's showing as over 60 elo up on the last version - the bugfixes gave quite a lot of that
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 1:28 am
by Graham Banks
silentshark wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:12 pm
I have been doing some tinkering with my old chess program, Francesca.
Think I might release a new version, soon. Stuff I've been doing:
- fixed a *horrible* bug in the SEE (meant that SEE was completely broken..)
- minor fix to eval for queens and rooks - relating to king proximity
- more aggressive pruning. This is the stuff that people call 'static null move pruning' these days, but has been around forever.
- lmp implemented (although I'm not happy with it yet)
- draw code improved
- PVS finally implemented
Hello to all the old-timer computer chess folks who are still around and involved
Regards,
Tom
Fantastic news Tom!
Looking forward to including a new Francesca in my Amateur Series.
Re: After an 8 year break..
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 4:31 am
by Dann Corbit
Good news
Looking forward to the new version