Wasp 3.75 by John Stanback released ...

[Frank Quisinsky]

Hi Michael,

super, thanks for your helps!
I added the two new executables for Mac OSX in wasp_375.zip download file and set a news on Wasp news page.

Again, have many thanks!

Best
Frank

[Ferdy]

Hi there,

Please be informed that John Stanback released Wasp 3.75!

Frank's Chess Page:
http://www.amateurschach.de

All the important changes can be found in release-notes.txt, included in 2.694Mb *.zip file.
Can be find on Wasp news selection too: http://www.amateurschach.de/main/_wasp.htm

Please read the news before installation!
Polyglot book format, no longer Wasp.rc and some other things are changed!

Since September 01st, 2009 a test-run vs. 20 opp. is still running (7x stronger, 6x equal, 7x weaker).
So far 904 / 1.000 games played. More 1.000er test-runs will be follow.

My test-runs will be run not longer in "LIVE" mode.
From time to time I updated to the currrent results and games.

Have fun with Wasp 3.75 by John!
And ...

Thanks John!

Best
Frank

Tried testing it with UCI_Elo 1500 at TC 60s+100ms and it losses on time forfeit.

Sample games:

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Arasan 21.3 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[GameDuration "00:01:05"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:43:55.387 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:42:49.914 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]

1. e4 {book} c5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} e6 {book} 3. Nc3 {book} a6 {book}
4. d4 {book} cxd4 {book} 5. Nxd4 {book} Qc7 {book} 6. g3 {book} Bb4 {book}
7. Qd3 {book} Nf6 {book} 8. Bg2 {book} Nc6 {book} 9. Bf4 {+0.14/2 0.33s}
e5 {+0.56/2 5.7s} 10. Nxc6 {0.00/2 0.43s} dxc6 {+0.17/2 6.8s}
11. Bd2 {-0.03/2 0.33s} O-O {+0.18/2 3.7s} 12. O-O-O {+0.07/2 0.35s}
Bg4 {+0.21/2 5.7s} 13. f3 {+0.07/2 0.33s} Rad8 {+0.34/2 5.3s}
14. Qe3 {+0.02/2 0.35s} Be6 {+0.43/2 5.7s} 15. Kb1 {+0.03/2 0.34s}
h6 {-0.13/2 3.4s} 16. Rhe1 {+0.04/2 0.36s} Qd6 {+0.09/2 3.5s}
17. Bc1 {+5.29/2 0.33s} Qc5 {+0.08/2 15s} 18. a3 {0.00/2 0.32s}
Qxe3 {+0.08/2 6.0s} 19. Bxe3 {0.00/2 0.57s, Black loses on time} 1-0

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Arasan 21.3 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[GameDuration "00:01:04"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:43:54.842 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:42:49.875 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]

1. e4 {book} c5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} e6 {book} 3. Nc3 {book} a6 {book}
4. d4 {book} cxd4 {book} 5. Nxd4 {book} Qc7 {book} 6. g3 {book} Bb4 {book}
7. Qd3 {book} Nf6 {book} 8. Bg2 {book} Nc6 {book} 9. O-O {+0.28/2 5.1s}
Ne5 {+7.37/2 0.45s} 10. Qe3 {+0.02/2 9.0s} Nfg4 {+7.39/2 0.39s}
11. Qg5 {-0.67/2 6.3s} O-O {+0.03/2 0.34s} 12. Bf4 {-0.18/2 8.6s}
Bc5 {+0.02/2 0.39s} 13. Rad1 {+0.06/2 5.1s} b5 {+0.04/2 0.38s}
14. Qxg4 {+3.82/2 4.4s} Bb7 {-3.66/2 0.37s} 15. Qg5 {+3.82/2 9.0s}
f6 {-3.67/2 0.43s} 16. Qh5 {+3.84/2 7.4s} Rae8 {-3.65/2 0.43s}
17. Nce2 {+3.87/2 5.4s} b4 {-3.63/2 0.40s, White loses on time} 0-1

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Amyan 1.72 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[GameDuration "00:01:25"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:46:22.137 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:44:56.192 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]
[Variation "Berlin defense"]

1. e4 {book} e5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} Nc6 {book} 3. Bb5 {book} Nf6 {book}
4. d3 {book} Bc5 {book} 5. O-O {book} d6 {book} 6. c3 {book} O-O {book}
7. Nbd2 {book} h6 {book} 8. h3 {book} Bb6 {book} 9. Nc4 {+0.22/4 1.4s}
Be6 {0.00/2 11s} 10. Be3 {+0.11/3 1.2s} Bxc4 {0.00/2 3.4s}
11. Bxc4 {+0.35/3 0.85s} Bxe3 {-0.12/2 1.8s} 12. fxe3 {+0.40/5 1.5s}
Nd7 {-0.15/2 2.5s} 13. Bd5 {+0.30/4 1.4s} a5 {-0.14/2 1.8s}
14. Qb3 {+0.53/3 1.2s} Nc5 {+0.25/2 3.2s} 15. Qb5 {+0.63/4 1.6s}
a4 {-0.02/2 3.0s} 16. d4 {+0.54/4 1.2s} Ra5 {-0.17/2 3.4s}
17. Qe2 {+0.54/2 1.00s} Nd7 {-0.43/2 4.2s} 18. Rab1 {+0.60/3 1.4s}
Ra6 {-0.32/2 5.4s} 19. Bxc6 {+0.59/2 0.92s} Rxc6 {-0.28/2 2.0s}
20. Qb5 {+0.41/4 1.5s} Qa8 {-0.18/2 3.0s} 21. dxe5 {+0.29/3 1.2s}
Qa7 {-0.61/2 3.6s} 22. exd6 {+0.70/3 1.2s} Rxd6 {-0.44/2 1.8s}
23. Kh1 {+0.65/3 1.1s} Re8 {-0.06/2 2.7s} 24. Rbd1 {+0.61/4 2.1s}
c6 {-0.01/2 3.3s} 25. Qb4 {+0.66/4 1.8s} c5 {-0.18/2 2.9s}
26. Qb5 {+0.50/4 1.2s, Black loses on time} 1-0

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Amyan 1.72 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[GameDuration "00:01:17"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:46:13.989 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:44:56.477 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]
[Variation "Berlin defense"]

1. e4 {book} e5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} Nc6 {book} 3. Bb5 {book} Nf6 {book}
4. d3 {book} Bc5 {book} 5. O-O {book} d6 {book} 6. c3 {book} O-O {book}
7. Nbd2 {book} h6 {book} 8. h3 {book} Bb6 {book} 9. d4 {+0.43/2 2.2s}
exd4 {-0.03/2 1.1s} 10. Bxc6 {-0.96/2 13s} dxc3 {+1.09/5 1.2s}
11. bxc3 {-1.67/2 10s} bxc6 {+0.97/4 0.84s} 12. Nd4 {-1.10/2 4.5s}
Qe8 {+1.25/4 1.4s} 13. Re1 {-1.09/2 7.0s} Bd7 {+1.35/3 1.0s}
14. Rb1 {-1.06/2 3.3s} Ba5 {+1.47/3 1.1s} 15. Bb2 {-0.98/2 3.5s}
c5 {+0.88/4 1.2s} 16. N4b3 {-1.01/2 4.7s} Bb6 {+0.60/4 1.2s}
17. c4 {-0.68/2 2.0s} Qd8 {+0.57/5 1.5s} 18. e5 {-0.10/2 2.0s}
Nh7 {+0.57/5 2.6s} 19. exd6 {-0.25/2 1.7s} cxd6 {+0.84/5 1.8s}
20. Ne4 {+0.25/2 2.5s} Bf5 {+0.74/4 0.92s, White loses on time} 0-1

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Stockfish 260819 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B32"]
[GameDuration "00:01:44"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:49:40.130 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:47:56.109 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]

1. e4 {book} c5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} Nc6 {book} 3. d4 {book} cxd4 {book}
4. Nxd4 {book} d6 {book} 5. Nc3 {book} e6 {book} 6. Be3 {book} Nf6 {book}
7. f4 {book} Be7 {book} 8. Nb3 {book} O-O {book} 9. Be2 {-0.37/2 2.9s}
Bd7 {+0.15/20 8.4s} 10. O-O {+0.17/2 2.7s} b6 {-0.26/17 3.9s}
11. Nd4 {+0.22/2 2.9s} Rc8 {+0.13/18 3.6s} 12. Ba6 {+0.50/2 5.3s}
Nxd4 {+0.04/16 0.92s} 13. Bxc8 {+0.67/2 7.7s} Nf5 {-0.47/20 5.9s}
14. exf5 {+1.29/2 4.2s} Qxc8 {-1.36/18 1.6s} 15. fxe6 {+1.13/2 1.8s}
fxe6 {-1.53/17 1.5s} 16. a4 {+1.24/2 2.2s} Qc6 {-1.62/19 6.3s}
17. Nb5 {+1.29/2 3.4s} Qe4 {-1.07/17 2.2s} 18. Qd3 {+1.63/2 8.8s}
Qd5 {-0.74/18 2.8s} 19. Nxa7 {+1.74/2 2.9s} Ra8 {-2.49/19 4.4s}
20. Bxb6 {+2.77/2 2.6s} Qb7 {-1.65/17 0.93s, White loses on time} 0-1

[Event "UCI_Elo 1500 Games"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.09.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Stockfish 260819 ucielo 1500"]
[Black "Wasp 3.75 ucielo 1500"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[GameDuration "00:01:50"]
[GameEndTime "2019-09-14T05:49:48.148 China Standard Time"]
[GameStartTime "2019-09-14T05:47:57.187 China Standard Time"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[TimeControl "60+0.1"]

1. e4 {book} c5 {book} 2. Nf3 {book} Nc6 {book} 3. d4 {book} cxd4 {book}
4. Nxd4 {book} d6 {book} 5. Nc3 {book} e6 {book} 6. Be3 {book} Nf6 {book}
7. f4 {book} Be7 {book} 8. Nb3 {book} O-O {book} 9. Nd4 {+0.50/19 9.0s}
Bd7 {+0.50/2 4.7s} 10. g4 {-0.22/16 3.0s} Qa5 {+0.68/2 4.3s}
11. Nb3 {+1.15/17 2.3s} Qb4 {+1.07/2 5.0s} 12. a3 {+7.00/18 2.0s}
Qxc3+ {-5.37/2 6.8s} 13. bxc3 {+6.82/18 2.6s} Nxe4 {-5.89/2 3.2s}
14. g5 {+7.06/20 7.0s} Nxc3 {-5.29/2 4.0s} 15. Qf3 {+6.74/16 2.1s}
e5 {-4.92/2 2.3s} 16. Bf2 {+7.61/16 2.0s} Na4 {-5.75/2 4.3s}
17. Bd3 {+7.44/17 3.9s} Nc3 {-5.53/2 3.9s} 18. Bf1 {+7.33/19 5.2s}
Na4 {-5.75/2 2.4s} 19. Bd3 {+7.31/16 0.71s} Nc3 {-5.53/2 3.3s}
20. Bc4 {+7.31/17 1.2s} d5 {-6.00/2 4.3s} 21. Nc5 {+7.34/19 4.3s}
Bxc5 {-5.73/2 7.9s} 22. Bxc5 {+7.39/17 1.2s} Rfe8 {-5.89/2 4.3s}
23. Bd3 {+7.59/19 2.7s, Black loses on time} 1-0

[lucasart]

I made a change where if the first move at the root fails low several times (score has dropped about 2 pawns or more) then I accept that score for the first move, set a flag, and search the remaining moves to see if one of them is better. If not, then I repeat the iteration.

Looks more like a hack than a solution.

Did this prove to gain elo in your testing ?

Perhaps it makes sense to widen asymmetrically, widening faster on fail lows than fail highs.

[jstanback]

Tried testing it with UCI_Elo 1500 at TC 60s+100ms and it losses on time forfeit.

Sample games:

Hi Ferdy,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Wasp handles the UCI_Elo command by reducing the nodes/second. At 1500 Elo the target search rate is only about 24 nodes/second. In my time handling routine I arbitrarily require the search to complete the first move of the 2nd iteration before it's allowed to time out. I think Wasp requires about 10 seconds/move at the 1500 Elo level to avoid losses on time and about 1 second/move at the 2000 Elo level. I'm running some games now at Game/60s + 0.6s with Elo set to 1900 with no time losses so far (after only 18 games), But that's probably the lowest Elo that will work with this time control. I'll see if I can fix this problem for the next release.

John

[jstanback]

I made a change where if the first move at the root fails low several times (score has dropped about 2 pawns or more) then I accept that score for the first move, set a flag, and search the remaining moves to see if one of them is better. If not, then I repeat the iteration.

Looks more like a hack than a solution.

Did this prove to gain elo in your testing ?

Perhaps it makes sense to widen asymmetrically, widening faster on fail lows than fail highs.

I saw no Elo gain or loss after this change. But I think it's a good solution to the problem of the first move at the root failing low by a big margin. Wasp sometimes wastes a lot of time to resolve just how bad the first move is, but with this change it will try the other moves to see if any of them are better. If so, things are good and it proceeds to the next iteration (or time out). Otherwise, it will redo the current iteration starting with the bad first move and a lowered alpha-beta window. In test positions and looking at logs from games I think this is working well.

John

[Ferdy]

Tried testing it with UCI_Elo 1500 at TC 60s+100ms and it losses on time forfeit.

Sample games:

Hi Ferdy,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Wasp handles the UCI_Elo command by reducing the nodes/second. At 1500 Elo the target search rate is only about 24 nodes/second. In my time handling routine I arbitrarily require the search to complete the first move of the 2nd iteration before it's allowed to time out. I think Wasp requires about 10 seconds/move at the 1500 Elo level to avoid losses on time and about 1 second/move at the 2000 Elo level. I'm running some games now at Game/60s + 0.6s with Elo set to 1900 with no time losses so far (after only 18 games), But that's probably the lowest Elo that will work with this time control. I'll see if I can fix this problem for the next release.

John

Tried the ucielo 2000 and Wasps loses 9/96 on time forfeit at TC 60s+100ms.

Code: Select all

   # PLAYER                                  :  RATING  ERROR  POINTS  PLAYED   (%)
   1 Cheng 4.39 UCI_Elo 2000                 :     589    160    90.5      96  94.3
   2 Amyan 1.72 UCI_Elo 2000                 :     454    116    84.5      96  88.0
   3 Stockfish 260819 UCI_Elo 2000           :     180     86    66.0      96  68.8
   4 Rhetoric 1.4.3 UCI_Elo 2000             :     133     84    62.0      96  64.6
   5 Discocheck 5.2 UCI_Elo 2000             :     127     84    61.5      96  64.1
   6 Ufim v8.02 UCI_Elo 2000                 :     116     86    60.5      96  63.0
   7 Rodent IV 021 UCI_Elo 2000              :      -7     80    49.0      96  51.0
   8 MadChess 2.2 UCI_Elo 2000               :    -132     81    37.0      96  38.5
   9 DanaSah 7.9 EngineOpp UCI_Elo 2000      :    -164     82    34.0      96  35.4
  10 Wasp 3.75 UCI_Elo 2000                  :    -285     85    23.0      96  24.0
  11 Arasan 21.3 UCI_Elo 2000                :    -327     93    19.5      96  20.3
  12 CT800 V1.34 UCI_Elo 2000                :    -333     91    19.0      96  19.8
  13 Deuterium v2019.2.67.71 UCI_Elo 2000    :    -352     94    17.5      96  18.2

[jstanback]

Thanks Ferdy. I'm working on fixing this for the next release.

John