Request for engines with modified stalemate values
Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:26 pm
Hello,
I am looking for strong modified chess engines (may be counting to the 20 best) in order to experiment with changed stalemate values.
Background is my concept for "Lasker Chess". It's already years back, when I first discussed and recommended Emanuel Lasker's idea of (re-introducing) a different score for stalemate than 0,5 points. Others like Réti followed Lasker too, but there was never a strong tournament with the new rule.
The idea is to encourage players to stalemating their opponents, if they have a clearly better, but unwinnable position, like happens quite often in endgames, where you face problems converting material advantage and your opponent is happy to save a draw by stalemate. In my view, stalemating should be counted as 3/4 points, while the stalemated player should get 1/4 points.
Such change might have an interesting and stimulating effect in all chess competitions, where the draw rate is rather high, like particularly in top correspondence chess and also in top computer chess including freestyle chess.
The engine should try to avoid a draw and look for stalemating the opponent, if that's the best possible result to achieve.
Vice versa, if the engine's position is worse, it should go for a draw rather than being stalemated, if that's the best possible result.
Draws can happen on various ways: move repetition, perpetual check, 50-moves rule, insufficient material (Like K vs K or K+B vs K, K+N vs K etc.; but be careful: NOT K+P vs K and NOT K+2N vs K; means various so-called drawn endings have to be checked, whether a stalemate is possible or not and whether it is forcable or not. May be, for getting started, we should leave aside the EGTB, as they would have to be revised.
Anyone, who might be able to provide a (modified) engine for such experiments (playing E vs E and H vs E), please contact me.
mailto: arno@infinitychess.com
I am looking for strong modified chess engines (may be counting to the 20 best) in order to experiment with changed stalemate values.
Background is my concept for "Lasker Chess". It's already years back, when I first discussed and recommended Emanuel Lasker's idea of (re-introducing) a different score for stalemate than 0,5 points. Others like Réti followed Lasker too, but there was never a strong tournament with the new rule.
The idea is to encourage players to stalemating their opponents, if they have a clearly better, but unwinnable position, like happens quite often in endgames, where you face problems converting material advantage and your opponent is happy to save a draw by stalemate. In my view, stalemating should be counted as 3/4 points, while the stalemated player should get 1/4 points.
Such change might have an interesting and stimulating effect in all chess competitions, where the draw rate is rather high, like particularly in top correspondence chess and also in top computer chess including freestyle chess.
The engine should try to avoid a draw and look for stalemating the opponent, if that's the best possible result to achieve.
Vice versa, if the engine's position is worse, it should go for a draw rather than being stalemated, if that's the best possible result.
Draws can happen on various ways: move repetition, perpetual check, 50-moves rule, insufficient material (Like K vs K or K+B vs K, K+N vs K etc.; but be careful: NOT K+P vs K and NOT K+2N vs K; means various so-called drawn endings have to be checked, whether a stalemate is possible or not and whether it is forcable or not. May be, for getting started, we should leave aside the EGTB, as they would have to be revised.
Anyone, who might be able to provide a (modified) engine for such experiments (playing E vs E and H vs E), please contact me.
mailto: arno@infinitychess.com