Cutechess-cli: A command line tool for engine-engine matches

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

Next up the wish-list: SMP support. I know you can launch separate instances, but the tournaments don't necessarily stop at the same time.

[ilari]

Next up the wish-list: SMP support. I know you can launch separate instances, but the tournaments don't necessarily stop at the same time.

I've already planned support for concurrent tournament games, once tournaments have been implemented. If you wish I can add concurrency support for matches between two engines as well.

[Marc Lacrosse]

Hi Iljari

A small suggestion :
In the present state (v0.1.7) "-book" is a general option that applies to both engines.
I suggest that it should become an engine option (in the form book=arg)so that we could run matches with different book for each engine.
The option of having both engines using the same book would be kept : we could always put a single book name in the "-both" section.

Marc

[ilari]

I suggest that it should become an engine option (in the form book=arg)so that we could run matches with different book for each engine.

That requires some redesign of code, but it's doable. I'll schedule it for the next version.

The option of having both engines using the same book would be kept : we could always put a single book name in the "-both" section.

Of course. Every option that can be in the -fcp or -scp section can also be used in the -both section.


Btw, the config file issue, which you asked about previously, is still open. The current .ini format isn't good for hand-editing, so we'll probably create a custom file format.

[mcostalba]

Hi,

I have tried to compile from source (Mandriva 2009.0), everiyhing was ok but I cannot install 'make install' does not have any effect.

Without installation it doesn't start becasue it is unable to find the shared lib:

[marco@localhost gui]$ ./cutechess
./cutechess: error while loading shared libraries: libchess.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

[Marc Lacrosse]

Btw, the config file issue, which you asked about previously, is still open. The current .ini format isn't good for hand-editing, so we'll probably create a custom file format.

For me the format is good : hand-editing of such textual cfg files is not a problem for me.
And the fact it is plain text allows some easy scripting for non-programmers like myself.

I even wish you could allow for uci options encoding in the cfg file : simply allowing a variable number of lines for each engines in the form :
2\uci.Name=value
And so on.

Thanks again for all this good job !

Marc

[ilari]

Hi,

I have tried to compile from source (Mandriva 2009.0), everiyhing was ok but I cannot install 'make install' does not have any effect.

There's no install target yet, so "make install" isn't supposed to do anything.

Without installation it doesn't start becasue it is unable to find the shared lib:

[marco@localhost gui]$ ./cutechess
./cutechess: error while loading shared libraries: libchess.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

There are a couple of ways to solve this. One is to run "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=path_to_libchess". The other (more convenient) one is to use static linking: http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 362#260362

[mcostalba]

The other (more convenient) one is to use static linking: http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 362#260362

Thanks it works!

[ilari]

For me the format is good : hand-editing of such textual cfg files is not a problem for me.
And the fact it is plain text allows some easy scripting for non-programmers like myself.

The format will continue to be text-based. We'll maybe just make it a bit simpler. The index-based config sections are a bit error-prone for manual editing.

I even wish you could allow for uci options encoding in the cfg file : simply allowing a variable number of lines for each engines in the form :
2\uci.Name=value
And so on.

When we expand the engine configuration classes, models, and engine management widgets, the new options are going to be available in the config files as well. We'll keep using the same files in the GUI and CLI sides, so we have to put some time and thought into this.

Thanks again for all this good job !

Marc

Thanks, no problem. Ok, to be honest this project is a pain in the ass, but I guess I like the pain.

[Marc Lacrosse]

... and a little question :

When there is a blank space within the name of a UCI parameter, are quotes required, and if yes where ?

Example : uci option for number of threads is "Core Threads" for Hiarcs 12
in cutechess-cli command should it be :
uci.Core Threads=2 ,or
"uci.Core Threads=2" ,or
uci."Core Threads"=2 , or something else ?

A little word of explanation on this in the --help would be nice

Marc