Need help with winboard setup

[Bill Rogers]

I want to play a series of games between two programs. In one the time per move can be set just like most programs, but in the other it has no time function and can only play to selected ply depts. I was told once that this can be done but I don't know how.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Bill

[hgm]

You have to be a little more clear in wht you want to do. You want both programs to play at fixed depth? Or one on a normal time control and the other at fixed depth? Does the program that can only do the fixed depth need to receive the WinBoard sd N command for that?

To send a command to only one program at the beginning of each game, you can make that command part of the InitString for that engine. (E.g. /secondInitString="new\nsd 5\n" would limit the search depth of the second engine to 5 ply without the first program knowing about it.) If the fixed depth would make the program use more time than you told the other one to use, you can play with /autoCallFlag=false to suppress time forfeits.

[MattieShoes]

Regarding the time aspect, I don't know the best solution. For running a series of games automatically, you can use a batch file to automatically launch winboard and start playing. Something like this:

Code: Select all

start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n1.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n2.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n3.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n4.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n5.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n6.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n7.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n8.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n9.fen
start /wait winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 2 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn\n10.fen

That's what I used to play moneypenny vs gaviota.
-mg 2 makes it play two games, and it switches colors. The batch file will run the first command, wait till it exits, then run the next, etc.

If you've got a lot of engines in different directories, -fd and -sd are used to specify their directory so they know where to look for ini files and the like.

[hgm]

You could put all the Nunn FENs is a single file, and use -lpi -2 to let the position index auto-increment every two games, and then immedately ask for 20 games.

Code: Select all

winboard.exe -cp -fcp "moneypenny" -scp "gaviota" -mg 20 -tc 1 -inc 1 -lpf nunn.fen -lpi -2

Btw, it is not really necessary to specify -tc and -inc every time: these settings are remembered in the winboard.ini file (unlike -lpf and -lgf), so once you have set this TC (e.g. through the menu) it will automatically use it every time you start WinBoard again.

If you have more engines that you regularly play, it is easier to use PSWBTM to control the playing of the gauntlet or round-robin.

[MattieShoes]

Ooh I didn't know about putting all the FENs in one file. the tc and inc part was simply from copy paste I do other things in winboard, which is why I specified them. I know there are tourney programs, but since I was only testing a few engines, it was quick and easy to just make a command line. When I get around to creating a more extensive testbed, I'll definitely try PSWBTM.

By the way, is there an equivalent linux tourney manager you can recommend? I have an ubuntu laptop that mostly sits idle, might be perfect for letting long tests run without having to worry about doing things that consume massive CPU on my main machine.

[hgm]

I thought PSWBTM was platform independent. It is available in source, and is based on the platform-independent wxWidgets package. So it should work with XBoard under Linux as well. Although last time I heard there seemed to e some issues with he use of unicode, which ws no longr supported by the latest wxWidgets releases. I am not sure what the urrent status is on that.

Perhaps Pradu can answer this?

[Pradu]

I thought PSWBTM was platform independent. It is available in source, and is based on the platform-independent wxWidgets package. So it should work with XBoard under Linux as well. Although last time I heard there seemed to e some issues with he use of unicode, which ws no longr supported by the latest wxWidgets releases. I am not sure what the urrent status is on that.

Perhaps Pradu can answer this?

It compiles and works with an ANSI version of wxWidgets (you will have to download and compile it) and HG's new xboard. I've been too lazy to incorporate Michel's changes to support Unicode into PSWBTM yet, but eventually...

[Bill Rogers]

H.G.
This is what I am trying to do. I want to play a series of 20 games with the following: TCSP set to 60 secs per mover (st 60). The opponent will be Minimax with the depth sett to 6 plys (sd 6). This is Donnergers programs. I want to test the program on veriolus levels. I tried using Tomas McBurney Winboard setup program but can not get the two to play even one game. THey both work under Arena but not the way I want.
Hope you can give me some good pointers.
Thanks
Bill

[hgm]

OK, so you want TSCP to receive an st 60 command, and Minimax and sd 6. I guess Minimax would ignore the st 60? Then you could do:

winboard /fcp=TSCP /scp=Minimax /seachTime=60 /secondInitString="new\nsd 6n" /autoCallFlag=false /mg=10

If receiving an st 60 would upset Mnimax, you could try

winboard /fcp=TSCP /scp=Minimax /tc=60 /firstComputerString="st 60\n" /secondComputerString="sd 6\n" /autoCallFlag=false /mg=10

This kludge sets the WinBoard clock to generous time, (so that time commnds send to the programs won't upset them y specifying too short a time) but uses the ComputerStrings that are sent to the programs after the level command to send them what you really want as time control.

[Bill Rogers]

Thanks HG
I will try them both, but first another question, will this allow winboard to play 20 games in a row without any outside help? I want one big pgn file if possible.
Bill