A couple of xboard 4.3.15 bugs(?)

[bob]

Another item:

While connected to an ICS, Symbolic will post its analysis for each move selection. If the opponent is a human, the command to xboard is "tellothers <analysis>" when the opponent is a computer, the command is "tellall <analysis>". The former hits the ICS as a "whisper" while the latter becomes a "kibitz".

But not always. Occasionally the "tellall" incorrectly produces a "whisper".

That's most likely an ICC issue. The opponent can prevent kibitzes if he wants.

[sje]

Another item:

While connected to an ICS, Symbolic will post its analysis for each move selection. If the opponent is a human, the command to xboard is "tellothers <analysis>" when the opponent is a computer, the command is "tellall <analysis>". The former hits the ICS as a "whisper" while the latter becomes a "kibitz".

But not always. Occasionally the "tellall" incorrectly produces a "whisper".

That's most likely an ICC issue. The opponent can prevent kibitzes if he wants.

I think you may be right on this as the behavior seems to be opponent specific.

[hgm]

That is good news, as I had no clue as to wht could cause such behavior in XBoard.

[sje]

And another bug that's been around for some time:

When playing in match mode, the final position from a previous game is not cleared from the display until the first move of the next game. This is rather noticeable when the engine playing White in the next game isn't using a book and so takes some time for its first move analysis.

[hgm]

Yes, I noticed that too. But I did not really dislike it, although I admit it is a bit strange. It gives me more time to look how the previous game ended, when the engines are using ping, and the next game starts immediately. I know how the opening position looks. Staring at it would not tell me anything. (This reasoning might not be valid in FRC.)

[bob]

Another item:

While connected to an ICS, Symbolic will post its analysis for each move selection. If the opponent is a human, the command to xboard is "tellothers <analysis>" when the opponent is a computer, the command is "tellall <analysis>". The former hits the ICS as a "whisper" while the latter becomes a "kibitz".

But not always. Occasionally the "tellall" incorrectly produces a "whisper".

That's most likely an ICC issue. The opponent can prevent kibitzes if he wants.

I think you may be right on this as the behavior seems to be opponent specific.

I do not recall the specifics. Peter Skinner probably can answer this. We have had CCTs where you are supposed to kibitz, and some end up whispering. But in reality they are sending kibitz commands. But there is some command that can turn a kibitz into a whisper. I just don't remember. Peter always gives specific setup instructions before the tournament to make sure this doesn't happen.

[mhull]

Another item:

While connected to an ICS, Symbolic will post its analysis for each move selection. If the opponent is a human, the command to xboard is "tellothers <analysis>" when the opponent is a computer, the command is "tellall <analysis>". The former hits the ICS as a "whisper" while the latter becomes a "kibitz".

But not always. Occasionally the "tellall" incorrectly produces a "whisper".

That's most likely an ICC issue. The opponent can prevent kibitzes if he wants.

I think you may be right on this as the behavior seems to be opponent specific.

I do not recall the specifics. Peter Skinner probably can answer this. We have had CCTs where you are supposed to kibitz, and some end up whispering. But in reality they are sending kibitz commands. But there is some command that can turn a kibitz into a whisper. I just don't remember. Peter always gives specific setup instructions before the tournament to make sure this doesn't happen.

I thought this was done through command aliasing on ICC.

[bob]

Another item:

While connected to an ICS, Symbolic will post its analysis for each move selection. If the opponent is a human, the command to xboard is "tellothers <analysis>" when the opponent is a computer, the command is "tellall <analysis>". The former hits the ICS as a "whisper" while the latter becomes a "kibitz".

But not always. Occasionally the "tellall" incorrectly produces a "whisper".

That's most likely an ICC issue. The opponent can prevent kibitzes if he wants.

I think you may be right on this as the behavior seems to be opponent specific.

I do not recall the specifics. Peter Skinner probably can answer this. We have had CCTs where you are supposed to kibitz, and some end up whispering. But in reality they are sending kibitz commands. But there is some command that can turn a kibitz into a whisper. I just don't remember. Peter always gives specific setup instructions before the tournament to make sure this doesn't happen.

I thought this was done through command aliasing on ICC.

No. You can do it thru aliasing, but there is a way that a kibitz can be changed into a whisper without the alias. I believe it is "set allowkib 1". If you use "set allowkib 0" then all kibitzes in your game get turned into whispers by ICC. This has caused some quirks here and there until peter started sending out precise instructions about this for CCT events.

[hgm]

Current xboard that I use first logs in, then starts the engine. This has always worked for me (setting the notes, etc, by using "tellics").

Are you sure? I tried WinBoard 4.2.8pre, which is the last version that was produced by Tim Mann, and for ths purpose shuld be equal to 4.2.7b, and the debug clearly show that the engine is started and initialized before the ICS is approached. If the engine sends a tellics on this first new, it simply gets lost because there is no ics connection yet.

This is all done from the backend, so I don't think this would be any different in XBoard than it is in WinBoard.

Code: Select all

WinBoard 4.2.8pre + fmax
Reset(1, 0) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
StartChildProcess (dir="..\..\..\fairyengs\icsclient\Fairy-Max") fmax
570 >first : xboard
protover 2
600 <first &#58; tellics say     fairy-Max 4.8 &#40;E&#41;
600 <first &#58; tellics say     by H.G. Muller
600 <first &#58; feature myname="Fairy-Max 4.8E"
600 >first &#58; accepted myname
600 <first &#58; feature memory=1
610 >first &#58; rejected memory
610 <first &#58; feature setboard=0 ping=1 done=0
610 >first &#58; accepted setboard
610 >first &#58; accepted ping
610 >first &#58; accepted done
610 <first &#58; feature variants="normal,shatranj,courier,knightmate,capablanca,gothic,falcon,cylinder,8x8+0_falcon,berolina,super,fairy,great" done=1
610 >first &#58; accepted variants
610 >first &#58; accepted done
620 >first &#58; new
random
620 >first &#58; hard
620 >first &#58; ping 1
StartChildProcess &#40;dir="") \cygwin\home\fairyengs\icsclient\timestamp.exe chessclub.com 5000
1181 <first &#58; pong 1
<ICS&#58; Welcome to the INTERNET CHESS CLUB\015\012\015\012web&#58;   www.chessclub.com    email&#58; icc@chessclub.com\015\012phone&#58; 1-412-521-5553\015\012\015\012login&#58; 
ics_type 1
ics_type 1
>ICS&#58; jokerx\012
<ICS&#58; \015\012"jokerx" is a registered name.  If it is yours, type the password.\015\012If not, just hit return to try another name.\015\012\015\012password&#58; \377\373\001

<WILL ECHO >ICS&#58; XXXXXXXXX\012
<ICS&#58; \377\374\001\015\012**  The use of chess-playing programs is not allowed unless you  **\015\012**  have a &#40;C&#41; label ("help computers") or are logged on as an   **\015\012**  anonymous user, e.g. anon1234  ("help anonymous").           ** \015\012\015\012Internet Chess Club Events&#58;  More details&#58;\015\012\   "http&#58;//www.chessclub.com/activities/events.html".\015\012                             Times are EDT; add 4 hours for GMT.\015\012_____________________________________________________________________\015\012***************************************************************************************\015\012***     ICC Chess.FM brings us video series on Opening, Tactics, Top events!\015\012\   ***\015\012***                                  "www.Chess.FM"\015\012\   ***\015\012***                        The best way to learn chess online!\015\012\   ***\015\012***************************************************************************************\015\012\015\012Wed Apr 29, 0600 - SIMUL IM De Dovitiis ch 71 "finger dedo2"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 0700 - TOURNAMENT Early Morning, 7 Rounds 3 1 "finger EarlyMorning"\015\012Wed Apr

<WILL ECHO 
<WONT ECHO <ICS&#58;  29, 0700 - LIVE COVERAGE FIDE Grand Prix "finger Nalchik09"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1130 & 1300 - Chess21 Blitz Series 5 rounds 5 0 "help weekday"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1500 - Chess.FM video Attack with LarryC! "help ChessFM"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1600 - WGM Martica Fierro time odds blitz "finger MarticaFierro"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1800 - SIMUL FM Mussanti 30 boards ch 71 "finger clalauquen"\015\012Thu Apr 30, 0045 - TOURNAMENT Sleepless - 3 tourneys - 5 rounds 3 0 "help\015\012\   Sleepless"\015\012____________________________________________________________________  \015\012\015\012\015\012Recent news summary&#58;\015\012 1920 &#40;04 Apr 2009&#41; Sign up now for TEAM 45 45 LEAGUE Tournament 41.\015\012 1919 &#40;03 Apr 2009&#41; Play in ICC's April Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1918 &#40;27 Feb 2009&#41; Play in ICC's March Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1917 &#40;07 Feb 2009&#41; Play in ICC's February Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1916 &#40;15 Jan 2009&#41; The Corus Line-up\015\012&#40;"news 1920" will show the most recent of these.)\015\012\015\012---> Move timestamping activated.\015\012aics% 
>ICS&#58; /set-quietly interface WinBoard 4.2.8pre + fmax\012/set-quietly style 12\012
<ICS&#58; aics% 
<ICS&#58; aics% 
>ICS&#58; games *w\012

[bob]

Current xboard that I use first logs in, then starts the engine. This has always worked for me (setting the notes, etc, by using "tellics").

Are you sure? I tried WinBoard 4.2.8pre, which is the last version that was produced by Tim Mann, and for ths purpose shuld be equal to 4.2.7b, and the debug clearly show that the engine is started and initialized before the ICS is approached. If the engine sends a tellics on this first new, it simply gets lost because there is no ics connection yet.

This is all done from the backend, so I don't think this would be any different in XBoard than it is in WinBoard.

Code: Select all

WinBoard 4.2.8pre + fmax
Reset(1, 0) from gameMode 0
recognized 'normal' (-1) as variant normal
GameEnds(0, (null), 2)
StartChildProcess (dir="..\..\..\fairyengs\icsclient\Fairy-Max") fmax
570 >first : xboard
protover 2
600 <first &#58; tellics say     fairy-Max 4.8 &#40;E&#41;
600 <first &#58; tellics say     by H.G. Muller
600 <first &#58; feature myname="Fairy-Max 4.8E"
600 >first &#58; accepted myname
600 <first &#58; feature memory=1
610 >first &#58; rejected memory
610 <first &#58; feature setboard=0 ping=1 done=0
610 >first &#58; accepted setboard
610 >first &#58; accepted ping
610 >first &#58; accepted done
610 <first &#58; feature variants="normal,shatranj,courier,knightmate,capablanca,gothic,falcon,cylinder,8x8+0_falcon,berolina,super,fairy,great" done=1
610 >first &#58; accepted variants
610 >first &#58; accepted done
620 >first &#58; new
random
620 >first &#58; hard
620 >first &#58; ping 1
StartChildProcess &#40;dir="") \cygwin\home\fairyengs\icsclient\timestamp.exe chessclub.com 5000
1181 <first &#58; pong 1
<ICS&#58; Welcome to the INTERNET CHESS CLUB\015\012\015\012web&#58;   www.chessclub.com    email&#58; icc@chessclub.com\015\012phone&#58; 1-412-521-5553\015\012\015\012login&#58; 
ics_type 1
ics_type 1
>ICS&#58; jokerx\012
<ICS&#58; \015\012"jokerx" is a registered name.  If it is yours, type the password.\015\012If not, just hit return to try another name.\015\012\015\012password&#58; \377\373\001

<WILL ECHO >ICS&#58; XXXXXXXXX\012
<ICS&#58; \377\374\001\015\012**  The use of chess-playing programs is not allowed unless you  **\015\012**  have a &#40;C&#41; label ("help computers") or are logged on as an   **\015\012**  anonymous user, e.g. anon1234  ("help anonymous").           ** \015\012\015\012Internet Chess Club Events&#58;  More details&#58;\015\012\   "http&#58;//www.chessclub.com/activities/events.html".\015\012                             Times are EDT; add 4 hours for GMT.\015\012_____________________________________________________________________\015\012***************************************************************************************\015\012***     ICC Chess.FM brings us video series on Opening, Tactics, Top events!\015\012\   ***\015\012***                                  "www.Chess.FM"\015\012\   ***\015\012***                        The best way to learn chess online!\015\012\   ***\015\012***************************************************************************************\015\012\015\012Wed Apr 29, 0600 - SIMUL IM De Dovitiis ch 71 "finger dedo2"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 0700 - TOURNAMENT Early Morning, 7 Rounds 3 1 "finger EarlyMorning"\015\012Wed Apr

<WILL ECHO 
<WONT ECHO <ICS&#58;  29, 0700 - LIVE COVERAGE FIDE Grand Prix "finger Nalchik09"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1130 & 1300 - Chess21 Blitz Series 5 rounds 5 0 "help weekday"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1500 - Chess.FM video Attack with LarryC! "help ChessFM"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1600 - WGM Martica Fierro time odds blitz "finger MarticaFierro"\015\012Wed Apr 29, 1800 - SIMUL FM Mussanti 30 boards ch 71 "finger clalauquen"\015\012Thu Apr 30, 0045 - TOURNAMENT Sleepless - 3 tourneys - 5 rounds 3 0 "help\015\012\   Sleepless"\015\012____________________________________________________________________  \015\012\015\012\015\012Recent news summary&#58;\015\012 1920 &#40;04 Apr 2009&#41; Sign up now for TEAM 45 45 LEAGUE Tournament 41.\015\012 1919 &#40;03 Apr 2009&#41; Play in ICC's April Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1918 &#40;27 Feb 2009&#41; Play in ICC's March Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1917 &#40;07 Feb 2009&#41; Play in ICC's February Standard Tournament - Win Prizes!\015\012 1916 &#40;15 Jan 2009&#41; The Corus Line-up\015\012&#40;"news 1920" will show the most recent of these.)\015\012\015\012---> Move timestamping activated.\015\012aics% 
>ICS&#58; /set-quietly interface WinBoard 4.2.8pre + fmax\012/set-quietly style 12\012
<ICS&#58; aics% 
<ICS&#58; aics% 
>ICS&#58; games *w\012

You could be correct. The box I use starts Crafty instantly and it initializes instantly, so it always looks to me as if it logs in first. However, I just tried it a couple of times and the initial "set 1 Crafty v23.1 (8 cpus)" always makes it to the server for me... Note "always" means "exactly twice" here as that is all I tested.