Critter 0.70 is out

[Dr.Ex]

It eats Komodo alive so it must be a Dinosaur critter.

[AdminX]

Download link:
Critter 0.70

This version supports Gaviota tablebases.

New UCI options:

"GTB Path": Folder where tablebase files are located (default value: \gtb)
"GTB Cache": Size of tablebase cache in magabytes (dafault 32)
"GTB Compression": tablebase compression scheme (default "cp4")

"GTB Usage":
"Disable": Turn off tablebase probing. Useful for debugging/troubleshooting
"Only At Root": This does not slow down the search and allows for optimal play with less than 6 pieces left on the board
"Everywhere": Probe tablebases in search tree. IMO it is worth only for analysis. While it helps in some positions, it slows down the search too much and the engine is actually _weaker_ with this setting.

Hi Richard,

Have you tried probing soft (not hard) in the <n> plies close to the leaves? This <n> needs to be calibrated for each engine, but you can find a condition in which the slow down is negligible. In that situation, the engine cannot be weaker.

Miguel

Strength:

In direct match against Critter 0.60 it is nearly 100 elo stronger.
It performs quite good against Komodo, Naum, even Shredder, but still gets eaten alive by Stockfish (especially in endgames).

Enjoy,

Richard

Michiguel,

A while back I created GTB 's on my system, How do I know what compression level they are? I think in total they are something like 35 to 38 GB. I remember I 7-zipped them on a DVD once.

[AdminX]

Thanks and Congratulations!

[AdminX]

Never Mind, I figured it out, Should I redo them to CP4?

[alpha123]

+100(!!!) elo?

Are you kidding?

I would seriously not believe you if this was announced anytime from March 25-April 10.

Congratulations!

I happen to have just bought Naum 4.2 MP, so I'll start some testing.

Richard, I think I'll add you to my list of programmers who are going to catch Vas in the near future.

Gaviota Tablebase support is a nice feature too. It's good to see more programmers using an open tablebase format.

Congrats,
Peter

[michiguel]

Never Mind, I figured it out, Should I redo them to CP4?

If you already have them in non-compressed format, compress them to cp4 as explained here

http://sites.google.com/site/gaviotache ... ompression

basically, go the folder in which you have Gaviota and type
tbcp folder

where folder is whatever folder you have the TBs. Later, delete the original files or

tbcp -r folder

and the original files will be deleted as they are compressed.

Miguel

[Martin Thoresen]

Here's a fresh CCRL 40/40 game (1 core each):

[Event "40 Moves in 17 min"]
[Site "CCRL_TOP_ENGINES_RR_1, MARTINPC"]
[Date "2010.05.23"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Critter 0.70 x64"]
[Black "Hiarcs 13.1"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 {book 0s} d5 {book 0s} 2. e3 {book 0s} Nf6 {book 0s}
3. c4 {book 0s} dxc4 {book 0s} 4. Bxc4 {book 0s} e6 {book
0s} 5. b3 {book 0s} c5 {book 0s} 6. Bb2 {book 0s} a6 {book
0s} 7. O-O {+0.19/20 1:00m} Be7 {+0.34/17 45s (Nc6)} 8. Qc2
{+0.30/18 23s (d4)} Nc6 {+0.15/17 24s (O-O)} 9. Nc3
{+0.16/18 1:06m} b5 {+0.05/18 32s (b6)} 10. Be2 {+0.35/20
22s} Bb7 {+0.19/17 42s (Nb4)} 11. a4 {+0.18/19 1:08m (Ne4)}
Nb4 {+0.06/17 19s (b4)} 12. Qc1 {+0.44/19 26s} bxa4
{+0.14/16 21s (Bxf3)} 13. Nxa4 {+0.42/20 26s} Rc8 {+0.14/16
20s} 14. Ne5 {+0.42/19 20s} O-O {+0.25/16 31s} 15. d3
{+0.35/18 27s} Qc7 {+0.31/16 31s (Nd7)} 16. Nc4 {+0.41/17
24s} Nd7 {+0.38/17 57s (Rcd8)} 17. f4 {+0.34/17 27s (Qd2)}
Rfd8 {+0.36/16 18s} 18. e4 {+0.30/17 27s (Qd2)} Nc6
{+0.25/16 25s (Rb8)} 19. Qe3 {+0.40/18 24s (Bc3)} Nd4
{+0.22/16 26s} 20. Bc3 {+0.44/18 26s} Qc6 {+0.25/16 30s}
21. Bd1 {+0.43/18 27s (Rfb1)} Nb5 {+0.37/16 50s (Rb8)}
22. Bb2 {+0.55/17 23s} Qc7 {+0.39/16 16s} 23. Rc1 {+0.53/17
27s} Bc6 {+0.46/16 19s} 24. Nc3 {+0.52/16 46s} Nf6
{+0.47/16 50s (Rb8)} 25. Qg3 {+0.69/16 17s (Ne2)} Qb7
{+0.47/16 26s (h6)} 26. f5 {+1.03/16 27s (Ne2)} exf5
{+0.62/15 22s} 27. Rxf5 {+1.12/17 49s} Nd4 {+0.85/16 32s}
28. Rf1 {+1.04/16 5s} h5 {+0.87/16 27s (Ne8)} 29. Ne2
{+1.33/16 19s} h4 {+1.22/17 59s} 30. Qf2 {+1.55/18 27s} h3
{+1.23/16 21s} 31. gxh3 {+1.49/17 19s} Ne6 {+1.20/15 16s
(Be8)} 32. Qg3 {+1.86/18 28s (Bc2)} Nd4 {+1.90/18 1:53m
(Ne8)} 33. Nxd4 {+2.48/17 28s} cxd4 {+1.85/15 10s} 34. h4
{+2.24/16 38s (Rc2)} Ne8 {+2.18/15 56s (Bd7)} 35. Bh5
{+3.04/15 26s (Ne5)} Nf6 {+2.90/15 30s} 36. Bxf7+ {+3.76/14
23s} Kxf7 {+3.03/15 9s} 37. e5 {+3.81/16 12s} Rd5 {+3.04/14
4s (Bd5)} 38. h5 {+4.83/15 29s (Rce1)} Rf8 {+3.26/13 10s
(Ke8)} 39. h6 {+5.46/16 33s (exf6)} Rg8 {+2.96/13 5s}
40. h7 {+5.58/17 33s (Rce1)} Rh8 {+4.52/13 5s} 41. Rc2
{+5.98/16 25s} Rxh7 {+5.92/17 2:26m} 42. exf6 {+6.83/16
18s} gxf6 {+6.05/17 29s} 43. Rg2 {+9.09/16 25s} 1-0

[beachknight]

Thanks for the update.

I am running a blitz gauntlet at the moment using uncompressed Gaviota TBs.

Best,

[IWB]

Hi

First of all thanks for this version - I will test it as soon as I have finished ll the othere new releases.

Is there a possibility to download all 4pc Tbs for it in one piece (7Z/RAR/watever).

Would be nice as I only test with 4pc tbs.

Thx again and bye
Ingo

[rvida]

Is there a possibility to download all 4pc Tbs for it in one piece (7Z/RAR/watever).

Would be nice as I only test with 4pc tbs.

If I remember correctly, generating 4 piece tablebases took only about 2-3 hours. Maybe You should look at
Miguel's webpage for further instructions.

Richard