CT800 V1.20 released

[Ras]

I have released V1.20 of the CT800:

https://www.ct800.net/sw_release_v120.htm

V1.20 should win back some Elo that V1.12 had lost. The important changes are:

- The time management is a bit less aggressive in the early phase.
- Higher priority for found null moves.
- Reduced the passed pawn extension.
- Fixed a bug in the rook vs. bishop endgame where the correct defender edge was not highlighted enough over its adjacent rim squares.
- Added rule of the square.
- Fixed a corner case with the 50 moves rule: the 50th move draws only if it does not deliver checkmate.
- Added more opening knowledge.

UCI versions:
- After returning a move, the engine does not execute that move internally. This increases the GUI compatibility when looking for alternative moves via the UCI feature "searchmoves", in particular on the DGT Pi.
- The half move counter in the FEN string is parsed correctly in plies.
- Added an option to limit the speed via the node rate. At 30 kNPS and 1 MB hash, the performance should be close to the dedicated unit.
- Overhauled the I/O layer to achieve more robustness across the supported platforms. In particular, the engine idle state does not keep the OS from entering deeper energy saving modes.
- Removed the "Show Short PVs" option - it is now always enabled. This reduces the perceived engine lag under some GUIs.

Windows:
- ASLR and NX has been enabled (enhanced security).
- Updated the GCC version from 6.3.1 to 6.4.0.

Android:
- In addition to the ARM 32 bit binary, there are now also ones for ARM64, x86 and x86-64.
- The binaries are now dynamically linked to the C standard library for better support of position independent code (security enhancement) and reduction of the program size.
- Updated the NDK version from r15b to r15c.

[Graham Banks]

I have released V1.20 of the CT800:

https://www.ct800.net/sw_release_v120.htm

Thanks Rasmus.

[CMCanavessi]

I have released V1.20 of the CT800:

https://www.ct800.net/sw_release_v120.htm

V1.20 should win back some Elo that V1.12 had lost. The important changes are:

- The time management is a bit less aggressive in the early phase.
- Higher priority for found null moves.
- Reduced the passed pawn extension.
- Fixed a bug in the rook vs. bishop endgame where the correct defender edge was not highlighted enough over its adjacent rim squares.
- Added rule of the square.
- Fixed a corner case with the 50 moves rule: the 50th move draws only if it does not deliver checkmate.
- Added more opening knowledge.

UCI versions:
- After returning a move, the engine does not execute that move internally. This increases the GUI compatibility when looking for alternative moves via the UCI feature "searchmoves", in particular on the DGT Pi.
- The half move counter in the FEN string is parsed correctly in plies.
- Added an option to limit the speed via the node rate. At 30 kNPS and 1 MB hash, the performance should be close to the dedicated unit.
- Overhauled the I/O layer to achieve more robustness across the supported platforms. In particular, the engine idle state does not keep the OS from entering deeper energy saving modes.
- Removed the "Show Short PVs" option - it is now always enabled. This reduces the perceived engine lag under some GUIs.

Windows:
- ASLR and NX has been enabled (enhanced security).
- Updated the GCC version from 6.3.1 to 6.4.0.

Android:
- In addition to the ARM 32 bit binary, there are now also ones for ARM64, x86 and x86-64.
- The binaries are now dynamically linked to the C standard library for better support of position independent code (security enhancement) and reduction of the program size.
- Updated the NDK version from r15b to r15c.

Nice!!! I didn't expect an update. I thought (don't know why) that CT800 was not under development anymore.
Thanx a lot for the new version

[Ras]

I thought (don't know why) that CT800 was not under development anymore.

I guess because the website still had 2017 as latest date, but that was because it doesn't have a CMS (just like the CT800 doesn't have an OS ^^) and I was waiting for V1.20 to upload the pages.

[CMCanavessi]

I thought (don't know why) that CT800 was not under development anymore.

I guess because the website still had 2017 as latest date, but that was because it doesn't have a CMS (just like the CT800 doesn't have an OS ^^) and I was waiting for V1.20 to upload the pages.

Any estimation on elo gain?

[Ras]

Any estimation on elo gain?

From my tests in self-play and in tournaments with NG-Play 9.87 and Dorpsgek Dillinger, I'd expect around 20 Elo.