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Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:25 am
by kasinp
...moderately difficult and vetted by modern engines.
Intended for second-tier engine testing - not Stockfish.

Thanks,
PK

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:49 am
by cc2150dx
I recommend the Arasan Test Suite: https://www.arasanchess.org/testsuite.shtml

Or unless someone else here knows of something better.

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:15 am
by Dann Corbit
I second that recommendation.
It has a nice spectrum of difficulty and is thoroughly well debugged.
Most tactical suites are too easy for today's engines.

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:32 am
by kasinp
Thank you both. I should have thought of it myself! Again, appreciate the responses.
PK

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:43 pm
by Paloma
I recommend also the Hard-Talkchess-2019 set here:
http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtop ... =2&t=69361

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:50 pm
by Look
I think test suites need much more number of positions. More than 1000 for instance.

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:20 pm
by Dann Corbit
It is incredibly difficult to produce a tactical test suite with 1000 positions which is thoroughly debugged.
Even 100 positions is rather difficult.

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:05 pm
by Look
Dann Corbit wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:20 pm It is incredibly difficult to produce a tactical test suite with 1000 positions which is thoroughly debugged.
Even 100 positions is rather difficult.
For instance, what if the line is confirmed by several top engines ?

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:05 pm
by Vinvin
kasinp wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:25 am ...moderately difficult and vetted by modern engines.
Intended for second-tier engine testing - not Stockfish.

Thanks,
PK
On the easy side there are the WAC and the ECM-GCP.
And some more, all downloadable here : https://www.arasanchess.org/tests.shtml

Re: Looking for a tactical test suite

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:10 pm
by Dann Corbit
Look wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:05 pm
Dann Corbit wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:20 pm It is incredibly difficult to produce a tactical test suite with 1000 positions which is thoroughly debugged.
Even 100 positions is rather difficult.
For instance, what if the line is confirmed by several top engines ?
I have done that. I worked with Swaminathan in verification of the STS test suite. I took the three strongest engines of the day and ran for a full hour for each position. If the engines were not in agreement, I rejected the position and Swaminathan would give me a new position that fit the criteria of the test set we were working on. However, when I started the test set the strongest engine I had was 32 bit Rybka 2.3 and I had 4 core machines. Today, ten percent of the positions in STS are not valid. The reason is simple. The engines are exponentially stronger. The machines are exponentially stronger, and vastly better and deeper searches found yet better answers with a much deeper look.