(Passive) Thinker 5.2B - ponder game

[DomLeste]

Werner can you post the setup of Thinker you have with this Chessbase winboard adapter with ponder off/on settings?

[ernest]

I just used the old chessbase winboard adapter (adapter.eng) from 1999
And with this adapter you can see more infos - as you see here.

You mean this is Winboard in Fritz GUI, not UCI using a Wb2UCI adapter?

[Mike S.]

I made some experiments with this configuration. I got it to run and thinker accepts the hashsize= parameter from the .init file. But I found a problem: Yes it's true that it ponders (in my case, with Chessprogram10 in Vista), but I observed that it pondered only for a very short time, and stopped during ponder time although I didn't enter my reply yet.

My init file template:

[Parameter]
CommandLine =
Author =
Engine =
Debug = False
LogFile = False

[Support]
AnalyzeMode = True
PonderMode = False
CastleAndEP = False
EvaluationWhite = False

(I think "PonderMode" refers to a specific command not required for the normal pondering.)

The .init file must be in the same directory where the engine exe is, a subdirectory of ../ChessBase/Engines/.

For details on that, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/200110051500 ... d/tech.htm

I didn't explore this further, but I think it could happen that Thinker makes weak moves in case of a ponder hit. I think that was one of the problems of the old WB. adapter which would happen with some engines, and which was discussed back then. People using Thinker like that, should check the search depth for Thinker's moves after ponder hits, if they are usually ok, or significantly smaller.

Analyze mode seems not to work properly, with Thinker in this configuration. The engine uses cpu load but doesn't display output.

(I am not sure if the problems happens in engine matches too, or how often etc.)

Anyway, for important tests, it is probably better to either use interfaces with native WB. support, or only with ponder off in a Fritz GUI.

[Werner]

Hi Ernest,
yes, it is winboard inside Chessbase, and this old adapter.eng works in my Fritz 11 GUI.
Explanation is here:
http://web.archive.org/web/200110051500 ... d/tech.htm

I use adapter.eng from 17.01.1999

I created a new folder chessbase\engines\Thinker

here I copied the (Passive)Thinker_64bit.exe and renamed it to Thinker. And I made an file named thinker.init with following entries:

[Parameter]
CommandLine = hashsize=9
Author = Lance Perkins
Engine = Thinker 5.2C
Debug = False

[Support]
AnalyzeMode = false
PonderMode = False
CastleAndEP = True

Inside \engines folder of chessbase I copied adapter.eng and renamed it to thinker.eng

If you now start Fritz you can load an engine named Thinker. This engine ponders automatically on Chessbase Server and you see this output.

best

[DomLeste]

Thanks guys

[Ovyron]

Thank you very much!

[Ovyron]

Analyze mode seems not to work properly, with Thinker in this configuration. The engine uses cpu load but doesn't display output.

This is a Thinker feature and happens as Winboard or UCI engine. Makes the engine look more human or something

[Graham Banks]

Hi Werner,

I haven't tried the latest Thinker yet, but is it now displaying more info in the pgns?

Regards, Graham.

Hi Graham,
no - not more!
I just used the old chessbase winboard adapter (adapter.eng) from 1999
And with this adapter you can see more infos - as you see here.

best

Thanks for replying Werner.

Regards, Graham.

[Ovyron]

I've added a package to my Thinker thread on Rybka's forum with instructions on how could you use this information to analyze games with Thinker at:

http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforu ... ?pid=78093

[Denis P. Mendoza]

Thanks Ulysses. But for those who need other back-up links for the original CB adapter, I've seen two versions at SDCHESS.RU: http://sdchess.ru/util.htm
It will be nice to hear how each adapter performs!