Training neural nets can be done much quicker than in my initial endgame net tests. One big help is my code is now all optimized and all the bugs are (mostly) worked out. There are really a lot of things that can and do go wrong when starting everything from scratch and building out the process.
I also made an "auto-learner" that automates all the steps, kicks off a match with configurable params, creates more training data, updates a net, shows the results, then loops. So I can train while I'm gone and update nets after smaller steps.
Training a Rook + Pawns Endgame net from scratch to -1 elo to SF11 (final test was 5000 games) took me 20 hours. Training it from scratch to stronger the Slow 2.3 was only 5 hours. This is still weaker than my latest rook endgame net which scored +5 elo to SF11 (10000 games @ 0.8 + 0.06) so I didn't continue the test.
I am pretty convinced at this point that neural nets are enough stronger that there isn't much point from a strength perspective to try to do hard-coded eval stuff. I wouldn't say I doubted this before, but I had the impression that they required more compute resources to get strong than they actually do.
General Evaluation
I tried replacing my regular eval with a neural network (in addition to the individual endgame networks.) First tests were training it from scratch with zero training data to see how long it took to learn. I was initially pretty excited because I had assumed that chess was so big it might be hard to see it work at all, but instead I saw quick progress against the older chess engines I tested against (Fruit then Senpai2.0)
10s + .1 2-moves book, first try from scratch, output pasted from my auto-tuner window. I think this was around 40 hours maybe? (using 11-cores)
Code: Select all
1. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 0.0 elo ) +0 -112 =0 0.0%
2. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -1111.0 elo ) +0 -299 =1 0.2%
3. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -1111.0 elo ) +0 -299 =1 0.2%
4. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -869.3 elo ) +2 -298 =0 0.7%
5. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -636.4 elo ) +6 -291 =3 2.5%
6. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -395.0 elo ) +22 -266 =12 9.3%
7. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -242.6 elo ) +46 -227 =27 19.8%
8. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -140.4 elo ) +73 -188 =39 30.8%
9. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -70.4 elo ) +99 -159 =42 40.0%
10. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -74.1 elo ) +95 -158 =47 39.5%
11. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -59.6 elo ) +101 -152 =47 41.5%
12. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -20.9 elo ) +117 -135 =48 47.0%
13. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 4.6 elo ) +125 -121 =54 50.7%
14. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -2.3 elo ) +120 -122 =58 49.7%
15. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -30.2 elo ) +114 -140 =46 45.7%
16. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 19.7 elo ) +133 -116 =51 52.8%
17. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 23.2 elo ) +135 -115 =50 53.3%
18. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -24.4 elo ) +148 -176 =76 46.5%
19. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 61.4 elo ) +193 -123 =84 58.7%
20. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -7.8 elo ) +159 -168 =73 48.9%
21. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 52.5 elo ) +199 -139 =62 57.5%
22. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -11.3 elo ) +168 -181 =51 48.4%
23. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 47.2 elo ) +192 -138 =70 56.8%
24. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -261.3 elo ) +16 -79 =4 18.2%
25. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 12.2 elo ) +179 -165 =56 51.8%
26. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 45.4 elo ) +188 -136 =76 56.5%
27. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 60.5 elo ) +196 -127 =77 58.6%
28. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 41.9 elo ) +182 -134 =84 56.0%
29. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 24.4 elo ) +183 -155 =62 53.5%
30. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 54.3 elo ) +189 -127 =84 57.8%
31. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -236.5 elo ) +56 -352 =92 20.4%
32. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -230.2 elo ) +58 -348 =94 21.0%
33. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -196.5 elo ) +70 -326 =104 24.4%
34. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -179.0 elo ) +66 -303 =131 26.3%
35. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -190.8 elo ) +73 -323 =104 25.0%
36. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -198.3 elo ) +57 -315 =128 24.2%
37. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -146.4 elo ) +78 -277 =145 30.1%
38. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -177.2 elo ) +69 -304 =127 26.5%
39. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -251.9 elo ) +49 -359 =92 19.0%
40. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -119.1 elo ) +95 -260 =145 33.5%
41. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -135.8 elo ) +83 -269 =148 31.4%
42. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -161.5 elo ) +71 -288 =141 28.3%
43. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -137.4 elo ) +87 -275 =138 31.2%
44. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -127.8 elo ) +85 -261 =154 32.4%
45. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -129.3 elo ) +88 -266 =146 32.2%
46. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -129.3 elo ) +78 -256 =166 32.2%
47. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -123.0 elo ) +88 -258 =154 33.0%
48. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -142.3 elo ) +73 -267 =160 30.6%
49. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -101.5 elo ) +99 -241 =160 35.8%
50. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -108.3 elo ) +95 -246 =159 34.9%
51. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -113.7 elo ) +90 -248 =162 34.2%
52. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -84.3 elo ) +116 -235 =149 38.1%
53. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -100.7 elo ) +105 -246 =149 35.9%
54. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -77.7 elo ) +113 -223 =164 39.0%
55. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -85.0 elo ) +104 -224 =172 38.0%
56. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -64.7 elo ) +126 -218 =156 40.8%
57. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -64.7 elo ) +120 -212 =168 40.8%
58. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -56.8 elo ) +130 -211 =159 41.9%
59. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -113.9 elo ) +46 -115 =57 34.2%
60. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -81.4 elo ) +112 -227 =161 38.5%
61. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -201.2 elo ) +62 -323 =115 23.9%
62. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -206.0 elo ) +61 -327 =112 23.4%
63. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -176.3 elo ) +72 -306 =122 26.6%
64. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -171.9 elo ) +75 -304 =121 27.1%
65. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -154.7 elo ) +66 -275 =159 29.1%
66. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -164.1 elo ) +80 -300 =120 28.0%
67. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -165.8 elo ) +71 -293 =136 27.8%
68. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -158.1 elo ) +74 -287 =139 28.7%
69. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -151.3 elo ) +77 -282 =141 29.5%
70. SlowDev v. Fizbo2 ( -175.7 elo ) +23 -114 =58 26.7%
71. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -70.4 elo ) +30 -55 =40 40.0%
72. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -48.3 elo ) +138 -207 =155 43.1%
73. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -11.8 elo ) +159 -176 =165 48.3%
74. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -29.3 elo ) +152 -194 =154 45.8%
75. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -143.9 elo ) +84 -280 =136 30.4%
76. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -138.2 elo ) +92 -281 =127 31.1%
77. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -144.7 elo ) +85 -282 =133 30.3%
78. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -127.8 elo ) +102 -278 =120 32.4%
79. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -122.2 elo ) +97 -266 =137 33.1%
80. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -115.2 elo ) +112 -272 =116 34.0%
81. SlowDev v. Critter_1.6a ( -136.3 elo ) +48 -138 =55 31.3%
82. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -11.8 elo ) +160 -177 =163 48.3%
83. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -34.2 elo ) +141 -190 =169 45.1%
84. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -9.0 elo ) +143 -156 =201 48.7%
85. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -14.6 elo ) +160 -181 =159 47.9%
86. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -12.5 elo ) +158 -176 =166 48.2%
87. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -39.8 elo ) +133 -190 =177 44.3%
88. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -44.6 elo ) +50 -74 =64 43.6%
89. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( 40.5 elo ) +193 -135 =172 55.8%
Score of SlowDev vs Senpai2: 431 - 324 - 445 [0.545] 15s +.15 2-moves book
Elo difference: 31.06 +/- 15.61
Code: Select all
0. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 0.0 elo ) +0 -155 =0 0.0%
1. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -837.4 elo ) +3 -495 =2 0.8%
2. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -816.7 elo ) +4 -495 =1 0.9%
3. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -471.9 elo ) +26 -464 =10 6.2%
4. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -331.8 elo ) +52 -423 =25 12.9%
5. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -313.9 elo ) +58 -417 =25 14.1%
6. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -39.1 elo ) +182 -238 =80 44.4%
7. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -69.0 elo ) +169 -267 =64 40.2%
8. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -12.5 elo ) +198 -216 =86 48.2%
9. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -44.0 elo ) +179 -242 =79 43.7%
10. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -27.9 elo ) +200 -240 =60 46.0%
11. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -7.6 elo ) +198 -209 =93 48.9%
12. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 48.3 elo ) +238 -169 =93 56.9%
Changed to FRC
13. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -94.0 elo ) +199 -368 =73 36.8%
14. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -39.8 elo ) +190 -247 =63 44.3%
15. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -52.5 elo ) +181 -256 =63 42.5%
16. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -33.5 elo ) +199 -247 =54 45.2%
17. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -41.2 elo ) +194 -253 =53 44.1%
18. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -46.8 elo ) +187 -254 =59 43.3%
19. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -14.6 elo ) +201 -222 =77 47.9%
20. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( -18.5 elo ) +87 -98 =22 47.3%
21. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -887.7 elo ) +1 -495 =4 0.6%
22. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -919.5 elo ) +1 -496 =3 0.5%
23. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -752.1 elo ) +1 -488 =11 1.3%
24. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -603.9 elo ) +7 -477 =16 3.0%
25. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 20.9 elo ) +236 -206 =58 53.0%
26. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -659.2 elo ) +5 -483 =12 2.2%
27. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -667.4 elo ) +2 -481 =17 2.1%
28. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -629.4 elo ) +4 -478 =18 2.6%
29. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -661.9 elo ) +2 -576 =22 2.2%
30. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -636.4 elo ) +3 -573 =24 2.5%
31. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -541.1 elo ) +9 -558 =33 4.3%
32. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -594.2 elo ) +5 -567 =28 3.2%
33. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -552.1 elo ) +4 -556 =40 4.0%
34. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -563.7 elo ) +7 -562 =31 3.8%
35. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -571.9 elo ) +7 -564 =29 3.6%
36. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -537.6 elo ) +9 -557 =34 4.3%
37. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -530.7 elo ) +9 -555 =36 4.5%
38. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -555.9 elo ) +9 -562 =29 3.9%
39. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -567.8 elo ) +8 -564 =28 3.7%
40. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -571.9 elo ) +2 -559 =39 3.6%
41. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -517.7 elo ) +8 -550 =42 4.8%
42. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -563.7 elo ) +4 -559 =37 3.8%
43. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -505.5 elo ) +10 -548 =42 5.2%
44. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -530.7 elo ) +9 -555 =36 4.5%
45. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -511.5 elo ) +9 -549 =42 5.0%
46. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -548.4 elo ) +8 -559 =33 4.1%
47. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -544.7 elo ) +7 -557 =36 4.2%
48. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -520.9 elo ) +4 -547 =49 4.8%
49. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -555.9 elo ) +7 -560 =33 3.9%
50. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -524.1 elo ) +5 -549 =46 4.7%
51. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -499.7 elo ) +6 -542 =52 5.3%
52. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -555.9 elo ) +7 -560 =33 3.9%
53. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -527.4 elo ) +6 -551 =43 4.6%
54. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -494.0 elo ) +9 -543 =48 5.5%
55. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -488.5 elo ) +10 -542 =48 5.7%
56. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -478.0 elo ) +18 -546 =36 6.0%
57. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -514.6 elo ) +9 -550 =41 4.9%
58. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -508.5 elo ) +8 -547 =45 5.1%
59. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -527.4 elo ) +6 -551 =43 4.6%
60. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -541.1 elo ) +7 -556 =37 4.3%
61. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -499.7 elo ) +3 -539 =58 5.3%
62. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -456.1 elo ) +10 -529 =61 6.8%
63. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -480.6 elo ) +9 -538 =53 5.9%
64. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -508.5 elo ) +7 -546 =47 5.1%
65. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -491.3 elo ) +5 -538 =57 5.6%
66. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -465.6 elo ) +10 -533 =57 6.4%
67. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -488.5 elo ) +8 -540 =52 5.7%
68. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -534.1 elo ) +4 -551 =45 4.4%
69. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -463.2 elo ) +9 -531 =60 6.5%
70. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -520.9 elo ) +6 -549 =45 4.8%
71. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +11 -528 =61 6.9%
72. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -480.6 elo ) +5 -534 =61 5.9%
73. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 201.8 elo ) +211 -54 =35 76.2%
74. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -442.8 elo ) +12 -525 =63 7.3%
75. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +13 -530 =57 6.9%
76. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -434.4 elo ) +13 -522 =65 7.6%
77. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -491.3 elo ) +6 -539 =55 5.6%
78. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -438.5 elo ) +14 -525 =61 7.4%
79. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -440.6 elo ) +11 -523 =66 7.3%
80. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -432.3 elo ) +13 -521 =66 7.7%
81. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -428.3 elo ) +11 -517 =72 7.8%
82. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -447.1 elo ) +11 -526 =63 7.1%
83. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -428.3 elo ) +14 -520 =66 7.8%
84. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +6 -523 =71 6.9%
85. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -458.5 elo ) +8 -528 =64 6.7%
86. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -449.4 elo ) +9 -525 =66 7.0%
87. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -460.8 elo ) +12 -533 =55 6.6%
88. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -456.1 elo ) +16 -535 =49 6.8%
89. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -460.8 elo ) +10 -531 =59 6.6%
90. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -409.1 elo ) +12 -508 =80 8.7%
91. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -456.1 elo ) +9 -528 =63 6.8%
92. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +10 -527 =63 6.9%
93. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -424.3 elo ) +16 -520 =64 8.0%
94. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +8 -525 =67 6.9%
95. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -438.5 elo ) +10 -521 =69 7.4%
96. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -418.5 elo ) +12 -513 =75 8.3%
97. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -434.4 elo ) +16 -525 =59 7.6%
98. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -407.3 elo ) +15 -510 =75 8.8%
99. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -451.6 elo ) +10 -527 =63 6.9%
100. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -393.3 elo ) +19 -506 =75 9.4%
101. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -386.6 elo ) +20 -503 =77 9.8%
102. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 249.1 elo ) +304 -58 =38 80.8%
103. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -102.5 elo ) +153 -325 =122 35.7%
104. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -407.3 elo ) +19 -514 =67 8.8%
105. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -436.4 elo ) +17 -527 =56 7.5%
106. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -383.3 elo ) +16 -497 =87 9.9%
107. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -398.4 elo ) +21 -511 =68 9.2%
108. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -438.5 elo ) +11 -522 =67 7.4%
109. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -358.8 elo ) +28 -493 =79 11.3%
110. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -400.2 elo ) +13 -504 =83 9.1%
111. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -412.8 elo ) +17 -515 =68 8.5%
112. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -369.2 elo ) +16 -488 =96 10.7%
113. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -380.1 elo ) +18 -497 =85 10.1%
114. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -354.5 elo ) +21 -483 =96 11.5%
115. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -321.4 elo ) +30 -467 =103 13.6%
116. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -393.3 elo ) +18 -505 =77 9.4%
117. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -407.3 elo ) +14 -509 =77 8.8%
118. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -383.3 elo ) +14 -495 =91 9.9%
119. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -351.7 elo ) +24 -484 =92 11.7%
120. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -363.2 elo ) +21 -489 =90 11.0%
121. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( -71.6 elo ) +166 -288 =146 39.8%
122. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -322.7 elo ) +15 -453 =132 13.5%
123. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -338.0 elo ) +16 -466 =118 12.5%
124. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -347.5 elo ) +28 -485 =87 11.9%
125. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -627.3 elo ) +1 -127 =5 2.6%
126. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -471.5 elo ) +22 -783 =64 6.2%
127. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -511.5 elo ) +1 -28 =1 5.0%
128. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -350.9 elo ) +12 -267 =54 11.7%
-- Score all positions by 50% Search, 50% Result
129. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -254.3 elo ) +92 -770 =224 18.8%
130. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( 47.2 elo ) +175 -121 =104 56.8%
131. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -252.8 elo ) +55 -428 =117 18.9%
132. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -249.1 elo ) +51 -420 =129 19.3%
133. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -248.2 elo ) +58 -426 =116 19.3%
134. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -241.7 elo ) +50 -411 =139 19.9%
135. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -262.4 elo ) +38 -421 =141 18.1%
136. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -249.1 elo ) +49 -418 =133 19.3%
137. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -274.4 elo ) +48 -443 =109 17.1%
138. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -384.9 elo ) +22 -504 =74 9.8%
139. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -342.0 elo ) +32 -485 =83 12.3%
140. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -351.7 elo ) +31 -491 =78 11.7%
141. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -355.9 elo ) +27 -490 =83 11.4%
142. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -388.2 elo ) +17 -501 =82 9.7%
143. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -238.1 elo ) +47 -404 =149 20.3%
144. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -235.4 elo ) +51 -405 =144 20.5%
145. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -289.1 elo ) +32 -441 =127 15.9%
146. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -253.8 elo ) +55 -429 =116 18.8%
147. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 499.7 elo ) +554 -18 =28 94.7%
148. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( 68.6 elo ) +292 -175 =133 59.8%
Code: Select all
0. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -214.8 elo ) +69 -399 =132 22.5%
1. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -236.3 elo ) +47 -402 =151 20.4%
2. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -228.4 elo ) +51 -397 =152 21.2%
3. SlowDev v. Stockfish7 ( -155.5 elo ) +95 -347 =158 29.0%
4. SlowDev v. Stockfish7 ( -144.4 elo ) +99 -335 =166 30.3%
5. SlowDev v. Stockfish7 ( -143.8 elo ) +102 -337 =161 30.4%
6. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -206.7 elo ) +68 -388 =144 23.3%
7. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -241.7 elo ) +56 -417 =127 19.9%
8. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -214.0 elo ) +62 -391 =147 22.6%
9. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -239.9 elo ) +51 -410 =139 20.1%
10. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -238.1 elo ) +51 -408 =141 20.3%
11. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -232.8 elo ) +57 -408 =135 20.8%
12. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -254.7 elo ) +48 -423 =129 18.8%
13. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -262.3 elo ) +15 -216 =84 18.1%
14. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -206.7 elo ) +68 -388 =144 23.3%
15. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -227.6 elo ) +50 -395 =155 21.3%
16. SlowDev v. Stockfish12 ( -511.5 elo ) +9 -549 =42 5.0%
17. SlowDev v. Stockfish12 ( -470.4 elo ) +15 -540 =45 6.3%
18. SlowDev v. Stockfish12 ( -463.2 elo ) +14 -536 =50 6.5%
19. SlowDev v. Stockfish12 ( -453.9 elo ) +14 -532 =54 6.8%
20. SlowDev v. Stockfish12 ( -465.6 elo ) +11 -534 =55 6.4%
21. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -346.1 elo ) +27 -483 =90 12.0%
22. SlowDev v. Stockfish7 ( -112.7 elo ) +125 -313 =162 34.3%
23. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -193.2 elo ) +76 -379 =145 24.8%
24. SlowDev v. Ethereal12 ( -121.1 elo ) +131 -332 =137 33.3%
25. SlowDev v. Ethereal12 ( -145.1 elo ) +114 -351 =135 30.3%
26. SlowDev v. Ethereal12 ( -94.3 elo ) +142 -301 =157 36.8%
27. SlowDev v. Ethereal12 ( -106.3 elo ) +142 -320 =138 35.2%
28. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( 95.6 elo ) +306 -145 =149 63.4%
29. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 589.5 elo ) +191 -4 =5 96.8%
30. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -186.7 elo ) +117 -608 =275 25.5%
31. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -207.0 elo ) +102 -636 =262 23.3%
32. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -206.5 elo ) +113 -646 =241 23.4%
33. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -211.4 elo ) +104 -647 =249 22.8%
34. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -174.6 elo ) +124 -588 =288 26.8%
35. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -184.9 elo ) +138 -625 =237 25.7%
36. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -188.1 elo ) +119 -613 =268 25.3%
37. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -179.5 elo ) +146 -621 =233 26.2%
38. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -169.7 elo ) +128 -581 =291 27.4%
39. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -197.4 elo ) +108 -622 =270 24.3%
40. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -176.8 elo ) +134 -603 =263 26.6%
41. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -180.8 elo ) +124 -602 =274 26.1%
42. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -188.1 elo ) +120 -614 =266 25.3%
43. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -188.1 elo ) +130 -624 =246 25.3%
44. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -175.4 elo ) +121 -587 =292 26.7%
45. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -184.0 elo ) +128 -613 =259 25.8%
46. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -177.7 elo ) +133 -604 =263 26.4%
47. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -179.9 elo ) +124 -600 =276 26.2%
48. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -157.2 elo ) +149 -573 =278 28.8%
49. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -173.7 elo ) +126 -588 =286 26.9%
50. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -159.8 elo ) +149 -579 =272 28.5%
51. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -178.1 elo ) +125 -597 =278 26.4%
52. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -167.1 elo ) +132 -579 =289 27.6%
53. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -165.8 elo ) +152 -596 =252 27.8%
54. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -161.1 elo ) +133 -566 =301 28.3%
55. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -180.8 elo ) +125 -603 =272 26.1%
56. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -172.3 elo ) +135 -594 =271 27.1%
57. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -192.2 elo ) +112 -615 =273 24.9%
58. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -170.1 elo ) +125 -579 =296 27.3%
59. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -184.4 elo ) +120 -606 =274 25.7%
60. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -177.2 elo ) +132 -602 =266 26.5%
61. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -168.4 elo ) +129 -579 =292 27.5%
62. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -159.8 elo ) +140 -570 =290 28.5%
63. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -159.8 elo ) +147 -577 =276 28.5%
64. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -170.6 elo ) +144 -599 =257 27.3%
65. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -149.7 elo ) +145 -551 =304 29.7%
66. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -161.1 elo ) +138 -571 =291 28.3%
67. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -161.1 elo ) +141 -574 =285 28.3%
68. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -177.7 elo ) +115 -586 =299 26.4%
69. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -158.5 elo ) +140 -567 =293 28.7%
70. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -167.1 elo ) +133 -580 =287 27.6%
71. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -158.5 elo ) +136 -563 =301 28.7%
72. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -265.8 elo ) +82 -726 =192 17.8%
73. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -254.2 elo ) +82 -706 =212 18.8%
74. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -281.1 elo ) +62 -731 =207 16.5%
75. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -265.8 elo ) +68 -712 =220 17.8%
76. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -268.2 elo ) +77 -725 =198 17.6%
77. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -245.2 elo ) +76 -684 =240 19.6%
78. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -251.9 elo ) +76 -696 =228 19.0%
79. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -286.1 elo ) +65 -742 =193 16.2%
80. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -257.0 elo ) +85 -714 =201 18.5%
81. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -263.4 elo ) +76 -716 =208 18.0%
82. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -292.0 elo ) +65 -751 =184 15.7%
83. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -267.6 elo ) +68 -715 =217 17.6%
84. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -273.0 elo ) +78 -734 =188 17.2%
85. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -277.9 elo ) +61 -725 =214 16.8%
86. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -267.0 elo ) +79 -725 =196 17.7%
87. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -275.5 elo ) +66 -726 =208 17.0%
88. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -264.0 elo ) +79 -720 =201 18.0%
89. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -278.5 elo ) +58 -723 =219 16.8%
90. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -267.0 elo ) +67 -713 =220 17.7%
91. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -269.4 elo ) +81 -731 =188 17.5%
92. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -260.5 elo ) +74 -709 =217 18.3%
93. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -260.5 elo ) +79 -714 =207 18.3%
94. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -259.3 elo ) +78 -711 =211 18.4%
95. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -251.9 elo ) +87 -707 =206 19.0%
96. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -263.4 elo ) +86 -726 =188 18.0%
97. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -251.9 elo ) +79 -699 =222 19.0%
98. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -266.4 elo ) +76 -721 =203 17.8%
99. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -264.0 elo ) +76 -717 =207 18.0%
100. SlowDev v. Stockfish11 ( -263.4 elo ) +72 -712 =216 18.0%
101. SlowDev v. Stockfish8 ( -135.4 elo ) +166 -537 =297 31.5%
102. SlowDev v. Stockfish7 ( -45.8 elo ) +287 -418 =295 43.5%
103. SlowDev v. Fruit2.2.1 ( 685.2 elo ) +973 -11 =16 98.1%
104. SlowDev v. Senpai2 ( 159.8 elo ) +595 -165 =240 71.5%
105. SlowDev v Slow2.1 ( 18.3 elo) +216 -181 =268 52.5%
- I kept all endgame knowledge. Tablebases, Mating Eval, and the full endgame neural nets.
The endgame nets trained individually from zero and didn't want to extend time to retrain. Since result is used in scoring having accurate endgame results should be huge help in knowing what is actually good earlier. - Score by search was huge in increasing training speed. The first time I tried it I saw a 100 elo increase compared to the result only score, using the same from-zero data against Fruit and Senpai2.
I used 60% search, 40% result. Search scoring was using the net being trained, so was still starting from zero. It seems to help generalize / even out the values and can be used to re-score earlier games as the evaluation gets better (much quicker than throwing them out and playing new games.) - I used horizontal and SideToMove/Vertical symmetry.
- Knowledgeable opponents to train against. If one side knows what to do the results shouldn't ever be that bad. It was able to beat Fruit 2.2.1 quite quickly but then the rate of elo increase slowed down. After switching to Senpai2 training got elo increase got faster again.
- The time control can be super quick. I started with 3s + .02s games. It's possible that longer games are better or become needed at a certain level. But in the beginning it speeds up the process quite a bit, since playing games is by far the longest step.
- The search is already pretty strong/optimized, so against older programs it probably has a big search advantage.
However for training on one reasonably priced home computer on just my own data, speed of training is quite important.
Training Randomness
- Sometimes you randomly roll a clearly weaker or stronger net (weights start randomly when training connections, and depending on your process and when/how you create training data there might be more random factors.)
But this is a larger issue the less data and larger game-space the net covers. When I had very little data there was sometimes a clear 40+ elo difference between eval nets. I even once randomly got a dud net that was -100 elo the previous.
I started auto-saving numbered nets for each training so as to not lose a good one. But as training data increased variation became smaller and it was harder to pick out what was real and what was just testing noise. - I also experimented with splitting training and validation data in tensor flow. This does somewhat follow the weaker/stronger nets, but also hard to say for sure the correlation with the amount of testing I can do, and variation became smaller the more data I had, so in the end I didn't incorporate this into my training process.
- Error seemed to reduce some small amount as more weights were added to net structure, but where they were added didn't matter much. I had some thought to force connections with more specific chess inputs and structures, but now I'm leaning away from this. I still have some things I want to try. It's hard to predict strength from error anyway.
If you are not specifically trying to keep it pure, I think it's worthwhile just taking a half an hour to do a simple eval (material + sqs and passed pawns or whatever) to jump start training. Also adding mating evaluation and tablebases. (Or training endgame first.)
Then when one net beats the current base by a certain margin, copy that net and use it as the new base opponent and keep playing. I think Alpha-zero did something like this.
I did enough testing of this process to see that works to get stronger quicker than I initially expected, but I haven't tried getting it strong enough to compete with my current eval. When it was still hundreds of elo weaker and progress started to slow down some, I decided I was more interested in if the experiment would work than trying to find a maximum level.
Actually Improving the Eval
Next I spent some time working to gather and score a large numbers of positions (Using my old HCE training data, and lot of old pgns from testing sitting around.)
Today I am able to get some match wins vs Stockfish 8 (+5 elo @ 4000 games 10s+.1 in 2-moves book.)
Unfortunately this didn't generalize even to 8-moves book (-10 elo) and FRC was pretty bad (abandoned after starting out -60 elo.)
A lot of my old pgns were from testing with 2-moves book, so training had the most positions starting from there.
Training total was 9.8 million positions not including symmetries. They are scored with a blend of search and result. For the training sets I chose between 0% and 50% result weighted depending on the expected quality of the game. (eg. I ran some 1 + .01s games to generate more positions, so these were 0% result, just search.) My training code does multi-threaded search scoring so time needed not that bad, but still a few hours to do all 10 million positions. I unscientifically was trying depth 8 and depth 10 on sets while importing.
I tried both using Slow hard-coded eval, or having the eval net on. Leaving the eval net on seemed better once the eval got decent, but might be some issues where overfitted or missing evals not corrected.
This is the net structure I'm using for the general net :
Code: Select all
network.SetInputCount(whiteInputCount + blackInputCount + 1);
network.AddLayer(320, eActivation::RELU, eLayout::SPARSE_INPUTS);
network.AddLayer(32, eActivation::RELU);
network.AddLayer(32, eActivation::RELU);
network.AddLayer(1);
I copied the incremental update code from my general code in my checkers program and pasted it into chess for a very worthwhile, but not huge, speed increase.
Neural net pawn hash : A few layers using only pawns + kings leading to a few output values that are then combined into the general network.
This is pretty much just a speed improvement, but small/moderate speed improvements are a large part of chess. Initial tests showed this is likely an improvement. If I switch to it for general network then will try keeping the same pawn/king network for the endgame networks too. Also maybe try putting general inputs in hash too.
Separate Side updates : I haven't tried this yet. A quiet move would only have to update one side. I think maybe NNUE does this if I remember the diagram? (I have seen Wiki entry and talk chess posts but haven't looked at code to see details of how NNUE works.)
Othello
I trained a neural net othello program based on the GuiNN checkers code that used 4 Edge and 4 corner pattern neural nets that fed into two final layers. I trained by starting out playing random games and with perfect endgame with 16 moves left, then working back in stages. This has been a common way to train othello programs from zero knowledge for a couple decades so not really anything new.
The strength was pretty similar, except for the endgame solving was clearly weaker which means probably a bit weaker overall. I didn't build out a way to automatically play against my old program so hard to say exactly how it compares. I'd consider this result a partial success.
It's harder to be efficient in othello neural nets (more and more markers on board until 64 squares filled, and lines of them flipping each move.) And the GuiNN checkers search is okay but not the best. So I wasn't really expecting to quickly get neural net super strength, just make sure the process did generalize and learn about different net structures
I haven't released the neural net othello, but in the process I put my super old othello program Pointy Stone 3.5 on GitHub, and updated it with a faster 64-bit compile.
Future
I learned a lot about neural nets, and got comfortable with Tensorflow, and experimented with image recognition and other common neural net tasks in addition to the game playing tasks.
Probably I will soon release a Slow 2.5 that is purely neural net, since it seems already clearly stronger (except FRC?) though unlikely to actually be Stockfish 8 level, and for best performance will now need AVX2.
But as commonly happens there is less motivation after some excitement of learning something new and it actually working. My initial curiosity feels satisfied and making actual progress seems fairly slow and a function of time (mostly computer-time, but also deciding what to tweak or train.)