Banksia GUI released

[Guenther]

It seems Banksia changed the output for a promotion from lowercase b2b1q to uppercase b2b1Q when sending the move list to the opponent.
My guess is that this caused a timeout in Gogobello 2.1 - it showed no output anymore in the log and lost on time.

Code: Select all

22:16:37 RubiChess_16-64> info depth 42 seldepth 42 multipv 1 time 2316 score cp 29893  nodes 2188187 nps 944537 tbhits 245512 hashfull 31 pv b2b1q e5e7  b1d1  e7e3  d1d2  e3e2  d2e2
22:16:37 RubiChess_16-64> bestmove b2b1q
22:16:37 Gogobello_21-64< position startpos moves e2e4 e7e5 g1f3 b8c6 f1b5 a7a6 b5a4 g8f6 e1g1 f8e7 b1c3 b7b5 a4b3 d7d6 d2d3 c6a5 c3e2 a5b3 a2b3 c7c5 e2g3 e8g8 c2c3 h7h6 c1d2 c8e6 b3b4 c5b4 c3b4 d8b6 d1e2 a8c8 d2c3 c8c7 f1d1 e6b3 d1e1 f8d8 a1a3 b3e6 h2h3 b6b7 e2e3 f6d7 e1a1 d8a8 e3e1 d7b6 d3d4 b6c4 a3a2 c4b6 d4d5 e6d7 e1b1 c7c8 b1d1 f7f5 g3f5 d7f5 e4f5 b6d5 c3d2 c8c4 d1e1 e7f6 f3h2 d5e7 e1b1 c4c6 h2g4 d6d5 b1d3 g8h8 g4f6 c6f6 g2g4 e7c6 d3e3 f6f8 a2a3 f8f7 a1c1 a8c8 c1c5 c8d8 e3g3 f7f8 a3a1 f8f7 g1g2 d8d6 a1c1 f7f8 h3h4 h6h5 f2f3 d5d4 g4h5 f8f5 g3g4 f5f6 c1d1 d4d3 d2e3 f6f8 d1d2 b7f7 c5c3 c6b4 c3c8 d6f6 e3c5 f8c8 g4c8 h8h7 c5b4 f6f4 c8c3 e5e4 b4d6 f4f3 c3e5 e4e3 e5e4 f7f5 e4f5 f3f5 d2d3 f5f2 g2g3 f2d2 d3e3 d2d6 g3g4 d6d4 g4g5 d4d5 g5f4 d5h5 f4g4 h5c5 e3a3 c5c2 b2b3 c2b2 a3a6 b2b3 a6a2 b3b4 g4f5 b4h4 a2b2 h7h6 b2g2 h4h5 f5f4 h5h4 f4f5 h4h5 f5f4 g7g5 f4g3 h5h4 g2b2 b5b4 b2c2 h4d4 c2c7 h6g6 g3f3 d4f4 f3g2 g6f5 c7d7 f5e4 d7d6 e4e3 d6d8 f4c4 d8b8 g5g4 b8b6 e3d2 g2f2 g4g3 f2g2 d2c2 b6e6 b4b3 e6e1 b3b2 e1e5 b2b1Q
go wtime 71926 btime 57262 winc 0 binc 0 movestogo 23

Code: Select all

22:17:54 > Timeleft for Gogobello_21-64: 71.93, used: 77.19, RubiChess_16-64: 57.26
22:17:54 Gogobello_21-64< stop
22:17:54 > 1) 1) Gogobello_21-64 vs RubiChess_16-64, #194, 0-1 (timeout)

other things:
- The draw adjudication box for the move number only accepts two digits (and is only in plies).

- It would be cleaner to write the opening variation into the according tag and not into the move info

- After the White and Black tag names there is one space too much

Code: Select all

[Event "Chess Tournament"]
[Date "2019.11.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White 	"RubiChess_16-64"]
[Black 	"Gogobello_21-64"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "40/120+0"]
[Time "22:22:54"]
[Board "2"]
[Termination "mate"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Opening "Scandinavian"]

1. e4 {+0.5/20 4.4 3542607}  d5 {-0.7/16 2.9 2891835}  2. exd5 {+0.6/20 3.2 2675012}  Nf6 {-0.9/17 2.9 1768423} 
3. d4 {+0.7/19 3.5 2643338}  Nxd5 {-0.8/17 2.9 982206}  4. Nf3 {+0.6/20 3.9 3022434; B01: Scandinavian, Marshall variation}  Bf5 {-0.7/16 2.9 1805528} 

[AdminX]

Thanks for version 0.6 I like the customization options.

https://i.ibb.co/3h2gRn1/tday.png

[phhnguyen]

Just in the beginning process of starting to test Banksia.

I have a few questions first.
I see that the engines json file is similar to Cutechess' engines.json file, but a bit extended and with a few changes for variable names.
As I have already a script which changes the engines part of my WB.ini to a cutechess engines.json file it would be handy for me
to know a bit about the structure.

Currently If I add an engine (manually) it will write also all options into the json file.
Can I also add them (adapted) in a minimal way into the json file e.g. w/o options, so what is
the minimal entry looking like?
My current guess is that probably just "options" : "", would work?

JSON fields can explain themselves via names (and comments). Users can guess the meaning and purposes of almost all fields.

When creating JSON files, BSG tries to create the maximum number of fields. We thought it is easier for users to just fill and/or modify those fields than create new ones. That is why our JSON usually look so long

However, BSG is designed to work with incorrect and/or minimum contents of JSONs (if you see it crashes, surely it is a bug and we must fix). For JSON of an engine, the most important is the path, the name and the protocol of the engine. All other fields can be safely omitted (if you want to keep empty options, the correct format is: "options" : [ ] ).

For example, BSG can work with an engine JSON:

Code: Select all

{
    "app" : 
    {
      "command" : "C:/Engines/UCI/Gogobello_21-64/gogobello_21-64.exe",
      "name" : "Gogobello_21-64",
      "protocol" : "uci"
    },
...

What would be content for "arguments"?

it was designed for use as arguments of engines. However, at the moment we don't use it (redundant).

Same for "comment" could this be any user note?

Just comments for humans (not for engines). Usually, BSG uses as a tip or a short help. Users can type anything there as their notes too.

I prefer the name 'comment' to other names such as 'tip', 'help' since JSON may sort its fields by alphabets thus 'comment' usually come to the top but not other names

What happens, if I add the same generic color number for all?
The other entries are clear.

Colors are for visualization. BSG uses them mainly for displaying thinking arrows (arrows to moves engines think they are the best). BSG has no problem if they all are the same or omitted (that maybe your eyes' problem ).

Note that I want co copy around 4-5000 entries adapted with a script from my cutechess engines.json

BSG can help much in this issue. Instead of converting JSON from other GUIs (a long, tired and too easy get mistake process), you may let BSG detects automatically them all. Just keep engines in their subfolders, then give BSG the main folders of those engines (in adding engine dialog popup), select concurrency >= your computer cores then hit button OK. BSG will auto do the rest: it will scan all executable files, including subfolders, run them concurrently (run multi engines at a moment) to check if they are engines and pickup all params, options... Enjoy a drink when waiting!

You may test with a small number of engines first (copy their folders into a new folder).

Since your number of engines is quite large, you may divide them into multi groups and each time process a group only.

I have never tested with that large number (>4000) engines thus I am quite curious if you have any problem, how long it takes...

BTW a counter for the 'installed' engines would be nice too

Thanks for the suggestion. I will show that number. At the moment you may scroll engine list to the end to see the last counter - it is total.

and also that the settings window would memorize
its size after closing the GUI (I always have to enlarge it again later).

Thanks for the suggestion. Added to my TODO list too.

[phhnguyen]

It seems Banksia changed the output for a promotion from lowercase b2b1q to uppercase b2b1Q when sending the move list to the opponent.
My guess is that this caused a timeout in Gogobello 2.1 - it showed no output anymore in the log and lost on time.

Code: Select all

22:16:37 RubiChess_16-64> info depth 42 seldepth 42 multipv 1 time 2316 score cp 29893  nodes 2188187 nps 944537 tbhits 245512 hashfull 31 pv b2b1q e5e7  b1d1  e7e3  d1d2  e3e2  d2e2
22:16:37 RubiChess_16-64> bestmove b2b1q
22:16:37 Gogobello_21-64< position startpos moves e2e4 e7e5 g1f3 b8c6 f1b5 a7a6 b5a4 g8f6 e1g1 f8e7 b1c3 b7b5 a4b3 d7d6 d2d3 c6a5 c3e2 a5b3 a2b3 c7c5 e2g3 e8g8 c2c3 h7h6 c1d2 c8e6 b3b4 c5b4 c3b4 d8b6 d1e2 a8c8 d2c3 c8c7 f1d1 e6b3 d1e1 f8d8 a1a3 b3e6 h2h3 b6b7 e2e3 f6d7 e1a1 d8a8 e3e1 d7b6 d3d4 b6c4 a3a2 c4b6 d4d5 e6d7 e1b1 c7c8 b1d1 f7f5 g3f5 d7f5 e4f5 b6d5 c3d2 c8c4 d1e1 e7f6 f3h2 d5e7 e1b1 c4c6 h2g4 d6d5 b1d3 g8h8 g4f6 c6f6 g2g4 e7c6 d3e3 f6f8 a2a3 f8f7 a1c1 a8c8 c1c5 c8d8 e3g3 f7f8 a3a1 f8f7 g1g2 d8d6 a1c1 f7f8 h3h4 h6h5 f2f3 d5d4 g4h5 f8f5 g3g4 f5f6 c1d1 d4d3 d2e3 f6f8 d1d2 b7f7 c5c3 c6b4 c3c8 d6f6 e3c5 f8c8 g4c8 h8h7 c5b4 f6f4 c8c3 e5e4 b4d6 f4f3 c3e5 e4e3 e5e4 f7f5 e4f5 f3f5 d2d3 f5f2 g2g3 f2d2 d3e3 d2d6 g3g4 d6d4 g4g5 d4d5 g5f4 d5h5 f4g4 h5c5 e3a3 c5c2 b2b3 c2b2 a3a6 b2b3 a6a2 b3b4 g4f5 b4h4 a2b2 h7h6 b2g2 h4h5 f5f4 h5h4 f4f5 h4h5 f5f4 g7g5 f4g3 h5h4 g2b2 b5b4 b2c2 h4d4 c2c7 h6g6 g3f3 d4f4 f3g2 g6f5 c7d7 f5e4 d7d6 e4e3 d6d8 f4c4 d8b8 g5g4 b8b6 e3d2 g2f2 g4g3 f2g2 d2c2 b6e6 b4b3 e6e1 b3b2 e1e5 b2b1Q
go wtime 71926 btime 57262 winc 0 binc 0 movestogo 23

Code: Select all

22:17:54 > Timeleft for Gogobello_21-64: 71.93, used: 77.19, RubiChess_16-64: 57.26
22:17:54 Gogobello_21-64< stop
22:17:54 > 1) 1) Gogobello_21-64 vs RubiChess_16-64, #194, 0-1 (timeout)

other things:
- The draw adjudication box for the move number only accepts two digits (and is only in plies).

- It would be cleaner to write the opening variation into the according tag and not into the move info

- After the White and Black tag names there is one space too much

Code: Select all

[Event "Chess Tournament"]
[Date "2019.11.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White 	"RubiChess_16-64"]
[Black 	"Gogobello_21-64"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "40/120+0"]
[Time "22:22:54"]
[Board "2"]
[Termination "mate"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Opening "Scandinavian"]

1. e4 {+0.5/20 4.4 3542607}  d5 {-0.7/16 2.9 2891835}  2. exd5 {+0.6/20 3.2 2675012}  Nf6 {-0.9/17 2.9 1768423} 
3. d4 {+0.7/19 3.5 2643338}  Nxd5 {-0.8/17 2.9 982206}  4. Nf3 {+0.6/20 3.9 3022434; B01: Scandinavian, Marshall variation}  Bf5 {-0.7/16 2.9 1805528} 

Oops!

Thanks a lot for the bug report and suggestions. I am going to check and fix them.

[Guenther]

Note that I want co copy around 4-5000 entries adapted with a script from my cutechess engines.json :)

BSG can help much in this issue. Instead of converting JSON from other GUIs (a long, tired and too easy get mistake process), you may let BSG detects automatically them all. Just keep engines in their subfolders, then give BSG the main folders of those engines (in adding engine dialog popup), select concurrency >= your computer cores then hit button OK. BSG will auto do the rest: it will scan all executable files, including subfolders, run them concurrently (run multi engines at a moment) to check if they are engines and pickup all params, options... Enjoy a drink when waiting!

I know, but with my script it will just need a few seconds (with correct setting) and then I just copy/paste the transformed content ;-)
(moreover I have several folders with engines divided in protocol/sub protocol etc. divisions, too complicated to explain here)

If I did not say it before, you have already acchieved a lot with your current version!

[Guenther]

(A first time user impression, just for possible improvements in the handling)

What annoyed me in the beginning was that I was not able to see the running game of a started new tournament.
I first thought it did not work on my system, but after I checked the task manager I saw the programs were running and obviously playing a game,
but I could not see it.

I just did not find a way too get ridd off the default Human vs. Human board and with it as main board, no other window was updated too.
Only checked later by coincidence that a double click on the running game in the tournament games list would bring the game in front.

I guess this is because of possible concurrent games (I tested only with conc. 1 so far), to be able to get each running game into the foreground.
Maybe with concurrency 1 the default board should be automatically replaced by the running tournament game.
Or is there another way to update the board when a game is running instead of looking at the default Human vs. Human board, which does nothing?

[phhnguyen]

If I did not say it before, you have already acchieved a lot with your current version!

Thanks a lot for good words

(A first time user impression, just for possible improvements in the handling)

What annoyed me in the beginning was that I was not able to see the running game of a started new tournament.
I first thought it did not work on my system, but after I checked the task manager I saw the programs were running and obviously playing a game,
but I could not see it.

I just did not find a way too get ridd off the default Human vs. Human board and with it as main board, no other window was updated too.
Only checked later by coincidence that a double click on the running game in the tournament games list would bring the game in front.

I guess this is because of possible concurrent games (I tested only with conc. 1 so far), to be able to get each running game into the foreground.
Maybe with concurrency 1 the default board should be automatically replaced by the running tournament game.
Or is there another way to update the board when a game is running instead of looking at the default Human vs. Human board, which does nothing?

To close the current tab, just click on the item "Close tab" in File menu or press Control-W

There are few ways to view tournament playing games

1) Use the way you knew: double click on playing games in Tournament dock. It is not auto but you do in purpose and don't have to see games you don't want

2) Select "Open" (for opening games) or "Open & View" (for opening and set focus to new playing games) from the drop-down box right under button start/resume. BSG will auto open to view all playing games in the tournament. That may be a bad idea if your concurrency number is large (it may open too many games)



3) Open dialog Playing games (by selecting from menu Windows or from main bar click on the button next to one for creating tournament). The good is that you can see multi games on one screen and you may limit the number. It may highlight games when their scores exceeded a threshold (games winning/losing).

A friend (ipmanchess) has sent me a screenshot when he was testing with 18 concurrent games, viewed by Playing games box:

[Ryan Benitez]

Thank you for the wonderful GUI. Perfect timing for Mac users plagued by the new Mac OS X no longer supporting 32 bit and how that unfortunately cripples the otherwise great ScidvsMac software.

[Gabor Szots]

I would like to install several engines. When I invoke the Settings button and install one of them, I would like to go back to my list of engines (which is in an editor) to see which engines are left to be installed but the installation window covers it and I can read only parts of the list and only by moving the installation window back and forth because no other window can come to the foreground. That is not particularly comfortable to do.

[phhnguyen]

I would like to install several engines. When I invoke the Settings button and install one of them, I would like to go back to my list of engines (which is in an editor) to see which engines are left to be installed but the installation window covers it and I can read only parts of the list and only by moving the installation window back and forth because no other window can come to the foreground. That is not particularly comfortable to do.

Thanks for the report. I have added it to my TODO list.