Scorpio 2.76

[Colin-G]

I noticed yesterday that one of my computers was using the 32bit version of Scorpio instead of the 64bit. I copied the 64bit version from another computer to that one and tested it.
It did not appear to be using the egbb endgame bitbases correctly (I only have 4man egbb).
I then tried the 32bit version I had used previously and found that had the same problem.
This was the Scorpio 2.76 version compiled by Jim Ablett.
I checked the scorpio.ini file, it was correct.
I then tested on different computers with different OS.
egbb were not working correctly for any of -
1) native linux version in xboard with Mint 17
2) Windows version in Arena with Mint 17 using wine
3) Windows version in Arena with Windows XP and Windows 10
I tried both new and old egbb and .dll versions.
I dug out an older version Scorpio 1.91. It seemed to be using the egbb ok, but did not move instantaneously.
This was unlike Scorpio 2.76 which was unable to mate from the position shown below.

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "PB2009"]
[Date "2016.12.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Scorpio_2.7.6"]
[Black "colin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[TimeControl "40/300"]
[FEN "8/4k3/8/8/1p6/8/1BN2K2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

1. Nxb4 Kd7 2. Ke3 Kd6 3. Kd4 Kc7 4. Ke5 Kb7 5. Kd5 Kc7 6. Nc6 Kb7 7. Ne7
Kc7 8. Ng8 Kb7 9. Kc5 Kc7 10. Nf6 Kb7 11. Be5 Ka8 12. Kc6 Ka7 13. Nd5 Ka8
14. Bd4 Kb8 15. Bc5 Ka8 16. Nc3 Kb8 17. Ne4 Ka8 18. Nc3 Kb8 19. Ne4 Ka8 20.
Nc3
{Draw claim: 3-fold repetition} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

Toga II v3 which uses the same egbb, uses them ok, but does not move instantaneously.
Has anyone else had problems with Scorpio 2.76?

[Ferdy]

I noticed yesterday that one of my computers was using the 32bit version of Scorpio instead of the 64bit. I copied the 64bit version from another computer to that one and tested it.
It did not appear to be using the egbb endgame bitbases correctly (I only have 4man egbb).
I then tried the 32bit version I had used previously and found that had the same problem.
This was the Scorpio 2.76 version compiled by Jim Ablett.
I checked the scorpio.ini file, it was correct.
I then tested on different computers with different OS.
egbb were not working correctly for any of -
1) native linux version in xboard with Mint 17
2) Windows version in Arena with Mint 17 using wine
3) Windows version in Arena with Windows XP and Windows 10
I tried both new and old egbb and .dll versions.
I dug out an older version Scorpio 1.91. It seemed to be using the egbb ok, but did not move instantaneously.
This was unlike Scorpio 2.76 which was unable to mate from the position shown below.

[pgn]
[Event "Computer Chess Game"]
[Site "PB2009"]
[Date "2016.12.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Scorpio_2.7.6"]
[Black "colin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[TimeControl "40/300"]
[FEN "8/4k3/8/8/1p6/8/1BN2K2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

1. Nxb4 Kd7 2. Ke3 Kd6 3. Kd4 Kc7 4. Ke5 Kb7 5. Kd5 Kc7 6. Nc6 Kb7 7. Ne7
Kc7 8. Ng8 Kb7 9. Kc5 Kc7 10. Nf6 Kb7 11. Be5 Ka8 12. Kc6 Ka7 13. Nd5 Ka8
14. Bd4 Kb8 15. Bc5 Ka8 16. Nc3 Kb8 17. Ne4 Ka8 18. Nc3 Kb8 19. Ne4 Ka8 20.
Nc3
{Draw claim: 3-fold repetition} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

Toga II v3 which uses the same egbb, uses them ok, but does not move instantaneously.
Has anyone else had problems with Scorpio 2.76?

I tried Scorpio 2.76 using egbb and it would crash

Deuterium also crashes .

I am using 5-men, will investigate this problem thoroughly at a later time.

[Graham Banks]

No offence intended towards Daniel Shawul, but I disable ebggs for all engines that want to use them, then there are no issues.
You might get away with 4 piece eggbs though.

[Colin-G]

No offence intended towards Daniel Shawul, but I disable ebggs for all engines that want to use them, then there are no issues.
You might get away with 4 piece eggbs though.

Thanks to Ferdinand and Graham for the replies.
I was not aware that there could be issues with the egbb.
Scorpio and Toga are the only engines I have that use them.
Although I do not remember having any crashes with either engine, I will disable the egbb for future games.

I already disable the Nalimov tablebases for SmarThink 1.70, (later versions are not compatible with some of my computers) since it lost a game due to faulty handling of the tablebases.
This problem was also reported by Frank some time ago
Screenshot from Frank's web site below

[Ferdy]

Preliminary findings.

Given:
[d]8/4k3/8/8/1p6/8/1BN2K2/8 w - - 0 1



Site for latest 4men:
https://sites.google.com/site/dshawul/home

The reason why Scorpio crashes in Arena is because Arena sent to Scorpio,

Code: Select all

egtpath scorpio

On the other hand, in my previous tests that all failed, I was using a 5-men in my disk, and could no longer remember where this 5-men came from.

So I think all is fine, for that 4-men.