Banksia GUI released

[Eduard]

The most annoying thing is that Banksia occasionally thinks it has won a game on time, although this is not the case. In this case the GUI simply stops playing because it thinks the game is over, in reality you lose on time (not infrequently in completely won positions) because the GUI does not continue playing. This happens when the opponent has let his clock run down very much, but has not yet reached 0:00.

I had this problem too in v0.48 and reported it to the author. In version 0.49 I did not see this error yet.

[huanhuan]

Hi phhnguyen

Slightly deviated from BSG but is still relevant.

Do you apply Data Structures and Algorithms in creating BSG? or just use standard programming?

Because I started to learn this topic, and it's a bit difficult.

I'm just wondering, does this (Data Structures and Algorithms) need to be mastered in order for a programmer to create an application that performs best?

Thanks...

[Torom]

The most annoying thing is that Banksia occasionally thinks it has won a game on time, although this is not the case. In this case the GUI simply stops playing because it thinks the game is over, in reality you lose on time (not infrequently in completely won positions) because the GUI does not continue playing. This happens when the opponent has let his clock run down very much, but has not yet reached 0:00.

I had this problem too in v0.48 and reported it to the author. In version 0.49 I did not see this error yet.

Sadly, the bug is still in 0.49.

Another problem I just noticed, with the Lichess bot Banksia can't handle 30+0 games at all. For some reason the engine doesn't use any time at all with this TC. Maybe it has something to do with the move margin, because when I set it to 0.0s for a test, Banksia didn't let the engine use time either. Has anyone else noticed this problem?

https://lichess.org/FfvlLSfjfXOu
https://lichess.org/FfvlLSfj
https://lichess.org/OKp9OC27

In these three games you can see the problem, under "Move times" you can see exactly the point up to which the opening book was used, there my engine needed ~ 0.3s for a move. As soon as I was out of the book, the engine moved in ~ 0.0s.

[Eduard]

There are 3 bullet games. What is the Move Overhead set? If this is set to 500 (0.5s) or more, the engine moves immediately. This is a problem with the engine, not the GUI. You have to reduce the Move Ovethead (engine options) for extremely short thinking times. I use a maximum of 250 for 60s + 0s games. I would set 125 for 30s + 0s.

[Torom]

There are 3 bullet games. What is the Move Overhead set? If this is set to 500 (0.5s) or more, the engine moves immediately. This is a problem with the engine, not the GUI. You have to reduce the Move Ovethead (engine options) for extremely short thinking times. I use a maximum of 250 for 60s + 0s games. I would set 125 for 30s + 0s.

You're right, it was set to 500. Thank you.

[AlexChess]

Hi Pham,
removed dll from banksiagui 0.49 directory, but still it doesn't start on Windows 11 ARM64: clicking the .exe, the little blue wheel moves 2 times then stops and GUI never appears. Luckily 0.48 works fine now. Maybe a conflict on the configuration folder? But I fear to touch it... at least until I complete my 1431 games (now 1240 completed) and it creates the backup in Recent Tournaments

Best regards, Alex

[phhnguyen]

Thanks for your continued work on Banksia. I noticed a possible enhancement/bug.
Winboard engines (crafty, mine in xboard mode) do not show time information in the the "engine info" while uci engines do. (linux v49)

Thanks for the report. The bug is fixed for the next release.

[phhnguyen]

Thanks for your great work with the GUI. The Lichess bot works pretty well now.

There is still sometimes the problem that Banksia thinks there is still a game, but this was actually aborted or ended because the opponent had no more time, in this case, there is an entry with empty cells in the "Playing" tab. But this problem is not so bad.

The most annoying thing is that Banksia occasionally thinks it has won a game on time, although this is not the case. In this case the GUI simply stops playing because it thinks the game is over, in reality you lose on time (not infrequently in completely won positions) because the GUI does not continue playing. This happens when the opponent has let his clock run down very much, but has not yet reached 0:00.

Let me know if I can help with more information or data regarding the bugs.

Thanks for the report. I have been working on those issues.

[phhnguyen]

I have several questions about BanksiaGUI version 0.48 beta, which I just downloaded and started to use:

1. I was unable to set the hashtable size to more than 4000 MB. How do I set larger hashtable sizes?

Thanks for the report. I have seen the hash size in the Overall options has a limit of 4GB. I will increase that limit from the next release.

At the moment, you may set more than 4GB by turning off Overall options and set manually for each engine.

2. What does "bubble" mean on several panes?

A bubble is a color circle with a line, displaying on the board to show visually some information's moves such as moves's stats of Lc0, opening moves...

I have just discussed with a member (@Eduard) about bubbles in the opening on the previous page, borrowed his image here as the illustration:

And how do I remove the "chessdb.cn" URL from the preferences/eg/tb pane?

Just select that line and click on the button with the symbol "-" (minus) right above the table.

3. I attempted to use FILE->OPEN to open several PGN files, and it failed on each. Does Banksia handle non-trivial PGN (i.e., with many deeply nested variations, and with non-standard start positions?)

BSG can read PGN with nested variations (even it does not work with variations - just treat them as comments). It can work with any start position.

However, BSG doesn't work with PGN that:
- is missing some important/compulsory tags such as [Event ...]. BSG used to deal with missing tags but then we decided to ignore those games to increase speed for reading large PGN databases
- has incorrect starting FENs

BSG also truncates the game at the first incorrect moves

[phhnguyen]

Hi phhnguyen

Slightly deviated from BSG but is still relevant.

Do you apply Data Structures and Algorithms in creating BSG? or just use standard programming?

Because I started to learn this topic, and it's a bit difficult.

I'm just wondering, does this (Data Structures and Algorithms) need to be mastered in order for a programmer to create an application that performs best?

Thanks...

Nice to hear you again. I was worried since reading the pandemic is still strong in your home country!

For your question: yes, of course, I have used data structures and algorithms. Not a few but a lot

Actually, any program must deal with some data and those data have to be in some structures, and any action could be considered as an algorithm. Obviously, they are just breathing air and a programmer can’t avoid being a master of them even he may not really be aware. That knowledge just become serious when we start reading about them from textbooks

I understand your feeling since we all (at least from my experience and my friends’ experience) got hard when learning algorithms and data structures. They need both time and practice to understand deeper. I suggest you after the first lap of learning, just start your own project (do whatever you want) you will learn a lot from that.

I know someone tries to avoid learning them but works by little studying/experience, focusing on some specific fields. However, that’s actually a harder and longer way to learn them since he can delay but cannot avoid.

The good news is that for a chess engine or a chess GUI (like BSG) as well as many programs they mostly use standard/basic algorithms and data structures as being described in any programming textbook. It means a book may be enough for that field. Just read one then spend more time practicing. That knowledge is just small bricks but could build a castle.

Frankly speaking, BSG has a huge code with huge data. However, all are built up from very basic data structures, functions, algorithms.