The future of Crafty

[zullil]

I've been a big fan of Crafty for a long time, so I was a bit disappointed that Crafty didn't fare better in CCT 12 (especially given Crafty's ability to examine 20M+ nps on an 8-core machine). Any thoughts as to why Crafty didn't perform better? I'm not a programmer, so generalities like "Its search is not selective enough" or "Its evaluation in the middle-game is weak" would be enough. I should also add that I haven't had time to really study Crafty's games from the tournament.

I'm also wondering if the Crafty team is considering any fundamental changes to the engine.

Thanks.

[Werewolf]

I thought Crafty performed very well. It has been several 100 elo behind the best for years, so this looks like progress to me.

[Harvey Williamson]

I thought Crafty performed very well. It has been several 100 elo behind the best for years, so this looks like progress to me.

I agree I was impressed with Crafty in this tournament.

[hgm]

It s called "getting trapped on a local maximum".

[zullil]

It's called "getting trapped on a local maximum".

Yes, perhaps this is the case. If so, it suggests that some significant change is needed, which might cause an initial decline before leading to a higher level of play. Any ideas as to what that change should be? Why has Crafty been "several 100 elo behind the best for years?" Thanks for the replies.

[yanquis1972]

didn't crafty jump 100 elo in the past year or something? sheesh...

[zullil]

didn't crafty jump 100 elo in the past year or something? sheesh...

Yes, and so perhaps my expectations were just too high. Maybe I should simply have asked "In a nutshell, why is Crafty not yet on par with the strongest programs?" Not a complaint, simply a question for my fellow computer chess enthusiasts. Is there some main weakness that this engine has that is "holding it back?" Thanks.

[Togga]

crafty is now stronger than many other engines. in one fast game crafty 23.1 could play a draw against robbolitoo.

the startposition was 1.d4 d5 2.c4

crafty was white.

[mariaclara]

The future of Crafty?

It will still be a very informative guide for

future chess programmers.

[yanquis1972]

i guess you mean because now there is much stronger open source freeware? i suppose it's not as simple as just taking bits & pieces and adding & removing from them to crafty's code (well obviously). crafty's always been a couple hundred elo behind the competition in terms of strength so it seems like an odd question to me. just not what i'd have thought to ask. interesting, but i imagine the answer is 50 pages of text none of which i could understand.