Banksia GUI released

[phhnguyen]

I hope they fix installing engine in the gui because some engines like Francesca doesn't run and install in the GUI, I hope it will be fix in the next update.

Francesca uses Winboard protocol ver 1. BSG supports version 2 but not 1 because the older one (ver 1) requires GUIs to assume too much, making the connection between engines and the GUI too loose, and not suitable for modern software.

[phhnguyen]

If it's like what you suggested, which is using FEN, then at PGN, later, we can't go through move 1 to 8, we will only be able to trace directly from move 9.

......

I think this feature [https://prnt.sc/h9m_MTxay271] is really good.

And I have an idea to make the feature even better.

But before that, I think there is a slight flaw in this feature. I don't know if it's set up that way or if it's a bug.

This is what I mean.

I set like this => https://prnt.sc/nva0L-Zh-bXq
What I expect is, Engine (in this case I'm using Stockfish), will play move from 1 to 8 with all of them taking moves from Chessdb.cn.

But as we can see here [https://prnt.sc/6enA505UtxLL], There are a few moves from the engine tucked in there. This means that Stockfish at that time was not accessing Chessdb.cn. I don't know if it's set up that way, or if it's a bug.

If it's set up that way, then it would be nice to be given an option to allow Engines to take all moves completely from the Book within the 'Move range' we set here [https://prnt.sc/ZT9H1G9DDdrq].

I believe the Internet/Server reliability is a problem for that function. Some days it works fine, but other days it may not work at all. You may increase timeout a bit, say 3s, and/or alternate between two servers (chessdb and Lichess).

I have marked (for myself) that feature (online openings) as long-time experiments, it may need some improvements later. We may use it for studying/enjoying but it may not always be available.

And now, here's what I expect you to include in the BSG.

I think, here [https://prnt.sc/M60F9EiUIbeY], you can add one more option, which is 'Score Range'.

So when we select, Seed = -1, and Score Range = -0.44 to 0.44, then in this => https://prnt.sc/CQPk3Nla9iNc, Engine will randomly select all those moves, but only those moves that have score in the range we have set before will be selected randomly. So all moves with a Score less than -0.44 or more than 0.44 will be ignored.

I saw a perfect application of this on Chess.com [https://prnt.sc/hZcfagSMol5U]. All the "bots" there, even those rated at 1500, play an accurate move from the Opening book, at least from move 1 to 8, They always respond with different and accurate moves.

Suppose we play against Danya bot with us as white.
Suppose I open the game with e4, then Danya will respond with E5.
In the next game, if we play again with e4, then it will respond with c5, so the moves of this Bot are very varied.
This is because the Opening Book is very well tuned for these Bots.

...So, when we play against Engine in BSG, the Engine can respond with more varied moves in the Opening.

Lastly, to be honest, your decision to include Chessdb.cn in the BSG is something extraordinary. We only need to open BSG, and we can access a kind of Opening Book library, complete with scores.

Frankly speaking, I don't understand the meaning of scores from chessdb's data, not being familiar with their ranges, and how they have them. I use them to sort only. Thus, I am not sure if it is good to create new features on those scores. Furthermore, I need some consistency since I support Lichess opening book too: a feature should support both and be useful for both. The complication for users is another issue to be considered.

As always, I have written down your idea for further work. Thanks!

[huanhuan]

I think it's not just internet connection problem, because I used the book "Cerebellum3Merge" locally which I placed on the SSD, but the result is the same.

https://prnt.sc/nKSDEqoMrl-O
https://prnt.sc/Po2WPg8FiARi
https://prnt.sc/A3GKLHUP0_oj

......

I mean, the option to set this 'score range' is made optional, not implemented by default, so it's up to the user to enable it or not.

In addition, maybe you can also set the 'score range' feature to be used only for "lichess" books, or only for the 'chessdb' feature, only for 'local' books, or for all three, or disable it altogether.

With this, it doesn't compromise the consistency as you mention, and there won't be any complications for the user, because actually this feature is only used by Engines, and doesn't affect the list of moves shown here => https://prnt.sc/VFwlq14H6er1

So when this feature is enabled, for example we limit the 'range score' to the range [-044, 044], it doesn't mean that the moves with the score [-76, -196, ...] will not be displayed, it will still be displayed.

In short, the 'score range' feature is only useful for Engines, so that when we play against Engines at BSG, the Engine can select more varied moves in the Opening.

......

And by the way, the online book 'Lichess' is currently not working yet.

[Werewolf]

How easy is it to add engines from additional computers on a LAN, for use within Extreme Analysis?

I can't see how to do this.

[phhnguyen]

How easy is it to add engines from additional computers on a LAN, for use within Extreme Analysis?

I can't see how to do this.

It should be very easy for users. However, I did not turn that feature on since all code for computing via LAN has been redesigned/rewritten from a recent release. It needed to review and test a bit before turning it on for ECA. Surely it will be ready for the next release.

[bastiball]

Just a question, why the evals of the PGN are gone after I rest my cpu, then after to download PGN? Or Pausing the long tournament for rest and after resume and download the PGN, the evals are gone? Or it is it that way?

regards,
Basti

[AlexChess]

Hi Pham!

On next beta could you make the side score bar dynamic? (Moving while thinking instead of updated after the move). Is useful on youtube videos analysing games and on long time controls.

Best regards, alex

[phhnguyen]

Just a question, why the evals of the PGN are gone after I rest my cpu, then after to download PGN? Or Pausing the long tournament for rest and after resume and download the PGN, the evals are gone? Or it is it that way?

regards,
Basti

There is a bug for storing scores with tournaments . It is fixed for the next release

[bastiball]

Just a question, why the evals of the PGN are gone after I rest my cpu, then after to download PGN? Or Pausing the long tournament for rest and after resume and download the PGN, the evals are gone? Or it is it that way?

regards,
Basti

There is a bug for storing scores with tournaments . It is fixed for the next release

Thanks a lot!

[phhnguyen]

Hi Pham!

On next beta could you make the side score bar dynamic? (Moving while thinking instead of updated after the move). Is useful on youtube videos analysing games and on long time controls.

Best regards, alex

Sorry, I am confused: do you mean score indicator or score graph?

Edit: I guess you mean about the score graph since it is updated after moving when the score indicator is updated on the fly.

Yes, it is a good idea. Thanks