Colossus 2024a now available

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MartinBryant
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Full name: Martin Bryant

Colossus 2024a now available

Post by MartinBryant »

I have just released an updated version of my Colossus engine on my website at http://www.colossusgames.somee.com

I have perfomed a major tidy up from the previous version with various bug fixes and tuning.
My tests indicate an improvement of about 25 ELO.

I have also installed Colossus as a bot on the lichess website so if you fancy challenging it online search for ColossusBOT

Merry Christmas everyone!
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mclane
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by mclane »

This is exciting news Martin. Many thanks.

Thanks for this Christmas version !!
What seems like a fairy tale today may be reality tomorrow.
Here we have a fairy tale of the day after tomorrow....
mephisto
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by mephisto »

Thanks Martin

Regards from Cheshire
Bryan Whitby
What's my next move? - to the fridge for another beer !!
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Marek Soszynski
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Location: Birmingham, England

Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by Marek Soszynski »

MartinBryant wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2024 2:00 pm I have just released an updated version of my Colossus engine on my website at http://www.colossusgames.somee.com

I have perfomed a major tidy up from the previous version with various bug fixes and tuning.
My tests indicate an improvement of about 25 ELO.

I have also installed Colossus as a bot on the lichess website so if you fancy challenging it online search for ColossusBOT

Merry Christmas everyone!
Thanks Martin.

Please explain what the MateAllChecks and other such parameters do.
Marek Soszynski
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MartinBryant
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by MartinBryant »

Marek Soszynski wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2024 7:18 pm
MartinBryant wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2024 2:00 pm I have just released an updated version of my Colossus engine on my website at http://www.colossusgames.somee.com

I have perfomed a major tidy up from the previous version with various bug fixes and tuning.
My tests indicate an improvement of about 25 ELO.

I have also installed Colossus as a bot on the lichess website so if you fancy challenging it online search for ColossusBOT

Merry Christmas everyone!
Thanks Martin.

Please explain what the MateAllChecks and other such parameters do.
Ah... I've added a mate finder mode to Colossus (via the UCI 'go mate n' command) but it's still a work in progress so I didn't mention it yet.
But you can try it of course :)
It works well in some cases and not so well in others!
The extra UCI switches allow you to specify whether the search should only include checks, mate-in-1 threats, zero-king-moves or fixed pieces similar to the parameters you can specify with the Chest mate finder program.
peter
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by peter »

Hi!
MartinBryant wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2024 10:39 pm The extra UCI switches allow you to specify whether the search should only include checks, mate-in-1 threats, zero-king-moves or fixed pieces similar to the parameters you can specify with the Chest mate finder program.
option name MateFixedPieces type string
Which kind of string is to be typed as for this one UCI- option, please? Chest's one I know similiar to that only PieceLimit.
Thanks for the new version, regards
Peter.
MOBMAT
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by MOBMAT »

I configured Colossus in Arena.
I set the path for the EGT and attempted to use the analyze feature of Arena.
I am not seeing any output.

If I run the engine from a folder, I first type "UCI", then "go infinite". I see output.
Arena is doing the same thing...here is some dialog between the engine and Arena.

Code: Select all

2024-12-09 23:42:55.125 Arena 3.5.1
2024-12-09 23:42:55.141
2024-12-09 23:42:55.638**----------New game---2024-12-09 23:42:55,638 Mon -------------
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**screen: 2560x1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**Monitors: 1
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**Monitor0: 2560x1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**FormMonitor: 0
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**DesktopRect: 0/0 .. 2560/1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.789**Loading  1
2024-12-09 23:43:02.015*1*----------------------Starting engine 1 Colossus2024a-----------------------
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Configured Engine 1 Type:  Auto
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Engine 1 dir: E:\Chess\Arena\Engines\Colossus
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Engine 1 commandline: E:\Chess\Arena\Engines\Colossus\Colossus2024a.exe 
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 28516 conhost.exe
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Engine 1 ProcessID: 26652
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Engine 1 Prio:32 ThreadPrio:0
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138-->1:xboard
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:info string *** Unknown command!: xboard
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165-->1:uci
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:id name Colossus 2024a
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:id author Martin Bryant
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Hash type spin default 64 min 0 max 16384
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Threads type spin default 1 min 1 max 64
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name ClearHash type button
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Ponder type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name SyzygyPath type string
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name UCI_Chess960 type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name MateAllChecks type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name MateAllThreateningMateInOne type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:option name MateAllZeroKingMoves type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:option name MateFixedPieces type string
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:uciok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name Hash value 16384
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name Threads value 6
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name SyzygyPath value H:\syzygy
2024-12-09 23:43:02.170*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 28516 conhost.exe
2024-12-09 23:43:02.170<--1:info string Transposition table memory set to 16384MB
2024-12-09 23:43:02.171<--1:info string Threads set to 6
2024-12-09 23:43:02.172-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.228<--1:info string 6-piece endgame tablebases found at H:\syzygy
2024-12-09 23:43:02.228<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388**Time for starting engines for analysis:375 ms
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390-->1:ucinewgame
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406-->1:position fen 5B2/4n3/p1k1p1p1/P1P1n2p/4P2P/1p3B2/3K4/6R1 w - - 0 1
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406-->1:go infinite
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406**Time for starting analysis:406
2024-12-09 23:43:08.664-->1:stop
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chessica
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by chessica »

MOBMAT wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2024 7:44 am I configured Colossus in Arena.
I set the path for the EGT and attempted to use the analyze feature of Arena.
I am not seeing any output.

If I run the engine from a folder, I first type "UCI", then "go infinite". I see output.
Arena is doing the same thing...here is some dialog between the engine and Arena.

Code: Select all

2024-12-09 23:42:55.125 Arena 3.5.1
2024-12-09 23:42:55.141
2024-12-09 23:42:55.638**----------New game---2024-12-09 23:42:55,638 Mon -------------
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**screen: 2560x1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**Monitors: 1
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**Monitor0: 2560x1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**FormMonitor: 0
2024-12-09 23:42:55.721**DesktopRect: 0/0 .. 2560/1440
2024-12-09 23:42:55.789**Loading  1
2024-12-09 23:43:02.015*1*----------------------Starting engine 1 Colossus2024a-----------------------
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Configured Engine 1 Type:  Auto
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Engine 1 dir: E:\Chess\Arena\Engines\Colossus
2024-12-09 23:43:02.016*1*Engine 1 commandline: E:\Chess\Arena\Engines\Colossus\Colossus2024a.exe 
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 28516 conhost.exe
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Engine 1 ProcessID: 26652
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138*1*Engine 1 Prio:32 ThreadPrio:0
2024-12-09 23:43:02.138-->1:xboard
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:info string *** Unknown command!: xboard
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165-->1:uci
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:id name Colossus 2024a
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:id author Martin Bryant
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Hash type spin default 64 min 0 max 16384
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Threads type spin default 1 min 1 max 64
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name ClearHash type button
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name Ponder type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name SyzygyPath type string
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name UCI_Chess960 type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name MateAllChecks type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.165<--1:option name MateAllThreateningMateInOne type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:option name MateAllZeroKingMoves type check default false
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:option name MateFixedPieces type string
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166<--1:uciok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name Hash value 16384
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name Threads value 6
2024-12-09 23:43:02.166-->1:setoption name SyzygyPath value H:\syzygy
2024-12-09 23:43:02.170*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 28516 conhost.exe
2024-12-09 23:43:02.170<--1:info string Transposition table memory set to 16384MB
2024-12-09 23:43:02.171<--1:info string Threads set to 6
2024-12-09 23:43:02.172-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.228<--1:info string 6-piece endgame tablebases found at H:\syzygy
2024-12-09 23:43:02.228<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388**Time for starting engines for analysis:375 ms
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.388<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390-->1:ucinewgame
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390-->1:isready
2024-12-09 23:43:02.390<--1:readyok
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406-->1:position fen 5B2/4n3/p1k1p1p1/P1P1n2p/4P2P/1p3B2/3K4/6R1 w - - 0 1
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406-->1:go infinite
2024-12-09 23:43:02.406**Time for starting analysis:406
2024-12-09 23:43:08.664-->1:stop
That was exactly the case for me, but it still works if you change the name of the folder to arena.

Windows 10:

original name in windows: C:\Program Files\arena_3.5.1\TB\syzygy

in Arena: C:\Programme\arena_3.5.1\TB\syzygy

Then it works.

FEN: 7k/5pp1/8/8/8/8/1K6/R7 w - - 0 1

Colossus 2024a:
Colossus 2024a von Martin Bryant
6-piece endgame tablebases found at C:\Programme\arena_3.5.1\TB\syzygy

Code: Select all

251453 >first : quit
251859*1*------------------------Starte Motor 1 Colossus2024a------------------------
251859*1*Configured Engine 1 Type:  Auto
251859*1*Engine 1 dir: C:\Program Files\arena_3.5.1\Engines\Colossus2024a
251859*1*Engine 1 commandline: "C:\Program Files\arena_3.5.1\Engines\Colossus2024a\Colossus2024a.exe" 
251984*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 4384 conhost.exe
251984*1*Engine 1 ProcessID: 3260
251984*1*Engine 1 Prio:32 ThreadPrio:0
251984 >first : xboard
252031 >first : uci
252031 <first : id name Colossus 2024a
252031 <first : id author Martin Bryant
252031 <first : option name Hash type spin default 64 min 0 max 16384
252031 <first : option name Threads type spin default 1 min 1 max 64
252031 <first : option name ClearHash type button
252031 <first : option name Ponder type check default false
252031 <first : option name SyzygyPath type string
252047 <first : option name UCI_Chess960 type check default false
252047 <first : option name MateAllChecks type check default false
252047 <first : option name MateAllThreateningMateInOne type check default false
252047 <first : option name MateAllZeroKingMoves type check default false
252047 <first : option name MateFixedPieces type string
252047 <first : uciok
252047 >first : setoption name SyzygyPath value C:\Programme\arena_3.5.1\TB\syzygy
252047*1*Child Process Prio Adj:  PID 4384 conhost.exe
252062 >first : isready
252219 <first : readyok
peter
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Full name: Peter Martan

Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by peter »

Indeed there seems to be a problem with Syzygy tbs in Arena as well as in Shredder. Engine runs without problems as long as no path to tbs is set, UCI- option in GUI edited, engine doesn't start running anymore.
If you empty the UCI- field in GUI doesn't help neither without new start of GUI, but a text- file called Colossus2024a.exe.16380.error.txt is written in directory of binary:
*** Error!: No endgame tablebases found at <empty>
Starting the default setting with its original name in GUI without tbs- path works normally again.
Tried to edit Colossus.ini as for inititalisation command as described in .ini too, didn't help neither, regards
Peter.
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MartinBryant
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Re: Colossus 2024a now available

Post by MartinBryant »

peter wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2024 1:03 am Hi!
MartinBryant wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2024 10:39 pm The extra UCI switches allow you to specify whether the search should only include checks, mate-in-1 threats, zero-king-moves or fixed pieces similar to the parameters you can specify with the Chest mate finder program.
option name MateFixedPieces type string
Which kind of string is to be typed as for this one UCI- option, please? Chest's one I know similiar to that only PieceLimit.
Thanks for the new version, regards
The MateFixedPieces option would be used for those mating positions where e.g. you get a bunch of the defender's pieces blocked in a corner. So you can tell the engine that certain pieces are 'fixed' on certain squares and if it ever searches a line where those pieces can move then it prunes that line thus speeding up the solution.
The syntax is just a string of the squares in algebraic notation e.g.
setoption name matefixedpieces value a1b1a2b2
This tells it to prune any lines if the pieces on a1, b2, a2 or b2 are ever allowed to move.
It works well in some positions but annoyingly you sometimes find that a piece that looks 'fixed' can validly move in some obscure sub-variation :D
But like I said... a work in progress.