Thinker 5.2a released...

[CThinker]

It should be 5.2B (and not 5.2A). The "A" variety was not built correctly.
Sorry for the confusion.

Hi Lance,
does your engine ponder?
If yes - which command is necessary?

Thanks for the new version!!!

best

Yup, it ponders. You just need to use a GUI that natively supports xboard, like Winboard, Arena, ChessMaster or ThinkerBoard. There is no special command for it. Its part of the xboard protocol (the 'hard' command).

[Mike S.]

I wonder what other WinBoard engines do differently, regarding the pondering. IIRC, all WB. engines I tried so far, could ponder in Fritz using Wb2Uci (if they could ponder at all).

For me, it wouldn't have been a problem basically, because I use(d) to run almost all of my tests on a single core cpu computer, ponder off. But I have Windows 98 SE there... (I saw that Thinker 5.1 didn't run on it).

I did run a ponder off match in Vista 32, Thinker 5.1E/passive vs. Shredder 9 SE, 25.5-24.5.

http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21054

I am running a match for comparison now, with 5.2B and with the same opening set against Shredder 9 SE.

[Andre van Ark]

Hi,

Thanks for the update Lance, and Werner thx for the help.

Lance, are you planning to release a SMP-version?

Best wishes,

André

[Werner]

Hi André,

I saw here Thinker pondering inside Fritz 11 GUI,
but I used the old old old adapter.eng from Chessbase....
(do you remember?)

best

[Marc MP]

This was played using winboardx (it was a completely bizarre game by the way!):

[White "Thinker 5.2B (passive)"]
[Black "Fruit 2.2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "180+3"]
[Annotator "3... -0.04"]
[Number "8"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 g5 {-0.04/12} 4. Be3 d5 {-0.06/12} 5. Nd2
Bg7 {-0.10/12} 6. Nxe4 dxe4 {-0.17/11} 7. c3 Bf6 {-0.17/11} 8. Qb3
Nc6 {-0.11/11} 9. h4 gxh4 {-0.18/11} 10. Bf4 O-O {-0.22/10} 11. Bh6
Re8 {-0.03/11} 12. O-O-O a5 {+0.00/11} 13. a4 Ra6 {-0.05/11} 14. e3
Rb6 {-0.09/12} 15. Qa2 Bg4 {+0.01/12} 16. f3 Bf5 {-0.11/12} 17. g4
{User adjudication} 0-1

Fruit played hg3 ep. A message appeared saying something like: "Illegal capture rejected by first program". Did anyone noticed (working or not) e.p. capture by Thinker?

[Werner]

Hi,
I did use your game - and got same answer in Arena.
PS: no problem with previous version.

best

[CThinker]

I wonder what other WinBoard engines do differently, regarding the pondering. IIRC, all WB. engines I tried so far, could ponder in Fritz using Wb2Uci (if they could ponder at all).

For me, it wouldn't have been a problem basically, because I use(d) to run almost all of my tests on a single core cpu computer, ponder off. But I have Windows 98 SE there... (I saw that Thinker 5.1 didn't run on it).

I did run a ponder off match in Vista 32, Thinker 5.1E/passive vs. Shredder 9 SE, 25.5-24.5.

http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21054

I am running a match for comparison now, with 5.2B and with the same opening set against Shredder 9 SE.

I have not tested Win98 myself for quite a while. I might have broken something there. I need to dust-off a Win98 machine, and I'll get back to you. This should be an easy fix.

As for pondering in WB2UCI, I think its because Thinker does not consistenly output a PV. This is a side-effect of the minimalist design. The PV output is simply taken from the hash table (like the Amy engine).

[Martin Thoresen]

Lance,

Could you perhaps implement a continuous PV-output? So that we could use Thinker with WB2UCI in a chessbase GUI and see what Thinker is thinking.

[Mike S.]

I need to dust-off a Win98 machine, and I'll get back to you. This should be an easy fix.

Thanks. I think there are a couple of other computer chess fans too, who use Win98 still (at least on one comp).

Meanwhile, I have an intermediate result:

Thinker 5.2B vs. Shredder 9 SE, +15=5-8 (62.5%). This is from 3m+1s on D945 3.4 GHz, ponder off. I will post the total result in the Tournaments and Matches forum, after 50 games.

[Ovyron]

Thanks for the update!

I'll play a 128 games tourney for new Thinker