TT: Overhead of incrementally updating Zobrist key

[lojic]

(Is your engine called "RacketChess", "Racket", or something else, by the way?)

I named the Github repo "RacketChess", but I should probably come up with a different name. There may be many Racket-based chess engines in the future, and it doesn't seem appropriate to squat on that name.

[mvanthoor]

PS: I found it helpful to make the engine completely self-sufficient.

Therefore it has a command-line option for basically everything. It can run any perft test, by running:

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rustic -f "<fen>" -p <depth> -h <mb>

In the same way, it can analyze any position:

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rustic -f "<fen>" -p <depth> -h <mb> -q
....
go <enter>

And do a full checkup of its move generator, make, unmake, zobrist hashing, and transposition table, by compiling it with EPD perft-suite support:

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cargo build --release --features "extra"
rustic -f "<fen>" -e -h <mb>

I started the same way as you did (with a console), but after I got the basics working, that got tiring quickly; so I implemented the UCI interface right after, and I keep the command line options in sync with new features such as the hash table. (In time, it'll also have a self-sufficient --texel option for tuning, etc... in the "extra" module.)

I like it if the engine can support all of its functionality without requiring extra files and/or scripts.

[mvanthoor]

I named the Github repo "RacketChess", but I should probably come up with a different name. There may be many Racket-based chess engines in the future, and it doesn't seem appropriate to squat on that name.

You can use something similar, like I did with Rustic. (There are several other projects called "Rustic", but they have nothing to do with chess. But you can find "Rustic" chess sets, which are mostly made to look old, or antique.)

If I'd write a Racket-based engine, I'ld probably call it Ratchet

Was a cool Transformer too, especially in Transformer's Prime.

The quote of your chess engine, when Ia piece gets captured, could be: "Darn, I needed that!" (Look up Ratchet in Transformer's Prime...)