An extremely interesting topic....

[Zach Wegner]

I'm fine with Zappa being changed to Rondo, seeing as it's a different author and Zach is free to do whatever with the Zappa source. As I understand it, he could convert Zappa to a Scrabble program.....
Plus the modifications and the fact that Rondo is (not yet anyway) commercially (or freely) available.

I think if the intention is to develop a new program then np. On Playchess it appears as



I hope the plan is not to rename it for just 1 week in Japan. Unless of course i am totally wrong and this is not the new version?

FYI the program has been renamed for over a year. What you see on playchess is for a different reason.

[Harvey Williamson]

I'm fine with Zappa being changed to Rondo, seeing as it's a different author and Zach is free to do whatever with the Zappa source. As I understand it, he could convert Zappa to a Scrabble program.....
Plus the modifications and the fact that Rondo is (not yet anyway) commercially (or freely) available.

I think if the intention is to develop a new program then np. On Playchess it appears as



I hope the plan is not to rename it for just 1 week in Japan. Unless of course i am totally wrong and this is not the new version?

FYI the program has been renamed for over a year. What you see on playchess is for a different reason.

You have my permission to use the name Rondo on Playchess.

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic. ... 29&start=0

BTW,Hiarcs will not participate unfortunately

What a bizarre rule work around!!

Here is my take (for what it is worth):

I actually have no problem with Zack changing the name of Zappa to Rondo for this year's tournament as Zach has never been involved in the commercial aspect of Zappa. If he were to release Rondo as it's own commercial entity then in future tournaments he would be (in my mind) obligated to the professional fee.

For Sjeng to change it's name to not be considered a professional program is just silly since Sjeng has been for sale on his website and it used to be sold by Lokasoft. So it is definitely a professional engine with a solid history And he sells professional GO software as well. (Really good GO software I might add) So he is obviously a professional programmer.

So this changing the engine's name rule is kind of silly when it applies to the engines we ALL know are professional engines. And I respect Hiarcs for not wanting to deal with it.

Is it me or has computer chess gone stark raving mad??

Hi Tom,
totally agreed here,but....maybe GCP is encountering some kind of financial difficulties that we're not aware of,maybe there is something else,who knows....As for Zach,you're right,he hasn't gone commercial yet and his action is perfectly reasonable....
Dr.D

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

I'm fine with Zappa being changed to Rondo, seeing as it's a different author and Zach is free to do whatever with the Zappa source. As I understand it, he could convert Zappa to a Scrabble program.....
Plus the modifications and the fact that Rondo is (not yet anyway) commercially (or freely) available.

I think if the intention is to develop a new program then np. On Playchess it appears as



I hope the plan is not to rename it for just 1 week in Japan. Unless of course i am totally wrong and this is not the new version?

FYI the program has been renamed for over a year. What you see on playchess is for a different reason.

I wish you all the best my friend with the upcoming event and commercial release after that....
Waiting with an open wallet regards,
Dr.D

[mhalstern]

Are their prizes in this tournament?

If so, what are they?

[yanquis1972]

zach is an amateur programmer correct? i don't think it should matter if he's replaced the author of a commercial program. it certainly isn't fair.

re the hiarcs dropping out issue, that's a great shame. hiarcs without fail provides some highlight games win loss or draw in these tournaments.

i don't get the ruling, but if the tournament organizers are fine with not being paid...isn't that their problem? i don't know exactly what the entry fee money is for, but i don't see how it effects you guys except for money out of your pocket. if you want to do something on principle, encourage -everyone- to rename their program, giving them no entry fees, & see if they reconsider this silly rule.

on a subject i'm quite sure is related to all this, as much as i admire GCP i fail to see how he is not by any definition a professional programmer... if he would for example release sjeng 4.0 now (partic. with updates!), i'm sure CCC alone would pay for the entry fee. not trying to bait , but i hope the point is obvious...if he's not making a living from programming, but is selling his program, then he can surely use the funds made from it to go towards its appearance in tournaments like these....why should a guy who makes, or has the potential to make, thousands of dollars in a week or two off his work be given the same treatment as a true amateur who makes absolutely nothing from his work??

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

on a subject i'm quite sure is related to all this, as much as i admire GCP i fail to see how he is not by any definition a professional programmer...

I'm a professional programmer, and so are probably all participants in the WCCC, including the amateurs. But I'm not a professional games programmer. Maybe people new to the scene have gotten a mistaken impression because of Deep Sjeng's strength, but computer chess is and has always been my hobby, something I do when I get home after work.

I do not make enough off chess programming to pay the professional entry fees in addition to the other costs of participating. I asked the ICGA what I had to do to no longer be considered a professional, because this is clearly a losing proposition. They said I should not enter with the same name or a similar name as something I'm selling.

I did exactly as asked.

This has happened before at least with ChessMaster (The King), Fritz (Quest) and Rybka (Rajlich), so I'm puzzled Hiarcs only suddenly got outraged at the concept.

PS. If they had said I had to give away the program for free, I would probably have done that as well.

[Watchman]

I'm a professional programmer, and so are probably all participants in the WCCC, including the amateurs. But I'm not a professional games programmer.

Ahahahahahahaha

Ahahahahahahaha

By far the best joke I have heard recently

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

Are their prizes in this tournament?

If so, what are they?

Trophies.

Last time, I didn't get a trophy but a funny hat.

[Zach Wegner]

Are their prizes in this tournament?

If so, what are they?

Trophies.

Last time, I didn't get a trophy but a funny hat.

There's a 1000 Euro prize for first this year.