TheKing 3.50 bug?

[David Dahlem]

Running TheKing 3.50 in Arena, i've noticed a problem, a possible bug. When i close Arena, TheKing 3.50 does not close and stays in memory. I have to end the process with TaskManager.

I found this in the readme file of Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition ...

<quote>
Useful information:

1. While the Chessmaster Development and Quality Assurance teams have done their outmost to ensure that Chessmaster® Grandmaster Edition is as free of bugs as possible, there is a statistical likelihood that some bugs have made it through all rigorous testing procedures only to be found by YOU.

Unfortunately, every once in a while a bug can cause a program to "crash", shutting it down immediately. Because Chessmaster® Grandmaster Edition uses the Winboard protocol for all of its chess engines, these engines are actually SEPARATE programs that constantly communicate with the Chessmaster main program. While Chessmaster automatically closes all the King instances upon crashing, there are still very rare instances when these engine processes may still be running "in the background," and may still be churning away on the current game, taking up your computer's memory and CPU time. The only way to shut these engines down is to access the Windows Task Manager (usually by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL) and looking for the name of the chess engine program that is still running. Chessmaster® Grandmaster Edition's engine is called "TheKing". You would then highlight any entry in the program list that is called "TheKing", and press the "End Task" button.
Also, if you happen to close Chessmaster by using the Windows Task Manager, be aware that the King's engine will NOT be removed automatically. You have to look for any entry in the program list that is called "TheKing", and press the "End Task" button.
<unquote>

Anyone else this behavior? This is on WinXP.

Regards
Dave

[Kaj Soderberg]

Not (yet), got mine yesterday and thus only played a little. Maybe the problem is occasional, but a little bit more occasional than the text you quoted implies

[David Dahlem]

Not (yet), got mine yesterday and thus only played a little. Maybe the problem is occasional, but a little bit more occasional than the text you quoted implies

Yes, i does seem to be occasional, but an occasional bug is still a bug.

Regards
Dave

[Jim Walker]

I have seen several bugs.
1. I have seen 3 or 4 King 350 engines at one time in the task manager. (which causes other problems)
2. In doing a replay of the analysis of my game Chessmaster promotes my black pawn to a white Queen. Still uses it as a black Queen in analysis replay.
3. Although I have registered it on Ubi com (twice) it still ask for me to register it every time I start up my computer. This even though I also checked the "never register" box too.
4. I get the "Ubisoft Autopatch" box every time I start it up which causes a nag box when I'm not connected to the internet. "Update service cannot continue".
5. The comments by Chessmaster when replaying the analysis are not always relavent. Such as "Black was asleep at the switch". I missed a mate in 8 even though I mated in 9 moves. (I"m rated about 1700)
6. The USCF rating Chessmaster gives itself is different in different places in the program. I get 2724 in one place and 2936 in another.
All this after a few hours yesterday. Can't wait to see what today brings.
Jim

[George Bodkin]

How do you setup TheKing 3.50 in Arena. Is it UCI or Winboard.

Thanks George.

[David Dahlem]

How do you setup TheKing 3.50 in Arena. Is it UCI or Winboard.

Thanks George.

TheKing 3.50 is a WB engine. It can be setup in Arena as a WB or UCI engine, but in WB mode, it only uses 1mb of hash, and i haven't been able to adjust the hash usage. In my opinion, the ideal way to run this engine in Arena is in UCI mode using the wb2uci adapter. The hash usage can be set in the UCI configuration window. The depth is displayed properly, and analysis mode works also.

Regards
Dave

[Tony Thomas]

Tests from CEGT only shows a 30 point improvement, which doesnt give me enough incentive to buy it at the full price. What's your opinion so far David?

[mclane]

but this was single32bit, or?

[David Dahlem]

Tests from CEGT only shows a 30 point improvement, which doesnt give me enough incentive to buy it at the full price. What's your opinion so far David?

It's too soon to tell about the engine. I haven't played with the interface yet, but i think it's well worth the price, compared to some other programs.

Regards
Dave

[George Bodkin]

How do uou set up with the wb2uci adapter.

Thanks George