Hi. I'm back :)

[mvanthoor]

Hi

After being away for some time from chess programming (life got in the way) it seems that things are settling down again. I've had a crazy busy time at work and moved across the city from a tiny apartment to a house.

So Rustic isn't dead (it actually has been in development the entire time, all be it very slowly), the book has been updated, and the broken Github links have been fixed. Now, if I can get that tuner written for Rustic 4, the thing would actually be finished, and about 250 to 300 points stronger than Rustic Alpha 3.

See you around

[Dariusz]

Hi

After being away for some time from chess programming (life got in the way) it seems that things are settling down again. I've had a crazy busy time at work and moved across the city from a tiny apartment to a house.

So Rustic isn't dead (it actually has been in development the entire time, all be it very slowly), the book has been updated, and the broken Github links have been fixed. Now, if I can get that tuner written for Rustic 4, the thing would actually be finished, and about 250 to 300 points stronger than Rustic Alpha 3.

See you around

Excellent news first thing in the morning
I am very happy and looking forward to the next version of your chess engine!

If nothing stands in the way, I will include version 3.0.3 in the MCERL games.

[Dariusz]

Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 has "come to life" on my computer and is currently playing as part of the MCERL cycle

I compiled Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 for Linux, Mac and Windows; they are downloadable from my site: https://www.chessengeria.com/files

[mvanthoor]

Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 has "come to life" on my computer and is currently playing as part of the MCERL cycle

I compiled Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 for Linux, Mac and Windows; they are downloadable from my site: https://www.chessengeria.com/files

Cool, thanks

Note that there's no playing difference between 3.0.0 and 3.0.3. It's just a maintenance update: library versions, changes to accommodate the latest Rust and Clippy best practices, etc. There's a tiny bit of unsafe code in Rustic that was allowed back when I wrote it, but it has now been classified as undefined behavior. I'll be changing that to the new best practice in all Alpha versions.

I look forward to finishing the last XBoard function and then finally starting on the tuner. Rustic 4 will drop the "Alpha" moniker, because I feel that, at this point, the engine has all the required basics of a chess engine and a tuner. Preliminary testing shows Rustic 4 to be 250-300 points stronger than Alpha 3. In the current CCRL-list, it would end up at around 2170, maybe even just over 2200. (I would be disappointed if it ended up under 2150, to be honest.)

PS: why does your site have massive amounts of Google ads and an account requirement? The "Chess Diary" website does this as well. It harvests engines from around the internet and provides them for download on a site loaded with ads. Nobody trusts it. If you actually want visitors to your site you may want to change this.

[Dariusz]

Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 has "come to life" on my computer and is currently playing as part of the MCERL cycle

I compiled Rustic-Alpha-3.0.3 for Linux, Mac and Windows; they are downloadable from my site: https://www.chessengeria.com/files

Cool, thanks

Note that there's no playing difference between 3.0.0 and 3.0.3. It's just a maintenance update: library versions, changes to accommodate the latest Rust and Clippy best practices, etc. There's a tiny bit of unsafe code in Rustic that was allowed back when I wrote it, but it has now been classified as undefined behavior. I'll be changing that to the new best practice in all Alpha versions.

I look forward to finishing the last XBoard function and then finally starting on the tuner. Rustic 4 will drop the "Alpha" moniker, because I feel that, at this point, the engine has all the required basics of a chess engine and a tuner. Preliminary testing shows Rustic 4 to be 250-300 points stronger than Alpha 3. In the current CCRL-list, it would end up at around 2170, maybe even just over 2200. (I would be disappointed if it ended up under 2150, to be honest.)

PS: why does your site have massive amounts of Google ads and an account requirement? The "Chess Diary" website does this as well. It harvests engines from around the internet and provides them for download on a site loaded with ads. Nobody trusts it. If you actually want visitors to your site you may want to change this.

All engines on my site are compiled by me. My site for 10 months did not contain ads. As of yesterday, there are raptly.... 4

Why? Because this was the will of my readers - it costs money to maintain the site.
https://www.chessengeria.com/post/survey-results-2023

Chessengeria.com is an original project. The fruit of thousands of hours of my work made available for free. It's not only engines but also courses, how-tos and more.

You probably haven't gotten to know my site yet.... which I encourage you to do!

I won't even write about Chess Engine Diary. If you want to find out more about it, feel free to ask me on priv.

[mvanthoor]

Hi

After being away for some time from chess programming (life got in the way) it seems that things are settling down again. I've had a crazy busy time at work and moved across the city from a tiny apartment to a house.

So Rustic isn't dead (it actually has been in development the entire time, all be it slowly), the book has been updated, and the broken Github links have been fixed. Now, if I can get that tuner written for Rustic 4, the thing would actually be finished, and about 250 to 300 points stronger than Rustic Alpha 3.

See you around