Questions tagged [engines]
Questions relating to chess engines: any computer program that is able to play/analyze chess positions.
756
questions
-1
votes
0answers
15 views
How to have Arena show Arrow for the second and third best move in board during analysis? [duplicate]
I see this old question
but I need to see the results as arrows on the board
thanks
10
votes
2answers
504 views
+100
Chess positions that are easy for humans but near impossible or confusing for computers
I noticed that one student is performing exceptionally well and beyond his level during an online class. I was wondering if there are particular chess positions that I can use during class to find out ...
2
votes
2answers
114 views
How do endgame tablebases calculate checkmates to do retrograde analysis on?
I understand that once endgame tablebases get checkmates, they do retrograde analysis and are able to calculate forced wins. However, how do they calculate the checkmate in the first place? Do they ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
How can I convert a possible pieces' moves to an actual move in a bitboard?
If I have a bitboard (e.g. for knight squares he can move to) like this:
00000000
00000000
00000000
00000000
00000000
01000000
00100000
N0000000
How can I "convert" it into a move or "...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
Engines tuned to masters’s styles
I saw a stream by IM Eric Rosen where he showed a stronger version of stockfish than the one on lichess.org. He said that it is a version that is given to masters with the evaluation function ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
How do I find bitboard attack maps non-manually?
I am writing a C++ chess engine based on the magic bitboard, where ordering for bitboards is from LSB to MSB in Little-Endian Rank-File mapping. I'd like to have a 6x64 dimension 2D array for all ...
5
votes
1answer
74 views
Increase in pawn value towards endgames
I’m writing my own chess engine where I’ll be implementing something called a tapered eval which is one that evaluates the position with an endgame specific evaluation function and a middle game ...
1
vote
3answers
148 views
Fastest way to generate castling moves in a computer chess engine
I am currently developing a Bitboard chess engine using C++. I am in the process of creating the move generator function. I have completed most of it and only the casting part is left.
I have used ...
3
votes
1answer
197 views
Can all UCI engines output a FEN for the current position or is it just StockFish?
I know in StockFish if you type "d" you get an ascii view of the board and a FEN string for the current state. Is there any command in other UCI engines such as Rybka 4 that will output a ...
1
vote
0answers
59 views
Why does Stockfish NNUE flatline?
Flatline - to produce a flat evaluation curve.
As I understand engine chess, engines "flatline" in fortress positions. In these positions there are a lot of effectively-equivalent positions ...
3
votes
1answer
97 views
Relation between Elo and search depth for basic minimax
If we use the most basic approach to a chess engine (for example, for a codegolf): minimax to a fixed depth with the material count as static evaluation, then how strong is this algorithm?
This of ...
6
votes
2answers
179 views
How to exercise an opening variation with a chess engine?
I am reading an opening book in King's Gambit, and been writing down the lines to study later. But I wish there was a chess engine, that goes for those lines so I can play against them. I want to play ...
3
votes
1answer
72 views
What do the engine annotations 0.53/24 mean?
I am anaylizing my games with Fritz to get better, but there is an annotation in the analysis that I do not fully understand. Here is an example:
What do 0.53/21 and -0.25/24 mean?
1
vote
0answers
16 views
How to convert commentary into variation in Arena chess?
After analyzing a game by Arena, I got the following output.
The moves in the green font are engine suggestion/variation. The problem is I cannot click on moves (in green color). It is put as a ...
5
votes
0answers
66 views
Stockfish position evaluation component terms in Python?
I saw the excellent Javascript-based guide to how Stockfish evaluates (non-NNUE). Is there a python version out there, perhaps using python-chess?
What I am trying to do (in case you have other ...
5
votes
1answer
50 views
Removing engine thinking (variations) in Arena Chess
I setup a position in Arena. Then lets engine vs engine plays it after pressing 'Demo' button.
The problem is Arena put engine thinking as well into the moves list. (in green font). Check the ...
17
votes
3answers
3k views
Can a grandmaster still win against engines if they have a really long consideration time?
Can a grandmaster still win against engines if they have a really long consideration time? For example, say that Stockfish gets 20 minutes and the GM receives days, if not weeks.
3
votes
1answer
69 views
Iterative deepening: what should I do with previous results?
I implemented a negamax with alpha beta and aspiration windows. Now, it also has iterative deepening. When I let the engine run for 15 seconds in the below position, it finds a move at depth 2 with ...
3
votes
2answers
154 views
How do you use Sesse?
How can I set up a position on Sesse? I've been trying to find a way to set up a position on the blank chessboard for half an hour unsuccessfully. How do you do it?
3
votes
1answer
125 views
Chess engine does not go for checkmate
I have made a chess engine that can play a decent game of chess. Like a lot of engines it uses a minimax search algorithm with alpha-beta pruning. It uses this simple evaluation function to assign a ...
13
votes
1answer
4k views
Did Stockfish regress from October to December 2020? If so, why?
NCM data
If the NCM data is to be believed, somewhere around October 2020, Stockfish dev hit +370 elo vs. Stockfish 7, but has since regressed to only +360. What's going on?
Only thing I can think of ...
1
vote
0answers
74 views
Contempt factor [closed]
I have a question concerning the contempt factor of a chess engine, that i am writing, and thought that this forum would be the best one to ask it in. The contempt factor is a way of deincentivizing ...
2
votes
2answers
96 views
Is there a software where we can query historical games to find patterns without inputting the exact chess position?
Suppose one wants to find:
A list of games where White/Black gave each other check more than 10 times.
A list of games where there were Black and White gave each other check in consecutive steps
A ...
8
votes
2answers
200 views
Do Chess Engines hold their Search Tree in Memory?
Does a typical brute-force chess engine (e.g. Stockfish) hold its search tree in memory as it applies iterative deepening? If so how does it avoid running out of space? And if not, how does it store ...
4
votes
1answer
128 views
Obtaining the correct move from syzygy tablebases (Python)
I have created a chess engine in Python and now want to start using the endgame tables in syzygy. I have downloaded all the relevant files and is now ready to start.
I have found how to access the ...
-1
votes
1answer
90 views
A historical computer chess endgame
In Season 11 Superfinal Game 78 the following opposite color Bishop endgame was reached:
[FEN "8/2p1k3/1p6/p4B2/P2P1bP1/2P5/1P3K2/8 w - - 0 1"]
In that Superfinal Stockfish smashed Houdini ...
8
votes
2answers
468 views
Big changes in engine's evaluation after considerable time
I hope this question hasn't been asked before.
I am looking for some examples where, say, the latest Stockfish or Komodo engine (or possibly some of the top NN engines) evaluates a position as plus or ...
1
vote
1answer
124 views
What are the most characteristic signatures if an opponent cheats in online game by using an engine? [duplicate]
Sometimes I feel that a human, particularly a human of about my elo rating, would not ever play so.
I never used an engine in my life for cheating, but I think it is not so hard.
I think, most of the ...
-1
votes
2answers
139 views
Stockfish vs Leela zero
In the TCEC Cup 7 , Stockfish and Leela Zero played the below position;
Is this a win for White or is Black able to defend this position? Black to Play
[Event "TCEC Cup 7"]
[White "...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
Why does AlphaZero implement time steps in its input layers?
I'm trying to build my own chess engine using neural nets, and have been researching papers from Deepmind about their algorithm implemented in AlphaZero. Since chess is a game with perfect information ...
4
votes
2answers
169 views
Which open source chess engine has the most positional understanding?
Most open source chess engines with hand-tuned evaluations are known for their innovations on search (Fruit, Stockfish).
I was inspired by HIARCS' generally more human-like play and the fact that ...
2
votes
1answer
224 views
How should I configure Stockfish if I want it to play as a 2800 ELO player without the UCI_LimitStrength value?
Stockfish has so many parameters that I'm not sure which one I should change so that it has a strength equivalent to that of a human who has 2800 ELO, well that's one of my wishes, the other is to be ...
3
votes
2answers
229 views
NNUE Based Engines - Post Move Analysis
Its a bit of a wordy question as there is a lot of background to provide context for thinking and analysis so for that I apologise you can skip the background if you want but it might provide some ...
2
votes
1answer
114 views
Candidates for the longest 8 man checkmates?
Are there proven 8 men checkmates that have a good chance to be the longest checkmates? How were they proven and why are they good candidates?
21
votes
5answers
9k views
What prevents chess engines from being undetectable?
I see accounts of people getting banned from sites like chess.com for using engines like Stockfish and Komodo (I admit I have used these engines before, but never in an actual match). Now, I believe ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Why does this puzzle offer f8=R as better than f8=Q?
Here's a chess puzzle that gave a confusing response.
https://chesspuzzle.net/Puzzle/52112
[FEN "5R2/1p6/p4Ppk/3r4/7p/1P6/P7/1K6 w - - 0 1"]
1. Rh8+ Kg5 2. f7 Rf5 3. f8=R
If you play f8=Q ...
3
votes
4answers
284 views
The chess.com vs computer games celebrity category
I came upon chess.com playing against computer mode. I found a resemblance of two professional chess players over there. Do they really resemble their gameplay, though? Does the AI mimic their past ...
1
vote
2answers
99 views
Is it preferable to pass a FEN notation or list of moves to a chess engine?
I am actually programming a chess UI and I'd like to communicate with a chess engine using UCI protocol. After reading the protocol specifications, I am not sure how to use the position command. For ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Could a top ranked GM draw against Stockfish using drawish opening lines in classical chess?
We know that are many lines which White can choose which are very drawish at 2700+ level. Drawing is easy to a very good chess player such as Carlsen, who knows dozens of forced draw lines. When I say ...
2
votes
1answer
122 views
The most efficient valid move generation for minimax
Problem
I am creating a chess engine in Python using Minimax algorithm (with alpha/beta pruning) but I have some issues with performance. Currently the thinking time looks something like this for a ...
2
votes
3answers
91 views
Xboard and a remote engine
I want to analyse chess games with xboard and stockfish. Locally this is no problem.
But my PC is slow, so I have rented a faster linux server, and I want let stockfish run on it.
How can I use xboard ...
-1
votes
1answer
83 views
Is Stockfish 11 SuFi 19 still fallible? [closed]
In a Game of SuFi 19 , a Czech Benoni, Stockfish 11 as White could have forced , on move 28 , a line that forced an eight piece endgame on move 59. White would have had Queen , Knight and two advanced ...
7
votes
3answers
4k views
How does Stockfish know if the king is in check?
I am writing a chess engine. I need to know how to tell if the king is in check. I was thinking that maybe I can use the approach that Stockfish uses. Where and how in Stockfish's code is check ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views
Information on adding opening knowledge to an engine
I'm writing a chess engine in C# for school purposes. As part of the assignment, I need to read something from an external document. I was thinking of reading an opening book, but I can't really find ...
3
votes
3answers
940 views
Stockfish Evaluations
I've been getting Stockfish to analyse lines of the KID, and the evaluation gives a score of around +1.5: White has a big advantage. How come this is true, when the KID is a playable(and good) opening?...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
What should be the value change if pawns are doubled?
I am creating a chess engine and I am creating a heuristic to change the board evaluation if there are doubled pawns. Now, I have no experience in creating engines, so I figured I would ask this site ...
0
votes
2answers
90 views
Computer chess endgame
Again , this is an interesting position I need help to solve. In a game Stockfish vs Ethereal , Stockfish was ahead , but Ethereal could have found refuge in the following endgame. Is the position ...
4
votes
3answers
211 views
Book recommendation for chess engine building
This might be too broad a question, but can anyone recommend specific books that deal with chess engines, including hard-coded ones such as Stockfish, Komodo, and other ones also based on neural ...
3
votes
3answers
979 views
Owen's Defence playability
The Owen's defence is a chess opening which starts with 1. e4 b6!?. This opening is playable if Black can get a quick c7-c5 break, where he has a pawn on e6, b6, and then he pushes c7-c5.
However, ...
9
votes
8answers
1k views
How to make an AI chess engine which can play like a human of similar rating?
We have lot of sophisticated chess engines, but I always prefer playing with a human online, because they make genuine mistakes / blunders which adds a human touch. Playing with computer at a high ...
