Djinn 0.815 Available

[Tom Likens]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Tom Likens at 25 December 2003 19:48:16:

Merry Christmas Everyone,
Well, I've taken the plunge, Djinn is no longer private, I've created a web page
and download area for it, so have at it if you like. All beta testers are released
from their blood oaths and *most* of your first-born children are in the mail.
The latest stable version (0.815), documentation, opening book etc. are now
available on line.
Djinn
Please, feel free to give me feedback (good or bad) on the web site. This is my
first webpage, so if something is wrong it wouldn't surprise me. But who knows
maybe I got unmentionably lucky.
Currently, the site itself is fairly basic. My goal is to emphasize content
over flash. I've also started an overview of the algorithms and data
structures the program uses. I intend to flesh this section out substantially
in the future. I decided against making it open-source because of the cloning
issue, but I *will* be publishing the algorithms it uses. So check back from
time-to-time if you're interested as each of the topics will eventually be
fleshed out.
Over the Christmas break, I'm adding internal-node recognizers so that will
probably be the first item to receive it's own page.
Anyway, comments, suggestions and helpful hints are always welcome.
cheers,
--tom

[Olivier Deville]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Olivier Deville at 25 December 2003 21:15:21:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Tom Likens at 25 December 2003 19:48:16:

Merry Christmas Everyone,
Well, I've taken the plunge, Djinn is no longer private, I've created a web page
and download area for it, so have at it if you like. All beta testers are released
from their blood oaths and *most* of your first-born children are in the mail.
The latest stable version (0.815), documentation, opening book etc. are now
available on line.
Djinn
Please, feel free to give me feedback (good or bad) on the web site. This is my
first webpage, so if something is wrong it wouldn't surprise me. But who knows
maybe I got unmentionably lucky.
Currently, the site itself is fairly basic. My goal is to emphasize content
over flash. I've also started an overview of the algorithms and data
structures the program uses. I intend to flesh this section out substantially
in the future. I decided against making it open-source because of the cloning
issue, but I *will* be publishing the algorithms it uses. So check back from
time-to-time if you're interested as each of the topics will eventually be
fleshed out.
Over the Christmas break, I'm adding internal-node recognizers so that will
probably be the first item to receive it's own page.
Anyway, comments, suggestions and helpful hints are always welcome.
cheers,
--tom

Congratulations Tom ! It was really a pleasure to test Djinn . I will still give you feedback from time to time, and you will get logfiles till the end of the current tournament.
Olivier

[Leo Dijksman]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Leo Dijksman at 25 December 2003 22:45:17:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Tom Likens at 25 December 2003 19:48:16:

Merry Christmas Everyone,
Well, I've taken the plunge, Djinn is no longer private, I've created a web page
and download area for it, so have at it if you like. All beta testers are released
from their blood oaths and *most* of your first-born children are in the mail.
The latest stable version (0.815), documentation, opening book etc. are now
available on line.
Djinn
Please, feel free to give me feedback (good or bad) on the web site. This is my
first webpage, so if something is wrong it wouldn't surprise me. But who knows
maybe I got unmentionably lucky.
Currently, the site itself is fairly basic. My goal is to emphasize content
over flash. I've also started an overview of the algorithms and data
structures the program uses. I intend to flesh this section out substantially
in the future. I decided against making it open-source because of the cloning
issue, but I *will* be publishing the algorithms it uses. So check back from
time-to-time if you're interested as each of the topics will eventually be
fleshed out.
Over the Christmas break, I'm adding internal-node recognizers so that will
probably be the first item to receive it's own page.
Anyway, comments, suggestions and helpful hints are always welcome.
cheers,
--tom

Hi Tom,
Thanks, and Congratulated with the release of Djinn!!
Your homepage looks fine for me, everything one need to know is on it.
Merry Christmas,
Leo.


WBEC Ridderkerk homepage

[Geoff]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Geoff at 26 December 2003 02:23:27:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Tom Likens at 25 December 2003 19:48:16:

Hello Tom
Thanks very much for making Djinn available, I have downloaded it as I was intrigued to see how my program would get on against it. I am using XP and Chess Arena 1.02 as my GUI, unfortunately I am seeing Djinn crash at the end of every game irregardless of the result.
I am running a match now with a Nunn file Test and I am also using a version of my program with some extra debug output, so not sure if either of those factors is triggering a problem with Djinn ? It would be useful if anyone else could try Djinn using Chess Arena and see if they can reproduce the problem ?
As the crash is at the end of a game Arena copes and can start up the next match OK so I can still use it. To give you some good news as well as bad, Djinn is beating my progam quite easily as the moment 5-2-1 as I type.
The Web pages were an interesting read, I found the the chess books page informative. I liked the hint to Prof. Hyatt that it was about time he wrote a book on the subject. It is a pity nearly all those books are old and out of print now.
Update, as I am typing Djinn is now crashing but not at the end of a game, the strange thing is it is just bringing up the Windows crash screen but carrying on playing that game correctly.
That's rather clever of Djinn it just crashed on game 9 but still went on to beat me in the same game !!
regards Geoff

[Tom Likens]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Tom Likens at 26 December 2003 03:17:05:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Re: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Geoff at 26 December 2003 02:23:27:

Hello Geoff,
You might want to check if the log file directory (set in the configuration file
"djinn.rc") is correct. Early beta testers saw similar behavior when they had
inadvertently set an invalid log file path. My latest, not yet released version,
is more robust in this regard and performs a large amount of error checking to
ensure that this doesn't cause a problem.
Regardless, if you could send me the engine's log file (it should be called
"djinnlog.xxx") I'd be happy to look it over. In addition, if you want to
include your configuration file that might also provide a clue. I'm not sure
if Arena produces any type of debug file but that would be useful if it did.
You might also try a short match under Winboard using the -debug option which
will produce a log file of the commands sent between the engines and Winboard.
If you continue to have problems, please feel free to email me as well,
(otherwise, we might bore the rest of the forum to tears).
[-snip-]

The Web pages were an interesting read, I found the the chess books page
informative. I liked the hint to Prof. Hyatt that it was about time he
wrote a book on the subject. It is a pity nearly all those books are old
and out of print now.

I'm glad you enjoyed that section. It was fun to write and browsing through
the books brought back a ton of memories and even provided a few new/old
ideas to try.
BTW, what is the name of your chess program?
regards,
--tom

[Lyapko George]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Lyapko George at 26 December 2003 11:14:00:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Tom Likens at 25 December 2003 19:48:16:

Djinn crashes after game if "create-log= false"
in it's .rc file regardless of log-path value.
Best regards,
George

[Geoff]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Geoff at 26 December 2003 13:17:09:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Re: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Tom Likens at 26 December 2003 03:17:05:

Hello Tom
Thanks for the suggestion it did solve the crash problem. However, I can confirm George's comment that if you have create-log=false the crash comes back. Probably an easy one for you to fix when you get time.

The Web pages were an interesting read, I found the the chess books page
informative. I liked the hint to Prof. Hyatt that it was about time he
wrote a book on the subject. It is a pity nearly all those books are old
and out of print now.

I'm glad you enjoyed that section. It was fun to write and browsing through
the books brought back a ton of memories and even provided a few new/old
ideas to try.
BTW, what is the name of your chess program?

One thing I was surprised about from reading that section was the value of these old computer chess books. I have The "Chess Computer handbook" by Levy and "How computers play chess" by Levy and Newborn, I will have to be more careful with them if they are worth something ! I would buy another one or two if they were more readily available at sensible prices.
My program is called Waster (TSCP Derivative), Only got into chess and computer chess this year, so it's in need of a year or two's more work yet.
Djinn will be an excellent opponent for it as it looks like it will beat Waster but not totally thrash it, gives me something I can measure improvement against. Hope you can manage to fix the log files problem soon.
Regards Geoff

[Tom Likens]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Tom Likens at 26 December 2003 14:12:28:
Als Antwort auf: / In reply to: Re: Djinn 0.815 Available geschrieben von: / posted by: Lyapko George at 26 December 2003 11:14:00:

Djinn crashes after game if "create-log= false"
in it's .rc file regardless of log-path value.
Best regards,
George

Thanks George,
I'll fix this.
regards,
--tom