OpenChess

I am currently studying and working greatly with Endgames, hence my interest in Tablebases.

If I have 3-4-5 men tablebases and download 6-men, does the 6-men replace the 3-4-5 men or must it be used side-by-side? Since in Chess the amount of pieces can never increase (even if I promoted pawn becomes a queen) and each 6-man has data corresponding to all possibilties direct to mate (if mate is possible) then why would i need 3-4-5 men? shouldn't they be bypassed in effect? But some instructions online say you do need to install 3-4-5 and then 6 as well.

Also, Is there any advice on best directory structure because presumably the bigger the dir the slower it will become?

Please can anyone advise me?

Many Thanks
Andy

You need all the file sets.
The files only contain solutions to the exact piece set found in the name.
If you have enough ram, the files will load into memory.

andytl755 wrote:But some instructions online say you do need to install 3-4-5 and then 6 as well.

The 6-piece tables won't work without the 3-4-5-piece tables being present. This has to do with how they are compressed.

Also, Is there any advice on best directory structure because presumably the bigger the dir the slower it will become?

Everything in one directory won't make them slower. Do whatever you like. But try to put the .rtbw files on SSD if you have one. It is fine to leave the .rtbz files on a slower HDD.