Houdini 1.5 Gaviota Tablebases

[smurfie]

I don't know how the tablebases works but if you have an k+q vs k+r ending at some point it will derivate to k+q vs k. So... It is possible that it works ok with only kqkr and kqk? Or you already tried this?

[ralunger]

For your position I get an immediate mate in 31 using my EGTB folder with all 145 files for 3/4/5-piece endings.
But if I try with a test folder containing just the single kqkr file, Houdini does NOT use the EGTB (and doesn't produce any TB hits either).
If I then add the 35 files for all the 3-piece and 4-piece endings (totalling 26 MB on hard disk), it works again.

Conclusion is that there may be a problem with the Gaviota detection code if you don't have all the EGTB files installed for a certain number of pieces.
I will look into this, for the moment you will have to install more files to make the EGTB feature work as intended.

Robert

Ok sir, maybe that's the reason why i'm only getting tablebase hits since my EGTB files is incomplete. I'll now try to install all EGTB files as per your observation.

By the way sir, I can't thank you very much for your help and answers. I can't believe you would spend time answering questions from unknown persons like me. Thank you so much really.

More power to you and to Houdini!

[ralunger]

I don't know how the tablebases works but if you have an k+q vs k+r ending at some point it will derivate to k+q vs k. So... It is possible that it works ok with only kqkr and kqk? Or you already tried this?

Thanks for your input. Yes maybe this is also the reason. Thanks!

[ralunger]

It's working fine now even if i had only added several files. I'll keep adding more files until it's complete.

Thank you all for your help especially to Sir R. Houdart!

[ralunger]

Another question:

Everytime I close my gui (fritz 12) and open it again, my gaviotaTBpath in Houdini 1.5 will become empty so I will again input the TB path again.

Is there a way to be done here so that every time i load my gui, my gaviotaTBpath will still be there?

[Robert Houdart]

Another question:

Everytime I close my gui (fritz 12) and open it again, my gaviotaTBpath in Houdini 1.5 will become empty so I will again input the TB path again.

Is there a way to be done here so that every time i load my gui, my gaviotaTBpath will still be there?

With Fritz GUI you can write settings in the .uci file that is found in your local “Application Data” directory.

In a Windows Explorer enter %appdata% in the address bar and press Enter.
In the folder that appears, descend into the ChessBase\Engines.UCI folder in which you will find the .uci files of the installed engines.

You can add the options to the .uci file with Notepad, for example I use the following for my Houdini 1.5:

Code: Select all

[ENGINE]
Name=Houdini 1.5 x64
Author=Robert Houdart
Filename=R:\Houdini\Houdini_64.exe
Priority=below normal

[OPTIONS]
Threads=3
GaviotaTbPath=R:\egtb\gaviota

[ralunger]

Ok sir I will try it. Thank you!

[ralunger]

It's ok now sir. Thanks!

[BB+]

I don't know how the tablebases works but if you have an k+q vs k+r ending at some point it will derivate to k+q vs k. So... It is possible that it works ok with only kqkr and kqk? Or you already tried this?

If you ask for the "main line" of analysis, it is almost guaranteed to need to use KQ vs K at some point. There's also the "reverse" TB problem for some formats, so that with Nalimov (for instance) you would need KQ vs KR and KR vs KQ (unless the programmer worked around this by searching an additional ply).

[MichaelIsGreat]

Hello to All,


Four questions that I have concerning the installation of the Gaviota Tablebases using the Deep Fritz 12 GUI.

------------------------------------------------------------

---First Question.
Concerning the web page “Endgame Tablebases” at http://sites.google.com/site/gaviotache ... blebases-1
One remark on it says:
"Once you get the files
* Registering files in ini file
* Tablebase usage"
First, I use these tablebases with the Deep Fritz 12 GUI. I downloaded all the files from Josh Shriver site. Then I followed what is explained on “OpenChess • View topic - Houdini 1.5 Gaviota Tablebases” at http://www.open-chess.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=841
That is I added in the uci file for Houdini 1.5 the following line:
[OPTIONS]
GaviotaTbPath=D:\MY DOWNLOADS\Games - Chess\Gaviota 3-4-5 EGTB
I did nothing else and Houdini 1.5 seems to work fine and seems to use these Gaviota tablebases efficiently.
Having said that, and that is why I ask the question here, I did not do this "registering files in ini file" that is mentioned on the Gaviota tablebases site. I did a search for the file gaviota.ini txt file but I could not find it anywhere on my hard drives.
---Therefore, my first question is: do I need to create this gaviota ini file even though I have downloaded the already compressed Gaviota tablebases from the Josh Shriver web site at http://www.olympuschess.com/egtb/gaviota/ ?

By the way, I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
I located the uci file for Houdini 1.5 in C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\ChessBase\Engines.UCI .
—The uci file for Houdini 1.5 is called “Houdini 1.5 x64.uci”.
—The full content of the “Houdini 1.5 x64.uci” file at C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\ChessBase\Engines.UCI was:
-------------
[ENGINE]
Name=Houdini 1.5 x64
Author=Robert Houdart
Filename=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\ChessBase\Engines\Houdini_15_x64.exe
-------------

—I put a new line (reading the explanation of the parameters on Houdini’s web page). Now, the NEW full content of the “Houdini 1.5 x64.uci” file at C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\ChessBase\Engines.UCI is:
-------------
[ENGINE]
Name=Houdini 1.5 x64
Author=Robert Houdart
Filename=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\ChessBase\Engines\Houdini_15_x64.exe

[OPTIONS]
GaviotaTbPath=D:\MY DOWNLOADS\Games - Chess\Gaviota 3-4-5 EGTB files (Compressed)
-------------

------------------------------------------------------------

---Second Question.
A question aside. It seems that Deep Fritz 12 does not use the uci file to recall the parameters that a particular chess engine uses. It seems to use the cbparam file that one has saved when you install the UCI chess engine (see http://www.open-chess.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=890 for the details on how I save these parameters even though I still have to reload them each time I restart DF2!).
Therefore, I am not sure that adding a line in the uci file for the parameter GaviotaTbPath really matters for someone who did the saving of the parameters of the new UCI chess engine using the cbparam file?

------------------------------------------------------------

---Third question.
In Deep Fritz 12, you have the possibility to do Application Menu button (the T at the top left), Options, and Tablebases GUI tab, add the path where your Gaviota tablebases are located.
Should I do that or not?

------------------------------------------------------------

---Fourth question.
---How can I access individually for training these Gaviota endgames in Deep Fritz 12 when I have installed them in Deep Fritz 12?
---In the Training tab, Endgame Training option, should I not see more of the endgames listed once I have installed these Gaviota endgames in Deep Fritz 12?
Maybe Robert Houdart should allow us to have access to these endgames this way (In the Training tab, Endgame Training option) once we have installed them to use them with Houdini 1.5? A question Robert Houdart might want to answer. I will surely suggest him to do so later on.

------------------------------------------------------------


I am completely new to this Deep Fritz 12 GUI that I have used so far only for just a short period so I am still trying to learn how to use it efficiently.


Thanks in advance for those who will be able to give some feedback on these questions.


Regards
MichaelIsGreat