OpenChess

-I'm trying to set up Zappa M II for analysis but it doesn't seem to respond to the uci settings. I'm assuming this means that you have to change the parameters in the zappa ini file similar to the old winboard engines. It seems to work with the hash. But what I'm wondering is if anybody can help me with the rest of the parameters. I'm more of a chess player, and less of an engine guy. Any help would be great.
-The following is an exact copy of my ini file.

#initialization file for zappa chess engine
#all options must contain no spaces and are case insensitive

#############################################################################
#hash table options

#option allows you to use huge tlb pages on linux for a 5-10% speedup
#mmap /mnt/shm

#if you are running remote, you want to be able to use all the memory on the machine,
#but most GUIs will not let you allocate more memory than is on the local machine
ignore_remote_memory_values 1

#Autobalance memory between processors and various hash tables
memory 64M

#############################################################################
#tablebase options

#tbcache: how much memory to allocate to cache tablebase results
tbcache 8M

#tbpath: path to nalimov tablebases
#tbpath /media/tablebases/3,/media/tablebases/4,/media/tablebases/5

#############################################################################
#search options.

#Turn null move pruning on/off
#enable_null_move 0

#What depth to enable R=4? default:never
#null_move_r4_min_depth 8

#Turn futility pruning on/off default 0
#enable_futility_pruning 1

#History pruning? default 1
#enable_history_pruning 1

#Turn singular extension on/off default 1
enable_singular_extensions 1

#print a ! for singular moves?
print_singular_moves 1

#how much does a move have to be better than the alternatives to be singular?
singular_margin 75

#Turn mate extension on/off
#enable_mate_extension 1

#Threads: search with multiple processors?
threads auto

#remote lag is not accounted for by timestamp
#internet_lag 100

#############################################################################
#miscellaneous options

#scorepov: report score as good for White (0) or good for Zappa (1)
scorepov 0

#kibitz: control level of kibitz output [0->never, 1->list, 2->computers, 3->all]
# default 0
kibitz 0


#ignore this -> no real effect
idletimer 700000000

#############################################################################
#book options

#book: path to opening book
#book ../../book/gm2600.zbook

#simple lines to control which moves to play
#1. e4!! c5!!

#if you want you can force zappa to give an extension in a given position
#nolot 10
inode r1b3k1/1p1nb1pp/pq1p4/3N3Q/P2NP3/4p3/1PP3PP/R6K b - - 0 4
inode r1b3k1/1p1nb1pp/pq1p4/7Q/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R6K w - - 0 4
inode r1b5/1p1nbkpp/pq1p4/7Q/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R6K b - - 0 3
inode r1b5/1p1nbkpp/pq1p4/8/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R2Q3K w - - 0 3
inode r1b3k1/1p1nbBpp/pq1p4/8/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R2Q3K b - - 0 2
inode r1b3k1/1p1nbrpp/pq1p4/3B4/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R2Q3K w - - 0 2
inode r1b2rk1/1p1nbRpp/pq1p4/3B4/P2NP3/2N1p3/1PP3PP/R2Q3K b - - 0 1
enable_user_lines 0

- The search options are the ones I'm really concerned with. What is r4 depth, futility pruning, history pruning etc. etc.
-I also noticed in the engine that null move is on by default, whatever null move is, but in my ini file its 0 which I'm assuming means off. Anyways any help would be great.
-I'm assuming that Zappa Mexico does something like rybka to the nodes per second, because both zappa mexico, and zappa mexico II run extremely slow on my machine. 50 000 nodes per second on average. Just for a bench mark the king 3.50 runs at 150 000 nodes per sec on my machine. I'm hoping this is normal behaviour.
-I'm running outta space but one last thing........I can't find the ini file for Zappa Mexico the original can I use the same one as zappa M II. Or are there different parameters. If so can someone shoot me the ini file for the original Zappa Mexico.

What interface are you using? I don't have any problem setting Zappa's parameters under Shredder Classic, without needing an INI file.

I was using Zappa through polyglot, in chessmaster. More recently I've been using Kvetka. Kvetka only lets you set a couple settings, so I definately need the ini file there. I did figure out what was happening through polyglot. I guess Zappa must have a bug. it doesn't seem to respond when I set the hash to 128mb, but when I set it to 129mb it seems fine? Maybe its a polyglot bug, who knows with these things.

I still really hoping that someone can explain what those search parameters mean? such as futility pruning, history pruning, null move, etc. etc.

The 32 bit single Zappa MII really sucks at blitz on my machine, I'm hoping I can tune it for some improvement. Zappa M I also sucks on my machine. I'm thinking maybe that Zappa was really built to be a 64 bit engine, because there seems to be a huge gap between the 32 and 64 bit versions.

But I must say I really like the style of play by Zappa M I and II. Thats why I'm hoping I can tweak it slightly to get a better 32 bit game.

Under Shredder Classic adding this to the .eng file is enough (these are the XIII settings as example):

[OPTIONS]
Aggressive Futility Pruning=true
Eval Passed Pawn Scoring=102
Eval Pawn Scoring=102
Eval Minor Scoring=104
Eval Major Scoring=108
Eval Kingsafety Scoring=200
Hide Fail Highs=false

They work, but after being used Zappa doesn't make any change to the ini file.

What you're asking for is very technical (like Null move causing the engine to discard positions when one side is just fine after making two moves in a row, which could lead the engine to prune the wrong move on a deep zugzwang, though it may be a lot more complex), sorry if I can't help.

-Thanks for the settings, I appreciate it. I tested them, they seem to be very close to default strength wise but more aggressive.
-I'm wondering if its normal that Zappa Mexico II really sucks on 32 bit machine at 5 minute time controls. I have a P4 2.8 with 1 gig ram. I just ran a 5 minute tourney with some fairly weak engines. Colossus 2008b, Ruffian 2.1.0, The King 3.23, Naum 2.0, Pro Deo 1.2, Scorpios 1.91, and then I threw Zappa Mexico II in the tourney. It finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. This is surprising considering Zappa is supposed to be ranked 2900 or so. All the engines in the tourney are under 2750 with the exception of Naum 2.0.
-Basically I want to know if this is normal and Zappa is useless on 32 bit machines, or should I check to see if something if wrong with my setup?
-This is really disappointing considering all the praise I here from Zappa fans.

Zappa sucks at blitz time control, period. Even if you had a 64bit Quad it would greatly underperform at blitz.

Also, the Pentium 4 Architecture sucks at computer chess, people were joking that one would be better using a Pentium II than a P4 for chess, but I think the truth that, yes, at the same clock speed PII would be better in theory.

Zappa benefits greatly from bigger hardware, so playing in a P4 is going to hurt it too.