Can anyone beat Gnuchess?!

Hi jimin,

Yes, those of us who like computer chess share that wonderful experience of being routinely trounced. And Gnuchess is not even gracious in its victory.

It's been a while since I've looked into the mechanics of the application, but I seem to recall that some chess programs can be configured to levels ranging from novice to master. I don't have Gnuchess on my machine right now so I can't check. But another option is to look into different "chess engines." Doesn't Gnuchess use Crafty? Aren't there other engines to download from online, if not from the repositories? I'm working from old recollections here, but I'm pretty sure you can install different levels of gaming. When you launch Gnuchess, you can tell it which engine (or book or whatever it's called) to load.

[I've stayed with the original configuration of Gnuchess because I figure losing so much is probably good for my soul...]

Hi Malanrich

Yes I suppose losing regularly is good for our souls. But if I could beat it... just once... *gnaws fist*... and you're right, Gnuchess just steamrollers you and sits there, quietly complacent... (I'm taking this too seriously, I know). So if it uses Crafty... maybe I'll look for an engine called Feckless, or Dopey... there must be a market for a not-very-good chess program. I'll check the repositories. Thanks!

By the way, I have a program on my laptop, running XP, and I can beat it regularly. I wonder what this implies?

Cheers

Jim

Coincidence: I too had a Windows chess program that I could beat into submission. Linux, however, goes out of its way to remind me that "Nothing is free" and "All start at the bottom."

The literature always describes Crafty as a "strong" chess engine. I think this means, "Take no prisoners."

If you find an alternative engine that works well and doesn't mind losing (Mindless Girlfriend?), let us know...

--Malanrich

You can beat computer chess if you don't make horrible tactical mistakes and have a little bit of strategical thinking, I liked this article on Slate about playing machines: The triumphant teamwork of humans and computers. (read the linked articles from there too... really interesting)

I haven't played chess in a long time...

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Check out MEPIS Wiki: www.mepis.org/docs

Jim and Adrian:

Okay, now I've got the chess bug again, so I installed Gnuchess and discovered I was wrong about Crafty. It is not used by Gnuchess because Gnuchess itself is a chess engine--apparently a formidable one, if webpage references to it are accurate. So both Crafty and Gnuchess are tough opponents.

Adrian's article and some others on the net suggest ways humans can beat strong programs like Gnuchess. But maybe I've got a better alternative:

I recall a program I've preferred to Gnuchess: Knights. It's in the repository, easy to install, and will automatically implement both the Gnuchess engine and xboard if you've already got them installed. But it's got a more functional interface than Gnuchess, a much clearer helpfile, and directions for downloading other engines and configuring *levels* of play. So, Jim, I think this is the way for you to make your computer stupider. Enjoy.

--Malanrich

Oh, I remembered, last time I played chess was on a long flight, the program really sucked Why didn't they use gnuchess? computer was running Linux...
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Check out MEPIS Wiki: www.mepis.org/docs

Yeah I did read about Knights on an earlier post. Tried to install it and got a grave bug, 'Can't play against AI (gnuchess, sjeng, crafty) Merged with 305832' which is a bit frustrating. Since I don't know how to fix it.

I think one of the most frustrating things about gnuchess is the clock ticking down, it really makes me rush and make mistakes. I wonder if that ZX81 in the loft still works...

Anyhow, Malanrich, I'm glad you got the bug again, I love chess but it's pretty hard to find human opponents without going to a club which would be a bit daunting. Cheers!

Jim

Hi Jim,

Not sure why Knights wouldn't install. My version is 0.6 and I'm running Mepis 6.0. I had already installed Gnuchess, Gnuchess-book, eboard, Gnome-chess, and xboard from the repositories. After this, Knights installed without a hitch. The other chess stuff probably makes no difference; on the other hand, I do recall having trouble with Knights sometime in the past--don't recall why and am having no problem now. It might be that one of the other installations tweaks the system the right way.

The difference between Knights and Gnuchess won't matter hugely since you're still playing against the same engine. But Knights has a much prettier interface and seems more configurable and ready to install different chess engines.

About that d*mn clock in Gnuchess: If you hit "pause" in the drop down menu or just click the "p" button up toward the right on the toolbar, you can pause the clock and consider at your leisure some devastating move to humiliate Gnuchess. Good luck.

--Malanrich

BTW:

Bug #305832 gets some discussion on the Debian bug lists. Not sure how relevant this might be, but the version of Knights could make a difference: I'm using Knights 0.6-6ubuntu1. The bug pages mention 0.6-3 as "old stable," then the versions on up to 0.6.-7 until they reach 0.6.7-1 as the latest unstable. There seems to be a claim that the bug got fixed in 0.6.-7 (yet I'm using 0.6-6 without problem). I have no idea whether the Ubuntu packaging affects the version number or the actual workings of the application.

Anyway, you might check the version of Knights available in your repository. You might be able to force-install an earlier or later version.

--Malanrich

EDIT:

Okay, better stay away from Knights at this point. My installation was loading fine, but soon play froze as memory usage skyrocketed. Closing the program would not return the memory. "Top" showed that "gnuchess" was not closing. Note: this only happens with "gnuchess" as it's used by Knights. Regular use of Gnuchess does not seem to have this problem. I'm not sure if it's a problem with Knights (Bug 305832) or memory leak in Mepis 6.0 or whatever (I'm due for an upgrade to 6.5 anyway).

I'll keep tinkering with this, maybe trying the latest Knights once I upgrade to Mepis 6.5, but for now I'll stick with regular Gnuchess.

Ah it's a shame Knights won't work. I have tried pausing the game (Gnuchess) but it got a little frustrating to be honest, cos I just kept losing, so now I'll concentrate on Pawn 2 on the laptop. That game has an adjustable 'mistakes' slider which makes all the difference. I'm henceforth withdrawing my challenge to Deeper Blue (or whatever it's called) for personal reasons.

If you find a weakness with Gnuchess let me know Malanrich! If I could beat it... just once... I'd retire happy.

Good luck!

Dang, I SOLD the ZX81!

Back in the days of one of the first "Computer Stores". I worked at a place called Computique and they were a "Consumer Electronics Store" that sold electronic watches, calculators, and electronic games. And they sold some of the first personal computers (before the IBM PC).

One of the games we sold was the ZX81. I seem to remember us selling two other electronic chess games.

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.

What a machine. With its expandable memory (up to 16k if I remember correctly, via a wobbly plug in module) and touch pad keyboard... a springboard into high end computing. It even used to go 'beep' when you made a mistake! Truly an object to cherish.