New Engine: M24GC

[m24gstevens]

Hi all,

I've finally finished development of the first version of M24GC, a UCI chess engine, with inspiration from BBC, Vice, and TSCP. I'm looking to test Version 1.1, the first version that I believe is testworthy.

Estimated strength: ~2100 ELO
(For context, in my latest 25 game test against Vice on my local machine, it scored 14 wins, 6 draws, and 5 losses)

Source - https://github.com/m24gstevens/Chess/tr ... /m24gc/1.1
(Includes both a Makefile and a Windows executable)


Please let me know if anyone is able to test this engine, or if you want additional info.
Thanks,
Matt

[Gabor Szots]

Hi Matt,

It seems cygwin1.dll is required to run it under Windows, perhaps you could include it among the files?

And please tell me how to download the sources in one, I only saw a list of files which I'd have to download one by one.

Oh, and where are you from?

Gabor

[m24gstevens]

Hi Gabor,

Sorry for the dependency, I had an awful issue where the program wouldn't compile with MinGW due to some missing header files.

I've uploaded a .zip file to the Github repository https://github.com/m24gstevens/Chess/tr ... /m24gc/1.1, which should now include all of the necessary files.

I hope this is better - Again, let me know of any issues and I'll look to fix them ASAP

Best,
Matt
(P.S. I am from the UK)

[Gabor Szots]

The exe which I find in the zip file's bin subfolder has been removed by my antivirus program.

The file which I obtain by compiling by way of the makefile is running but starts to calculate immediately then quits (from the command line).

Good news: the exe in the Chess-main zip file is working OK.

[m24gstevens]

I took a look at the source files, and it turns out I had the debug mode turned on (Hence why it starts calculating then stops). Also, I forgot to turn on the optimization flags.

I've fixed it now, and re-uploaded the ZIP file with the working version to the repository.

Thanks again Gabor for the fast responses; this should be (with any luck) a working version!

Best,
Matt

[Gabor Szots]

OK, everything seems to work now. Oddly, the exe in the bin folder has been removed by the antivirus program again.


May I have some observations and suggestion yet:

1. This is the output of the engine:

id name m24gc 1.1
id author Matt Stevens
uciok
uci
id name m24gc
id author Matt Stevens
option name Hash type spin default 32 min 4 max 128
uciok

The id name at the start and the id after the uci command are different. I'd have the version number in both. Also in the exe name, for easier identification.

2. Which name do you prefer: m24gc or M24GC or whatever? BTW, have you not considered giving it some easier to remember name?

3. If you think this is an 'official' release you might as well put it under 'Releases'.

4. Exes for various computer capabilities would be welcomed by the public, I think (32-bit, old 64 -bit, modern, etc.). I can compile it for my machine but many people can't.


Despite my attention up to this point, I can't promise to test your engine before long because many engines are waiting in my testing queue. Some other tester might pick it up before me though.

[m24gstevens]

Hi Gabor,

Thank you for all of your assistance. This is a bit of a milestone for me, as I've barely been in the engine development space for 6 months. Posting the release on this forum was my short-term goal, and I'm delighted that your testing queue was open in the first place, even if it may be very long!

Regarding the small things (Like the name in the UCI, versions for different platforms), I don't think it's worth doing anything with the current version, as the source files are quite frankly a mess, and I don't want to risk breaking anything! I plan to do a proper release in the near future.

Thanks again for your support,
Matt

[Gabor Szots]

Various circumstances made me change my test plan which resulted in my starting a tournament with M24GC. Stay tuned for our next update.