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Main
Date: 28 Sep 2007 23:27:24
From: help bot
Subject: GetClub bugs
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Someone recently complained that when he promoted a pawn,
the GetClub chess program allowed him to make an illegal move,
and a bit later Sanny reported that this error had been fixed.
Unfortunately, I think that the "fix" may have just created an
even worse problem, for now the program does not promote
pawns at all -- they just sit there on the eighth rank, powerless,
lifeless, dead wood.
In my current game (a horrible Sicilian Najdorf in which I am
only winning because the GetClub program is the worst endgame
player I have ever seen), I have promoted a pawn to a Queen,
but cannot move it. Not only can I not move it, but the program
has now forked my King and my other soon-to-be-Queen, thinking
my first promoted Queen cannot defend it (since it is still a pawn).
Every move was legal, so the problem lies elsewhere.
In my last game at GetClub, I promoted a pawn to a Queen and
the program did not recognize it either, so I promoted another one,
this time to a Rook. Nothing. So I walked my King up to deliver
the checkmate with a Bishop and Knight, and it (finally) resigned.
If you play over this game at GetClub you will see that my Queen
and Rook just sit there, and that the program's King ignores them
and walks into and out of check at will.
My recommendation is to use subroutines, where one chunk of
code passes off what are called "variables" to the next, and each
chunk can be thoroughly debugged, separately from the others.
I know the subroutine which handles pawn promotion can be a big
problem for some programs; I recall some decent chess programs
that would literally slow to a crawl whenever a pawn was within
range, the promotion within its horizon. If two or more such pawns
were within range of promotion, the program would be crippled, no-
where near its usual strength on account of the "special handling"
involved. But others seemed to slow little if any, and handle this
aspect of the game smoothly.
The key is to have a modular design, so that you can insert or
remove such things as move-legality, opening books, endgame
table-bases, and so forth. Heck, if you had a program which was
completely modular, you could easily replace standard chess
with a modified version where pawns could promote to hoppers,
checkers, Bishop-Knights, or as in the current issue, gobs of goo
which just stand in place and can't even move.
-- help bot
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Date: 29 Sep 2007 10:35:40
From: Sanny
Subject: Re: GetClub bugs
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> >> Play Chess at:http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
>
> > Any new game that were running were closed So that this error do not
> > spoil anyones rating.
>
> > The Game now plays Queen Promotion as it used to earlier.
>
> So, c7a6(Q) is now legal again?
No that wrong move is not allowed now. It will only plays the correct
moves. and promotes to queen like it used to earlier.
Bye
Sanny
Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
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Date: 29 Sep 2007 10:11:59
From: Sanny
Subject: Re: GetClub bugs
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> The problem was corrected today. It was due to modifications made
> recently.
>
> Bye
> Sanny
>
> Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
Any new game that were running were closed So that this error do not
spoil anyones rating.
The Game now plays Queen Promotion as it used to earlier.
Bye
Sanny
Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
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Date: 29 Sep 2007 12:13:15
From: Kenneth Sloan
Subject: Re: GetClub bugs
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Sanny wrote:
>> The problem was corrected today. It was due to modifications made
>> recently.
>>
>> Bye
>> Sanny
>>
>> Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
>
> Any new game that were running were closed So that this error do not
> spoil anyones rating.
>
> The Game now plays Queen Promotion as it used to earlier.
>
So, c7a6(Q) is now legal again?
--
Kenneth Sloan [email protected]
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/
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Date: 29 Sep 2007 10:07:46
From: Sanny
Subject: Re: GetClub bugs
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On Sep 29, 11:27 am, help bot <[email protected] > wrote:
> Someone recently complained that when he promoted a pawn,
> the GetClub chess program allowed him to make an illegal move,
> and a bit later Sanny reported that this error had been fixed.
>
> Unfortunately, I think that the "fix" may have just created an
> even worse problem, for now the program does not promote
> pawns at all -- they just sit there on the eighth rank, powerless,
> lifeless, dead wood.
>
> In my current game (a horrible Sicilian Najdorf in which I am
> only winning because the GetClub program is the worst endgame
> player I have ever seen), I have promoted a pawn to a Queen,
> but cannot move it. Not only can I not move it, but the program
> has now forked my King and my other soon-to-be-Queen, thinking
> my first promoted Queen cannot defend it (since it is still a pawn).
> Every move was legal, so the problem lies elsewhere.
>
> In my last game at GetClub, I promoted a pawn to a Queen and
> the program did not recognize it either, so I promoted another one,
> this time to a Rook. Nothing. So I walked my King up to deliver
> the checkmate with a Bishop and Knight, and it (finally) resigned.
> If you play over this game at GetClub you will see that my Queen
> and Rook just sit there, and that the program's King ignores them
> and walks into and out of check at will.
>
> My recommendation is to use subroutines, where one chunk of
> code passes off what are called "variables" to the next, and each
> chunk can be thoroughly debugged, separately from the others.
>
> I know the subroutine which handles pawn promotion can be a big
> problem for some programs; I recall some decent chess programs
> that would literally slow to a crawl whenever a pawn was within
> range, the promotion within its horizon. If two or more such pawns
> were within range of promotion, the program would be crippled, no-
> where near its usual strength on account of the "special handling"
> involved. But others seemed to slow little if any, and handle this
> aspect of the game smoothly.
>
> The key is to have a modular design, so that you can insert or
> remove such things as move-legality, opening books, endgame
> table-bases, and so forth. Heck, if you had a program which was
> completely modular, you could easily replace standard chess
> with a modified version where pawns could promote to hoppers,
> checkers, Bishop-Knights, or as in the current issue, gobs of goo
> which just stand in place and can't even move.
>
> -- help bot
The problem was corrected today. It was due to modifications made
recently.
Bye
Sanny
Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
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