I have released version 2 of my chess engine. I’ve rewritten the engine from scratch in a more procedural style code- as opposed to the sub-optimal (for chess engines at least) object-oriented style I used in MadChess 1.x. The engine is about 115 – 160 Elo stronger than its predecessor, depending on time control. I estimate it is about 2350 Elo. Source code and EXEs available on the Downloads page. Continue Reading
I have added parameters to limit the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta. The simplest way to limit the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta is to set the LimitStrength and Elo parameters. The engine will automatically configure material scores and positional knowledge. In addition, the engine will configure search speed (Nodes Per Second), move error, blunder error, and blunder percent based on the Elo value. Continue Reading
I added rook and queen on 7th rank evaluation to MadChess 2.0 Beta. The code awards a bonus for a rook or queen on the 7th rank if the enemy king is on the 8th rank (its 1st rank). Also, I removed late move pruning. (When I implemented late move pruning in build 44 it added 39 Elo to the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta.) I replaced it with more aggressive null and late move reductions, and more aggressive futility pruning, but found it decreased the playing strength. Next, I restored late move pruning and left in the aggressive… Continue Reading
I added knight outpost evaluation to MadChess 2.0 Beta. Knights on the 5th rank or beyond are awarded a bonus if they cannot be attacked by enemy pawns and are supported by their own pawn. This added 25 Elo to the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta. MadChess 2.0 2287 : 1600 (+785,=327,-488), 59.3 % vs. : games ( +, =, -), (%) : Diff, SD, CFS (%) Glass 1.6 : 100 ( 14, 15, 71), 21.5 : -187, 10, 0.0 RomiChess P3L : 100 ( 18, 28, 54), 32.0 : -145, 14, 0.0 OliThink 5.3.2 : 100 ( 21,… Continue Reading
I tuned parameters related to search reductions and move pruning. The {3, 7} in the code below means reduce the 3rd quiet move one ply, and reduce the 7th quiet move two plies. This added 20 Elo to the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta. MadChess 2.0 2262 : 1600 (+738,=325,-537), 56.3 % vs. : games ( +, =, -), (%) : Diff, SD, CFS (%) Glass 1.6 : 100 ( 16, 24, 60), 28.0 : -186, 10, 0.0 RomiChess P3L : 100 ( 18, 18, 64), 27.0 : -171, 12, 0.0 OliThink 5.3.2 : 100 ( 16, 24, 60),… Continue Reading
I work as a Software Architect at an insurance company. We're building a modern tech stack in the cloud using C#, Azure, ASP.NET Core, Angular, TypeScript, etc.
I've always been interested in chess (a game of complete information) and poker (a game of incomplete information). This is my attempt to write chess-playing software. I'll get to poker later.
You may be interested to explore my general programming blog, ErikTheCoder.
