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First try: Chess Database and Engine - SCID, ICOFYbase, Stockfish

It can't be anything but laziness.

So far, I didn't get around to installing any chess engine or database on my laptop. I just chugged along with rusty trusty sas 3.0 engine and even made a big virtue out of it Sealed

Until 2 days ago, that is. I finally installed SCID and Stockfish and started exploring.

So why did I do it? Why now? Well, I needed a big push to get over some chess-blues that most players like me go through. My skill-level appeared to stagnate; improvements were small and needed a lot of effort. And my job wasn't letting me put in enough of it. I let my games go into a month-long forced vacation and still wasn't finding the motivation.

Then came this idea. It is time to build that repertoire-base in a serious way!! I felt it had a good chance of reviving my chess-life. I felt I had to try.

I had already done the basic reading on these while randomly reading forum posts and articles. So I had a quick shortlist.

I use Linux (Kubuntu 10-point-something), so options were limited. I wasn't sure whether this would work out for me, so spending big-bucks didn't seem right. I could've tried ChessDB, but Kubuntu package repositories didn't seem to have a copy. Plus, I didn't want to download sources and compile. So SCID practically selected itself as the database browsing and repertoire builder software. My (kubuntu) repository had only SCID 4.0 (latest on that day was 4.2.2); I didn't care. I am just doing a trial run, I told myself.

So where should I get my databases from? After several hours worth research, I decided to get the biggest decent free database I could get my hands on: The ICOFYbase. IB109 is the latest. It has over 4 million games. I still need to get the more recent games (from TWIC perhaps), but I haven't gotten around to it yet. If there are bigger/better databases, perhaps one of you readers could point them out to me. Smile

Now for the analysis engine. I felt I needed something better than the built-in scidlet engine. So after just 15minutes of reading up on packages available from my (kubuntu) repository, I picked up Stockfish 1.6. I believe 1.7.1 is the latest, but like I said...

While tinkering around with the stuff, I discovered some quirks, some bugs... I even had my laptop shutdown due to overheating when I ran stockfish too long (more on such unnecessary excitement in another post, perhaps!  Smile)

So another leg of the long journey has begun. I opened the repository editor today and entered a few tentative lines. I don't know how it will go eventually, but I am glad that I took this path. The first impressions are that it will get me over my current slump. For that, I am thankful.

The soul is still thirsty...

Comments

  • 20 months ago

    mauerblume

    No! you have to go the normal way of learning more about positional play, for example the chess mentor here

  • 20 months ago

    Skand

    Do you know a place where they teach how to take advantage of a situation where your opponent does NOT make a book move ?

  • 20 months ago

    mauerblume

    Well, so you have take that risk! Or use only normal databases! There is no other advice :-)

  • 20 months ago

    Skand

    Yes, but cheating is not if I make weak moves also. Cheating is when staff is convinced that I used engine for even one move. So if my opening moves consistently come up like that of an engine's although eventually I lose due to my poor middle and end game, I still cheated in the eyes of the staff.

  • 20 months ago

    mauerblume

    You mean, when you have created your own opening database with enginehelp and use it here.

    Well, this could become a problem, indeed! When other databae come to an end and then comes an enginemove as novelty, your opponent sees it after game and accuses you ...

    But naturally you will also make weaker moves after the end of your database. So chess.com staff will see this also ...

     

    I personally use only already existing databases. I am not so ambitious that I always have to find the "perfect" move :-)

  • 20 months ago

    Skand

     mauerblume, I agree with you and in my post my concern was, how will staff know if a well researched reportoire is being used or engine - because moves will be same. My worry is that a good researcher may get banned for cheating.

  • 20 months ago

    mauerblume

    I see what you mean. But I do not agree!

    Building up an opening repertoire with help of engines is one thing, playing here online chess is another one.

    Every titled player here playing at chess.com would be a "cheater" , because opening work with engines is his/her "daily bread"!Smile

  • 20 months ago

    Skand

    Will building a reportoire using chess engines and then using these moves in online games be taken as using chess engines in a game ? It could get a bit tricky, wouldn't it? I mean on one hand we may say that these moves are a part of our research and on the other hand chess.com staff may say that we used an engine...

  • 22 months ago

    Sas3

    docetrago: I posted a reply in the ubuntu forums. For good measure, here is a repost:

    Try configuring the UCI engine from the menu: Tools->Analysis Engine (Ctrl+Shift+A). You may not find your engine listed there, so hit "New" in the dialog box. I chose the following params and it worked for me:

    Name: Stockfish 1.6 (I use 1.6 from the ubunutu repositories)
    Command: stockfish
    Directory: /home/Sas3/.scid (hit the ~/.scid button, it will fill this for you)
    ELO: 3100 (perhaps you could tweak this too; it should be higher for 1.8 ).
    UCI: select the checkbox.
    I did try the "Configure UCI Engine" button from here, but most of it there is greek and latin for me.
  • 22 months ago

    docetrago

    Hey, man, can you tell me how to play against Stockfish using SCID ? I've installed Stockfish to Xboard and it's working fine, but... see my post on Ubuntu forum :

     

    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1531296

  • 2 years ago

    ashwath

    its been a good read.Smile

    try the fritz series.. they are supposed to be the best.(latest-fritz 12)

  • 2 years ago

    mauerblume

    Interesting!-

    Yes, having reached a certain level building up an opening repertoire is very senseful. But it will be a long-term process with ups and downs, stagnation and development.

    Other important themes are positional understanding, endgame (techniques) , tactic, calculation.

    So it may be a life-long journey Sealed

    But do not forget: The way is the aim! Enjoy it!Smile

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