Hi all,

I'm experiencing slow performance by GNU Chess (5.07) when the program
is called by XBoard (4.2.7). The engine typically takes 10 seconds to
make its first move (as black), whereas the same move is instantaneous
when called by glChess (1.0.2).

I'm issuing the following command to run XBoard:

"xboard -xclock -size 45 -flash -depth 3 -xponder &".

Omitting the -xponder option doesn't seem to improve responsiveness.

Does anyone know what might cause the slowdown?

Thanks in advance,
dae3


--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.6.el5 #1 SMP Wed Jun 25 12:46:39 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

"dae3" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm experiencing slow performance by GNU Chess (5.07) when the program
is called by XBoard (4.2.7). The engine typically takes 10 seconds to
make its first move (as black), whereas the same move is instantaneous
when called by glChess (1.0.2).


See this thread.

http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24207

Apparently there's a hard wired delay in WinBoard / XBoard.



I'm issuing the following command to run XBoard:

"xboard -xclock -size 45 -flash -depth 3 -xponder &".

Omitting the -xponder option doesn't seem to improve responsiveness.

Does anyone know what might cause the slowdown?

Thanks in advance,
dae3


--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.6.el5 #1 SMP Wed Jun 25 12:46:39 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux




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Guest wrote:

See this thread.

http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24207

Apparently there's a hard wired delay in WinBoard / XBoard.


Thanks for your reply. That thread, however, concerns a different
problem (a delay between engine-to-engine matches).

What I'm noticing are slow replies to my own moves from GNU Chess.


--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5 #1 SMP Mon Aug 4 14:38:32 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

"dae3" wrote in message
. ..
Guest wrote:

See this thread.

http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24207

Apparently there's a hard wired delay in WinBoard / XBoard.


Thanks for your reply. That thread, however, concerns a different
problem (a delay between engine-to-engine matches).

What I'm noticing are slow replies to my own moves from GNU Chess.

Your message said *it's first* move.

That sounded like it was starting a new game and taking 10 seconds to make
its first move / reply.

You didn't say it was taking 10 seconds every move.

In that case, I don't know.

Are you compiling it yourself or using a precompiled?


If it's just simply an initial 10 second delay when you start the program,
then I'd suspect it's an issue with the feature command. I think
xboard/winboard waits up to 10 seconds for the proper response from the
winboard engine before it decides that it isn't going to respond properly.
That would be a one time issue when the program first starts.


You might also get more help in either the Winboard forum

http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/




--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5 #1 SMP Mon Aug 4 14:38:32 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux





----== Posted via Pronews.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
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---= - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Guest wrote:

Your message said *it's first* move. That sounded like it was
starting a new game and taking 10 seconds to make its first move /
reply.


That was an example: it typically takes 10 seconds to make its first
move (against me), but the whole game is slower in XBoard than it is in
glChess.

In glChess, replies are instantaneous, while in XBoard they take about
10 seconds every time (with the engine's time ticking away, so it looks
like it's actually "thinking").

I even thought it could be a matter of difficulty level, but I found out
that glChess isn't passing any options to GNU Chess upon calling it
(except --xboard).


Are you compiling it yourself or using a precompiled?


XBoard and GNU Chess were compiled by myself, glChess was installed from
an RPM package.


You might also get more help in either the Winboard forum

http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/


Will look, thanks for pointer.


--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5 #1 SMP Mon Aug 4 14:38:32 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

dae3 wrote:

http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/

Will look, thanks for pointer.


For the record, I'm still waiting for the moderator to "approve" my
account.

Web forums suck. Always hated them, always will.


--
~ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
Scientific Linux SL release 5.1 (Boron)
Linux acerrimo.local 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5 #1 SMP Mon Aug 4 14:38:32 EDT
2008 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

"dae3" wrote in message
. ..
dae3 wrote:

http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/

Will look, thanks for pointer.


For the record, I'm still waiting for the moderator to "approve" my
account.

Web forums suck. Always hated them, always will.

The WinBoard forums are rather arogant in this regard.

The original board ownder / administrator / moderator (Volker) and the new
owner are definetly a bit snooty about who they let in and whether or not
they even like your email address! It took me 4 tries before Volker finally
registered me. Hopefully the new board owner isn't quite as much of an ass.


As for web forums.... Forums have their problems, no doubt about it.

But the WinBoard & TalkChess forums are much more alive than the dying RGCC
newsgroup.

Most chess programmers wouldn't come here anymore even on a dare. Way too
much spam & flaming over the years.







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On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 13:57:09 -0500, "Guest" wrote:



Most chess programmers wouldn't come here anymore even on a dare. Way too
much spam & flaming over the years.



Luckily, a snarly quasi-programmer such as myself can survive, nay
thrive, in such a rough-and-tumble environment.