1 POLYGLOT(6) POLYGLOT(6)
6 PolyGlot - Winboard protocol to UCI protocol adapter
7 - book engine for Polyglot books
8 - a collection of utilities for creating and analyzing open-
10 - a utility for analyzing epd files
14 polyglot [configfile] [-noini] [-ec engine] [-ed enginedirectory] [-en
15 enginename] [-log] [-lf logfile] [-hash value] [-bk book] [-pg
16 <name>=<value>]* [-uci <name>=<value>]*
18 polyglot make-book [-pgn inputfile] [-bin outputfile] [-max-ply ply]
19 [-min-game games] [-min-score score] [-only-white] [-only-black] [-uni-
22 polyglot merge-book -in1 inputfile1 -in2 inputfile2 [-out outputfile]
24 polyglot info-book [-bin inputfile] [-exact]
26 polyglot dump-book [-bin inputfile] -color color [-out outputfile]
28 polyglot [configfile] epd-test [engineoptions] [-epd inputfile]
29 [-min-depth depth] [-max-depth depth] [-max-time time] [-depth-delta
32 polyglot perft [-fen fen] [-max-depth depth]
35 PolyGlot as adapter and book engine
37 PolyGlot is a "UCI adapter". It connects a GUI interface (such as
38 XBoard, Winboard, Arena or Chessbase) to a UCI chess engine.
40 By specifying an opening book (in PolyGlot book format) chess engines
41 can transparently use such books.
43 PolyGlot understands the two main GUI protocols: UCI and xboard. Nor-
44 mally the protocol will be auto detected but this can be overridden in
45 the configuration file.
47 In xboard mode PolyGlot fully translates between the xboard and UCI
48 protocols. In addition it tries to solve known problems with other
49 adapters. For instance, it detects and reports draws by fifty-move
50 rule, repetition, etc ... It also supports Chess960.
52 When in UCI mode PolyGlot mostly passes commands from the GUI to the
53 engine and vice versa, except that it will play book moves on behalf of
54 the engine when the occasion arises.
56 The engine options are exported as UCI options in UCI mode and as "fea-
57 ture option=" commands in xboard mode. The latter form an extension of
58 the xboard protocol as defined by H.G. Muller.
60 Options which normally appear in the [PolyGlot] section of the config
61 file (see below) are exported as options with their name prefixed by
62 "Polyglot". This makes it easy to filter them in the GUI.
64 NOTE: Not all options are exported, only those that make sense in the
69 PolyGlot supports the "PolyGlot opening book format". This is the
70 defacto standard non-proprietary opening book format. It is fully docu-
73 http://alpha.uhasselt.be/Research/Algebra/Toga/book_format.html
75 Roughly speaking a PolyGlot opening book is a collection of triples
76 (position, move, weight). A "position" is represented by a 64-bit
77 Zobrist hash key. The weight is proportional to the probability the
78 move should be played.
80 Other opening book formats such as ChessBase's .ctg format and Arena's
81 .abk format are undocumented and proprietary. They can only be used by
84 PolyGlot can compile a pgn file into a binary PolyGlot book and fur-
85 thermore it can merge two such binary books into a third one.
87 PolyGlot can also extract some useful information from PolyGlot books.
88 The utility "dump-book" dumps the "lines" in a book for a given color.
89 By definition a line is a sequence of moves (from the starting posi-
90 tion) in which the given color makes only book moves and the other
91 color makes arbitrary moves (i.e. not necessarily book moves).
93 Since a PolyGlot book is built up from positions and not lines there
94 may be (and there usually are) many positions in the book that are not
95 on a "line" as defined in the previous paragraph. It is convenient to
96 call such positions "isolated" positions. The utility "info-book"
97 counts such isolated positions.
99 Some of the isolated positions are provably unreachable and they could
100 in principle be deleted from the book. For example if a book contains
101 only the move "e4" in the starting position but also the position after
102 "d4 d5" then this last position is provably unreachable since it
103 requires white to make a non-book move when a book move is available.
104 Such situations arise frequently from the priority rules in merging
107 Unfortunately not all isolated positions are provably unreachable and
108 it is difficult to identify the latter. If invoked with "-exact" the
109 utility info-book will attempt to count the isolated positions which
110 require a player to make a non-book move when a book move is available.
111 Due to the possibility of transpositions this is not a fool proof
116 In epd test mode, PolyGlot will search positions in an epd file and
117 record the number of times the right best move was found. The argu-
118 ments specify when to stop the search in any given position.
122 A perft count is the number of legal move sequence in a given position
123 up to a given depth. PolyGlot can perform such perft counts. It is how-
124 ever much slower than other more dedicated programs.
127 When PolyGlot is invoked as an adapter of in epd-test mode it gets its
128 options from a config file and then from the command line. The default
129 config file is "polyglot.ini" but an alternative one may be optionally
130 included as first argument. The config file format is described below.
132 The following engine options may be specified on the command line.
135 Do not use a config file, even if one was specified on the command
138 -pg The argument is a string of the form <name>=<value>. This option
139 will set the Polyglot option <name> to <value>.
142 The argument is a string of the form <name>=<value>. This option
143 will set the engine option <name> to <value>.
145 -ec This is an alias for -pg "EngineCommand=<value>"
147 -ed This is an alias for -pg "EngineDir=<value>"
149 -en This is an alias for -pg "EngineName=<value>"
151 -log (default: false)
152 This is an alias for -pg "Log=<value>"
154 -lf (default: "polyglot.log")
155 This is an alias for -pg "LogFile=<value>".
157 -wb (default: "true")
158 This is an alias for -pg "OnlyWbOptions=<value>".
164 PolyGlot supports the following options
166 -pgn (default: "book.pgn")
167 Input file in pgn format.
169 -bin (default: "book.bin")
170 Output file in PolyGlot format.
172 -max-ply (default: 1024)
173 Specifies the maximum ply-depth of lines included in the book.
175 -min-game (default: 3)
176 Specifies the minimum number of games that have to contain this
177 move for it to be included in the book.
179 -min-score (default: 0.0)
180 Specifies the minimum score (or weight) this move should have
181 received for it to be included in the book. The score is
182 2*(wins)+(draws), globally scaled to fit into 16 bits.
185 Include only moves for white in the book.
188 Include only moves for black in the book.
191 Set all weights to 1. In other words, all moves will be selected
192 with equal probability.
198 PolyGlot supports the following options
201 First input file (in PolyGlot book format).
204 Second input file (in PolyGlot book format).
206 -out (default: out.bin)
207 Output file (in PolyGlot book format).
209 Input files are not symmetrical, "in1" has priority over "in2". In
210 other words when a position occurs both in "in1" and "in2" only the
211 moves and weights from "in1" will be retained in "out".
217 PolyGlot supports the following options
219 -bin (default: book.bin)
220 Input file in PolyGlot book format.
223 The color for whom to generate the lines.
225 -out (default: book_<color>.txt)
226 The name of the output file.
232 PolyGlot supports the following options
234 -bin (default: book.bin)
235 Input file in PolyGlot book format.
238 Attempt to count the provably unreachable positions among the iso-
239 lated ones. Note that this takes a very long time.
245 (possibly with a config file as first argument) PolyGlot supports
246 besides the generic options described above the following additional
249 -max-depth (default: 63)
250 Unconditionally stop the search when this depth has been reached.
252 -max-time (default: 5.0)
253 Unconditionally stop the seach after this amount of time.
255 -depth-delta (default: 3)
256 Stop the search if the solution as been found and the best move has
257 been constant for this many depths, on condition that the mininal
258 depth and minimal time have been reached.
260 -min-depth (default: 8)
261 Minimal search depth when the search is stopped using
264 -min-time (default: 1.0)
265 Minimal search time when the search is stopped using
272 PolyGlot supports the following options
274 -fen (default: starting position)
275 Fen at which to start searching.
277 -max-depth (default: 1)
278 Maximum depth to search.
281 There should be a different config file for each engine.
283 The config file is in the traditional INI format.
292 The characters "#" and ";" serve as comment characters.
294 By default initial and final white space is stripped from option val-
295 ues. If you want to avoid this, or if you want use one of the comment
296 characters # or ; in option values (such as for NalimovPath), enclose
301 This section is used by PolyGlot only. The engine is unaware of these
302 options. The list of available options is detailed below.
304 EngineName (default: UCI name)
305 This is the name that will appear in the GUI. It is cosmetic only.
306 You can use different names for tweaked versions of the same
309 EngineDir (default: ".")
310 Full path of the directory where the engine is installed. You can
311 use "." (without the quotes) if you know that PolyGlot will be
312 launched in the engine directory or the engine is in the "path" and
313 does not need any data file.
316 Put here the name of the engine executable file. You can also add
317 command-line arguments. Path searching is used and the current
318 directory will be "EngineDir".
320 SettingsDir (default: $HOME/.polyglot on Linux; ".\_PG" on Windows)
321 The directory where ini files are stored for engines that are
322 started with -noini. Such ini files may be created by pushing the
323 "Save" button in the Engine settings dialog in WB/XB 4.4.0 and
324 higher. As a special exception (for WB/XB 4.4.0 compatibility) this
325 directory is also used in case PolyGlot is started with config
326 files named "polyglot_1st.ini" or "polyglot_2nd.ini".
329 Whether PolyGlot should log all transactions with the interface and
330 the engine. This should be necessary only to locate problems.
332 LogFile (default: polyglot.log)
333 The name of the log file. Note that it is put where PolyGlot was
334 launched from, not into the engine directory.
336 WARNING: Log files are not cleared between sessions, and can become
337 very large. It is safe to remove them though.
339 Resign (default: false)
340 Set this to "true" if you want PolyGlot to resign on behalf of the
343 NOTE: Some engines display buggy scores from time to time although
344 the best move is correct. Use this option only if you know what
345 you are doing (e.g. you always check the final position of games).
347 ResignMoves (default: 3)
348 Number of consecutive moves with "resign" score (see below) before
349 PolyGlot resigns for the engine. Positions with only one legal
352 ResignScore (default: 600)
353 This is the score in centipawns that will trigger resign "count-
356 ShowPonder (default: true)
357 Show search information during engine pondering. Turning this off
358 might be better for interactive use in some interfaces.
360 ScoreWhite (default: true)
361 Report score from white's point of view in xboard mode.
363 KibitzMove (default: false)
364 Whether to kibitz when playing a move.
366 KibitzPV (default: false)
367 Whether to kibitz when the PV is changed (new iteration or new best
370 KibitzCommand (default: "tellall")
371 xboard command to use for kibitzing, normally "tellall" for kibitz-
372 ing or "tellothers" for whispering.
374 KibitzDelay (default: 5)
375 How many seconds to wait before starting kibitzing. This has an
376 effect only if "KibitzPV" is selected, move kibitzes are always
377 sent regardless of the delay.
379 KibitzInterval (default: 0)
380 This is another form of throttling. PolyGlot will usually wait this
381 many seconds before doing the next kibitz.
384 If true PolyGlot will not understand xboard commands.
386 MateScore (default: 10000)
387 Mate score reported to GUI when in xboard mode.
389 Book (default: false)
390 Indicates whether a PolyGlot book should be used. This has no
391 effect on the engine own book (which can be controlled with the UCI
392 option "OwnBook" in the [Engine] section). In particular, it is
393 possible to use both a PolyGlot book and an engine book. In that
394 case, the engine book will be used whenever PolyGlot is out of
395 book. Remember that PolyGlot is unaware of whether the engine is
396 itself using a book or not.
398 BookFile (default: book.bin)
399 The name of the (binary) book file. Note that PolyGlot will look
400 for it in the directory it was launched from, not in the engine
401 directory. Of course, full path can be used in which case the cur-
402 rent directory does not matter.
404 BookRandom (default: true)
405 Select moves according to their weights in the book. If false the
406 move with the highest weight is selected.
408 BookLearn (default: false)
409 Store learning information in the book (which must be writable).
410 Currently no engine actually uses this information.
412 BookDepth (default: 256)
413 Stop using the book after this number of moves.
415 BookTreshold (default: 5)
416 Do not play moves with a weight (probability) lower than this (in
419 UseNice (default: false)
420 Run the engine at nice level 5, or "NiceValue" if it set. On some
421 operating systems it may be necessary to run the engine at lower
422 priority for it to be responsive to commands from PolyGlot while
425 NiceValue (default: 5)
426 Nice levels go from -20 to 20 with 20 being the lowest priority.
427 On Unix only root can set negative nice levels. On Windows the
428 standard Win32 priority levels are mapped in a sensible way to Unix
431 Affinity (default: -1)
432 This a bit vector in which each bit represents the processors that
433 a process is allowed to run on. This option works only on Windows.
435 OnlyWbOptions (default: true)
436 If true then PolyGlot restricts the options it sends to those that
437 are potentially useful for WinBoard.
441 Work arounds are identical to options except that they should be used
442 only when necessary. Their purpose is to try to hide problems with
443 various software (not just engines).
445 IMPORTANT: Any of these work arounds might be removed in future ver-
446 sions of PolyGlot. You are strongly recommended to contact the author
447 of faulty software and truly fix the problem.
449 PolyGlot supports the following work arounds:
451 UCIVersion (default: 2)
452 The default value of 2 corresponds to UCI+. Use 1 to select plain
453 UCI for engines that have problems with UCI+.
455 CanPonder (default: false)
456 PolyGlot now conforms to the documented UCI behaviour: the engine
457 will be allowed to ponder only if it (the engine) declares the
458 "Ponder" UCI option. However some engines which can actually pon-
459 der do not declare the option. This work around lets PolyGlot know
460 that they can ponder.
462 SyncStop (default: false)
463 When a ponder miss occurs, Polyglot interrupts the engine and IMME-
464 DIATELY launches a new search. While there should be no problem
465 with this, some engines seem confused and corrupt their search
466 board. "SyncStop" forces PolyGlot to wait for the (now useless)
467 ponder search to finish before launching the new search.
469 PromoteWorkAround (default: false)
470 Some engines do not specify a promotion piece, e.g. they send
471 "e7e8" instead of the correct "e7e8q". This work around enables
472 the incorrect form (and of course promotes into a queen).
474 RepeatPV (default: true)
475 When true, PolyGlot repeats the last pv string (which also contains
476 score,depth and time usage) it got from the engine. Some engines
477 however do not send a new pv string just before sending the move.
478 In that case the output of PolyGlot would be inconsistent. When
479 RepeatPV is false PolyGlot does not repeat the last pv string. Due
480 to the way kibitzing is implemented, KibitzMove is disabled in that
485 This section contains engine UCI options. PolyGlot does not understand
486 them, but sends the information to the engine at startup (converted to
487 UCI form). You can add any UCI option that makes sense to the engine
488 (not just the common options about hash-table size and tablebases).
490 NOTE: use INI syntax, not UCI. For example "OwnBook = true" is cor-
491 rect. It will be replaced by PolyGlot with "setoption name OwnBook
492 value true" at engine startup.
494 Standard UCI options are
501 Hidden options like "Ponder" or "UCI_xxx" are automatic and should not
502 be put in an INI file.
504 The other options are engine-specific. Check their name using a UCI
505 GUI or launch the engine in a console and type "uci".
508 Running the UCI engine "fruit" under xboard 4.3.15 and later (this
509 invokes PolyGlot internally).
511 xboard -fcp fruit -fUCI
513 An explicit command line for using the UCI engine "fruit" with 128M
514 hash in xboard with logging enabled (this also works on xboard 4.2.7).
516 xboard -fcp "polyglot -noini -log -ec fruit -hash 128"
518 The equivalent config file would be:
521 EngineCommand = fruit
526 Compile "games.pgn" into a book "book.bin" retaining all lines of at
529 polyglot make-book -pgn games.pgn -bin book.bin -max-ply 30
531 Merge books "w1.bin" and "w2.bin" into a book "w.bin".
533 polyglot merge-book -in1 w1.bin -in2 w2.bin -out w.bin
535 Inspect lines for white in "w.bin"
537 polyglot dump-book -bin w.bin -color white -out w_white.txt
539 Test epd file "test.epd" with a (maximum) search time of 7 minutes per
542 polyglot epd-test -epd test.epd -max-time 420
545 PolyGlot always returns 0 on exit.
548 Main author: Fabien Letouzey<fabien_letouzey(at)hotmail.com>
550 Native Windows port: Huang Chen<webmaster@elephantbase.net> ("Morning
553 Various enhancements: Fonzy Bleumers<match(at)geenvis.net>
555 UCI port and implementation of new WB protocol: Michel Van den Bergh
556 <michel.vandenbergh(at)uhasselt.be>
563 2009-09-11 POLYGLOT(6)