Chess Engine: Dabbaba 1.29wb JA (winboard version)
Author      : Jens B‘k Nielsen
Website     : http://www.jens-musik.dk/dabbaba.htm


Info:
----
Here is Dabbaba by Jens B'K Nielsen. 
Dabbaba is now a winboard chess engine. 

Install as standard winboard engine and select
variants/change parameters via the 'dabbaba.ini' file.


Dabbaba 1.29wb JA  (changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen)
-----------------
1. King safety extra important with queens on the board
2. Diminishing bonus for several passed pawns
3. Passed pawns lowered a bit in value
4. Move the most advanced passed pawns first 
5. Reprogrammed king_centre
6. Corrected errors in king_centre and king_corner
                                           

Dabbaba 1.28wb JA
-----------------
Fixed winboard setboard command. Fen/epds
can now be loaded and played from that position.                                  


Dabbaba 1.27wb JA
-----------------
Fixed a bug in Shatranj variant


Dabbaba 1.26.2wb JA
-------------------
1. Stopped sending move as SAN. (more WB compliant)
2. Changed Shatranj piece letters from 'E'/'F' to
   'B'/'Q' to comply with existing standard.



Dabbaba 1.26wb JA  (changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen)
-----------------
1. Removed a serious error:
   passed pawns were only seldom evaluated!!
2. Move pawns ahead in the endgame
3. Place rooks on the passed pawns files
4. Jim has corrected the hash-tables           


Dabbaba 1.25wb JA
-----------------
Removed some noise in the evaluation  (Jens B‘k Nielsen)



Dabbaba 1.24wb JA
-----------------
1. Changes to Shatranj evaluation           
2. More time management adjustments


Dabbaba 1.23wb JA
-----------------
1. Evaluation bugfix   (Jens B‘k Nielsen)
2. Time fix           


Dabbaba 1.22wb JA     
-----------------
1. Time control fix


Dabbaba 1.21wb JA     
-----------------
1. Added Shatranj variant support


Dabbaba 1.20wb JA    (changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen) 
-----------------
1. Adjusted some values in the evaluation     
2. New rules for connected rooks
3. Last pawn important if you are a piece behind
4. More search with passed pawns
                                            



Dabbaba 1.19wb JA   
-----------------
1. Fixed time problem with ponder on.          
   Ponder is deactivated in program but was still affecting 
   time with ponder=on.
2. Jen's new fischer time incorporated into wb level command                            
3. Added new option to Dabbaba.ini to adjust time usage   
                               


Dabbaba 1.18wb JA   
-----------------
1. Time control adjustment & pv output changes - J Ablett    
2. Adjusted some values  - J B'K Nielsen    



Dabbaba 1.16wb JA   (changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen) 
-----------------
1. Knowledge about possible pins
2. Get pieces near enemy king
3. Q-near changed to P-near...
4. Queen-near changed to pieces-near (also in dabbaba.ini)
5. Set magic_number via dabbaba.ini
6. Simple timedisposition - also a fischerclock



Dabbaba 1.15wb JA   (changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen) 
-----------------
1. Added quiet position/ply depth to Dabbaba.ini. 
2. Set hash tables to off by default (plays better - hash bug?).  


Dabbaba 1.14wb JA
----------------
1. Added back full variant support. (read Dabbaba.ini for details)
2. New values fron Jens added to Dabbaba.ini


Dabbaba 1.13wb JA
----------------
1. Time control & eval changes by Jens B‘k Nielsen.
2. Changed Nightrider to use variant fairy and set knights 
   to use 'h' instead of 'n' piece representation internally.


Dabbaba 1.12wb JA
----------------
1. Fixed 'Nightrider' variant support
   In this variant the knight (nightrider) can make long 
   moves in the same direction like bishops and rooks.


Dabbaba 1.11wb JA
----------------
1. Fixed bad bug where wb protover command
   wasn't being parsed properly in Winboard    
   resulting in setboard/analyze not working  


Dabbaba 1.11wb JA
----------------
1. Fixed bad bug where wb protover command
   wasn't being parsed properly in Winboard    
   resulting in setboard/analyze not working  


Dabbaba 1.10wb JA
----------------
1. Wb force command implemented.
   Now Dabbaba can use gui opening books.


Dabbaba 1.09wb JA
----------------
1. Best moves/scores now displayed in
   Arena analysis mode.


Dabbaba 1.08wb JA
----------------
1. Winboard commands 'setboard' & 'analyze'
   implemented. This is only tested functional 
   in Arena chess gui at the moment. (Arena much
   better for analysis anyway) http://www.playwitharena.com/


Dabbaba 1.07wb JA
----------------
1.Piece values & few more adjustable 
  parameters added to Dabbaba.ini.   
                       
2.Increased size of epd file buffer.
  Some long epds were not being read
  fully because input buffer was too 
  small & truncating them.                       



Dabbaba 1.06wb JA
----------------
Small bugfix for epd test results 
& some cosmetic changes.  
              

Dabbaba 1.05wb JA
----------------
Added search & eval parameters to 
Dabbaba.ini file, so now they are
adjustable for tuning.             


Dabbaba 1.04wb JA
----------------
1. Ponder implemented 
2. A few small bug fixes


Dabbaba 1.03wb JA
----------------
what's new:

1. Epd parsing fixed 
2. Added ICS kibitz for pv output. 


Dabbaba 1.02wb JA
----------------
what's new:

1. Command line analysis functions restored 
2. Basic WB CC chess server commands added 
 

Dabbaba 1.01wb JA
----------------
what's new:

1. Fix for process hanging in memory after game.
2. Switch to open-style play for variants.
3. Original search/eval/weights restored. (seem better)
 

Dabbaba 1.0wb JA
----------------
what's new:

1. Found and fixed a few bugs relating to winboard variant support.
2. More evaluation/search tuning.

Dabbaba 0.99wb JA
-----------------
what's new:

1. Experimental wb variant support . Now supports the following variants
   (as well as standard chess) through H.G Muller's modified Winboard-F.
   For variant engine vs engine games you can partner Dabbaba against 
   H.G Muller's Fairy-Max winboard chess engine which also supports variants. 
     http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/winboardF.html
     http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/dwnldpage.html

Also check here from time to time for any online live Knightmate games:
http://80.100.28.169/gothic/knightmate.html

Other winboard Knightmate engines (more to come!):
--------------------------------------------------
JokerKM by HG.Muller                    : http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/jokerKM.exe
CCCP Knightmate by Pawel Koziol         : http://www.marittima.pl/cccp
MsKcp by Marcel van Kervinck            : http://homepages.tesco.net/henry.ablett/jims.html
FaileKM by Adrien Regimbald             : http://homepages.tesco.net/henry.ablett/jims.html
FimbulwinterKM by John Shedletsky       : http://homepages.tesco.net/henry.ablett/jims.html

     
     Winboard-F bugfix - (rename .tst to .exe)
     http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/alpha.tst  
     Fixes castling bug in gui for 'Knightmate' chess.
     This file replaces 'winboard.exe'

     Replace the 'winboard.exe' with the latest alpha.

To display correct variant bitmap chess piece images in 
winboard-f make sure board size is 'middling' or 'bulky'.

For other board sizes you would have to use font-based rendering 
(/renderPiecesWithFont="..."), 
Use George Tsavdiris' WinboardF font. 
This package contains George tavardis font.
http://rapidshare.com/files/73230451/WINBOARD_F.zip


 
---------------------------------------------------
   Variants implemented and supported by Winboard-F
 ---------------------------------------------------

1) Knightmate Chess
The knights are replaced with kings, and the king is replaced with a 
knight. The goal is to mate the knight. No castle.
additional options  =  /variant=knightmate

2) Nightrider Chess
The knight can make long moves like bishops and rooks.
Ng1 in the startposition can besides f3 and h3 move to e5 and d7.
selection via 'dabbaba.ini'
additional options  =  /variant=nightrider




Other Changes:
----------------   
2. Improved time-allocation.
3. Adjustments to evaluation.


Dabbaba 0.98wb JA
-----------------
What's new:

1. Winboard protocol 2 support.
2. Added 'resign' function.
3. New logo.




Instructions:
-------------
Just install as a standard winboard chess engine.
No extra command line switches needed.

Start WinBoard_F with the command-line options
and remember to switch off legality checking.

/variant=knightmate     /pieceToCharTable="P.BRQ...N.KYp.brq...n.ky"

The latter is only important for getting N instead of M for the Commoner, 
and K instead of U for the Unicorn, in PGN and FEN.





Thing still to do:
------------------
1. Clean the pv output up. There's a lot of unneeded stuff being spat out.


Have fun,
Jim Ablett. [12-05-08]



-----------------------------
The rules of Knightmate Chess
-----------------------------

Knightmate Chess is identical to regular chess except that the kings and 
knights swap places, and the object is to checkmate the knight (royal knight).

In other words, you start out with one knight in the king position (royal knight), 
and two kings (commoners) where the knights used to be. The commoners move like kings
but can be taken. Castling is permitted by the royal knight, and en passant is 
supported. A pawn can promote to a king, but not a royal knight.

Just like the king, a royal knight cannot move into check, and it must move out of 
check on the very next move.

All other rules are the same as regular chess. 


















