Gandalf 5.0
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Gandalf 5.0
03/05/02
This recent release from the Rebel
company contains a number of engines and tools. In this package
there are two Gandalf 5 engines. One is a version designed to work
under the included ChessPartner interface from Lokasoft. The other is a version designed
to work as a winboard engine in any interface that supports this
protocol. Also included is the Lokasoft chess engine, which runs under
the Chesspartner interface. For DOS and Rebel fans, there is the
latest version of Rebel - Century 4. And finally, there is the engine
research tool (ERT), a lightweight application for conducting winboard
tournaments. Unlike other companies, Lokasoft and Rebel prefer to
unbundle this function from the playing program, and include it as a
separate executable.
Gandalf 5.0
Gandalf uses the Chesspartner interface, which is also used by the
Tiger engines. This particular interface has its roots in Lchess,
which was released some years ago by Lokasoft. This current version of
Chesspartner has come a long way since then. This GUI, like Fritz or
Chessmaster, supports a multiple engine concept. It also has analysis
functions, and tools for opening book editing and the like.
The strength of the Lokasoft GUI lies in the customizability of its
user interface. For instance, it has the best choice of 2-D pieces on
the market. And while the program is suitable for casual analysis, it
would not be the best for day-to-day work. This is because there are
no facilities to add any informant symbols or tools for manipulating
variations.
Even though the Gandalf engine is provided in a winboard version, my
considered opinion is that this engine is best used under the
ChessPartner (CP) interface. This is because under normal use, the
engine is most responsive to user input within the CP interface. I
should also note that I was able to use Gandalf under Chess Assistant
(CA) in all the analysis modes, except for certain functions in
interactive mode (note: I have yet to find a winboard engine that
supports all the options of this mode in CA).
I spent a bit of time thinking about the best audience for this
program. I think that it should most appeal to those engaged in
Winboard tournaments, or to the intermediate to strong club player. It
should also be noted that a recently released upgrade to Gandalf adds
the capability to run UCI engines under the CP interface as well.
I say the program is best for intermediate to strong club players
because the handicapping options of the program are mostly restricted
to the standard range of options. Of course, you can still modify the
hash settings, and turn off permanent brain, but otherwise, you will
end up using a weaker engine if you want to weaken the play of the
program further (for example, you can use the included Lokasoft
engine, or some other winboard engine). There was a place to specify
an ELO handicap in the level settings, but I could not enable this
function for some reason. I suspect that this is something planned for
a future release. If so, I would greatly encourage the development of
this feature, because it would broaden the appeal of this program to a
wider audience.
I was able to use Gandalf with my DGT board. Use of the program with
the board is pretty straightforward, but you need to remember to
configure the COM settings when first enabling the DGT driver.
One small addition that I appreciated was the improved dialog box for
the setup of Winboard engines - you can disable or enable features
supported by the engine to improve communications between it and the
CP GUI. For instance, you can select whether the engine supports set
position, analysis mode, pondering, and whether to "invert
score". I liked this particular approach, and while it requires a
little knowledge of the engine to set it up, it does make you think
about which functions will be supported by a particular winboard
engine (for example, you won't be able to use infinite analysis on
a random position if "set position" is not supported).
However, for those that don't have this information, there are a
number of pre-configured engine settings provided for use.
Other nice additions included the use of the F3 key for changing
engines (so Chessbase folks feel at home), the ability to launch the
GUI with a particular engine from the command line (ala winboard), and
the support for Nalimov format endgame Tablebases. These are included
on the CD, along with a windows-based tool for building your own
tablebases, should the need arise. There are many other new tweaks as
well, and I would encourage you to go to the Lokasoft web page to
check them out. You can also read my previous review of Rebel Tiger to
get more details on the ChessPartner interface.
You might be curious as to where Gandalf's playing style fits in
with some of the other engines that are available today. My
impressions are that the engine falls somewhere between Tiger and
Shredder in terms of playing style Gandalf likes to play in a more
positional style than Tiger, but it does not play as prophylactically
as Shredder is wont to do. One thing that I did notice about this
engine is that it does not seem predisposed to trade pieces. This
observation is based on a handful of games that I played against the
engine with permanent brain off, and relatively low hash table sizes.
I would also like to reiterate that there is a free update to the
Gandalf engine available on the Rebel website Those that are most
concerned with engine strength should be sure to get this update.
ERT
In addition to Gandalf, the Engine Research Tool, or ERT is also
included. The ERT is a lightweight tool for conducting engine vs.
engine matches. Results are automatically saved to a set of web pages.
The people that should be most interested in this tool are those that
want more control over the HTML output. This is because the ERT has
its own markup language that can be inserted into an html template.
The end result is the ability to control many aspects of the HTML
output, so that it is consistent with the look and feel of a
user's web page.
Rebel Century 4
In addition to Gandalf, Rebel fans will get Century 4, which is the
latest incarnation of the Rebel engine for DOS. I have written in some
detail about Rebel in the past, and from a cosmetic standpoint, this
version is not too much different from the previous one. Of course,
the Rebel engine has changed somewhat. But I have not been able to
spend enough time with it to really evaluate how much different it is.
Like the Lokasoft GUI, Rebel's functionality has undergone quite a
bit of tweaking. There are many changes to both programs, and I will
not attempt to list all the new features here. For Rebel, the largest
improvement seems to be in the analysis area (mostly as it relates to
winboard testing and optimization).
For example, in addition to the ERT (engine research tool) for engine
vs. engine matches, the Computer Analysis Tool, or CAT is also
provided. CAT works from within the Rebel interface, and it a tool for
displaying and modifying opening tree data.
This feature is potentially a godsend for those that are preparing for
a computer tournament, or trying to prepare for a computer opponent.
If you fit into one of these two categories (or simply like to fool
around with this stuff), then I would urge you to take a look at CAT.
The main feature that separates CAT from some of the other tree based
tools out there, is the ability to tag information in the tree with a
particular engine name. This makes it easy to optimize a book for a
particular match or engine. As yet, there are no other programs that
support this ease of use for opening book research.
Another feature of CAT is that it also supports the display of CAP
data, which is an increasingly important feature. People that have
seen CAP know that it can be very useful for opening study. I have
personally observed a couple of instances where CAP has found a
tactical resource in an opening position that has hitherto gone
unnoticed in tournament play.
It would probably be nice to say some more about CAT, but I am
probably not the best person to do this, since I am focused on playing
and analysis, rather than engine optimization. So I would urge you to
look at the Rebel home page if you have additional questions.
For those that are unfamiliar with Rebel, I would also suggest that
you read my previous review of Rebel Century. There is not too much
difference between the old and the new GUIs so most of what I said
then still holds.
Conclusion
I think this product is mostly geared toward the stronger player, and
computer engine fanatic. The engine does have a unique style, and is
an interesting opponent for those that can handicap it enough. In
addition to Gandalf, you get the latest version of Rebel, a perennial
favorite among computer chess aficionados. Rebel's new ERT is also
an interesting analysis tool, and should be especially useful to those
engaged in opening book optimization.
Copy Protection
Must install from original CD.
