XieXie 2.5.0 English
Contents
1. Open game file Save game file Undo all moves A Undo move 4 Replay gt Replay all ll Allows to review a game automatically If you want faster review press key on the keyboard If you want slower review press key on the keyboard If you maintain the SHIFT key pressed when you call this function you will get a dialog allowing to set the time for each move seconds move i x seconds move XieXie Master User Manual Stop thinking This button tells XieXie to stop thinking and to play the best current move Start thinking This button tells XieXie to start the thinking on the current position This button tells XieXie to ignore last move and try to find another move Level Infinite If selected XieXie will think indefinitely until the user presses the button Enter Edit mode This mode is used to enter moves from a game If this button is not pressed XieXie starts thinking after each user s move Tells XieXie to give an idea on how to move Hint This option applies a vertical symmetry to the board This option applies a horizontal symmetry to the board Choose set of pieces Choose set of boards Allows to choose between 3 sizes of board small medium or big Choose the language You can choose between chinese french english spanish and german XieXie Master User M2. Tang pascal Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Tang pascal Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Huynh Long Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Centra 4 2 9 Searching games The search tab allows you to search your games according to several criteria Dialog xj Games Search Import Black Ty Search in database Search from results Chang Huona Tat Florentin 0 arg Pascal 1 Huynh Lans W Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no 38 Central 2 Tang Pascal L ChangHuong 28 2 2004 Toumoidu no 32 Central 3 Tang pascal W Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Tournoiduno 40 Central 4 5 CREEN Gl AN Jal NAAA izle ase a e al ok oe FSERERES 25597563 ANA 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Tang pascal Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Toumoiduno 40 Central Huynh Long Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Toumoiduno 38 Central Open e Delete Undelete 32 XieXie Master User Manual 5 Tips and tricks 5 1 Getting games from MoveSky Use the save button of the MoveSky client Then use XieXie to open and study the game with your favourite Chinese chess program XieXie 0 5 2 Getting games from Club Xiang Qi 1 Go to Records section Choose your player Right Click on the game number and select save target as Save your file Filename must end with html Read the saved file with XieXie O1 5 W ND 5 3 Back to defaults If you want XieXie to come back to defau
3. X1ex1emaster 2 5 0 CD 2 5 0 World Computer Chinese Chess Champion 2004 User s guide Tice ioj xi du 0 En ge Sm ASE gow HO Wh PE 0006000 Version 2 5 0 Au thor Pascal TANG XieXie Master User Manual 4 1 2 Indexes IAEA A A E E E G 2 E de 4 Zu A Sn RE AR CT a tn Ack dd lathes 4 2 1 1 XieXie is designed for the beginner siii ici 4 2 1 1 1 Special level saien I Ce bs eee e An e cb 4 2 1 1 2 Handicaped Games ie ei A NT Re St ETA 4 2 1 1 3 CAMAS e TES 5 2 1 1 4 Permanent analysis nn ant RE a 5 2 1 1 5 Databases nad 5 21 2 XieXie is designed for advanced players 5 2 2 SNS EME CIMT TNC TIUS og sees AT A de Nan net nee nc ee 5 2 2 1 Minimum system requirements sin ii ti 5 222 Recommended system requirements cceeeseceeseceececeenceceseeeceeeeeceteeeeseeeeeeaes 6 2 3 Features seni ote a A nn ne E AU ns tn OS 6 2 4 SAIS J EN SAME ROLLER RTE Se ee O IN 7 2 5 Moving pieces m A E E EEE a T EE nt 7 TASTE a A A A AA 8 3 1 A a dd ds de a E 8 3 1 1 Fle Mente aio 8 3 1 2 A E o EEEE E A EE E E EE 8 3 1 3 Preferences Men nn St nt isao tei 8 3 1 4 Thinking Men indias o ti rota ada 9 3 1 5 Database Men alone 9 3 1 6 Windows Men a 10 3 1 7 Licence MGI A RES A E 10 3 1 8 ELIN LE a i ESE E ne E E EE E EE E te 10 32 R 9 0 672 RS nn a N 11 3 3 Keyboard shortcuts ls UR OR A E ne 13 RS e nes E E AE EEES 14 3 4 1 Thinking Windows norte 14 3 4 2 BA
4. comments Accepts moves annotations Adaptive levels Computer adjusts its level to meet your level Analyzes your past games and tells you the correct move Reads games from internet Chinese chess site such as MoveSky or Club Xiang Qi Plays games from any legal position Engine configuration o Size of hash tables Contempt factor Amount of knowledge used Value of pieces Use learning or not o Selective search Learn from human players and from any good players Score curve window Play human vs human game Play human vs computer game Several timing time game time move fixed depth etc Infinite thinking Hint Supports AXF and WXF notation Endgame knowledge inside Next best move Printing Horizontal and vertical symmetries for the board representation Database support Book names recognition Allow you to build your own opening book Support several books simultaneously Game effects sound transparency visual thinking lines etc O O O 0 XieXie Master User Manual 2 4 Starting a new game Press button Fes to start a new game To play red just move the pieces at the beginning of the game To play black at the beginning of the game press button all That forces XieXie to play the current side the red side 2 5 Moving pieces There are 2 possibilities to enter moves by drag and drop default mode or by click and click See menu preferences Move selection 4 To rev
5. En ne 15 3 4 3 Game HS A O een 15 3 4 4 LOSS WINdOW su sinnisrennnnaneensinnennanlanelheianianenainnnanni 16 3 4 5 Comments WAT Ent aca dae de da sr er er en en tte 16 3 4 6 Game information s IOMA 17 3 4 7 CU RS eee En ce ne er 17 3 4 8 Miniclock WIIdOW tits 18 Advanced operations inner tien ide adenda sia 18 4 1 AAN O a a ea ale aa aa 18 4 2 Customizing the chess engile sie i 20 4 2 1 Configuring Xie X16 ENSin sir menant 20 4 2 2 G n ral COn SITO nad isis 20 4 2 3 Scoring function in Nie Xie engines ai a A nd 23 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 4 LATINE sason nn ST nn ee ees 24 4 2 4 1 Learning table SZE sinare e oe a 25 4 2 4 2 Leatningtable Usos da 25 4 2 4 3 Learning killer table ised ia esla taal 25 4 2 4 4 k e rnmgood MOVES st te escasas 26 4 2 4 5 USES ARMING ihini nn as 26 4 2 5 Openine BOURSES RE Se ee 26 4 2 6 Endeametablebase ad 28 Customizing level unicidad idiota 29 4 2 7 Handling Cala DASCS RS gis 30 4 2 8 Importing games to database 30 4 2 9 Searching games ii 32 Tips and A ni tn nn Ne nn San Et ts ne ne 33 5 1 G tting sames from Move SERV nn nn A Re cn ne nl nn 33 5 2 Getting games from Club Xiang Di os 33 5 3 Back CONS AS and o e S 33 Creating your own opening books ire 34 6 1 SEE SAME TINS Sig oc RS A Re ease 34 6 2 Openino book CE AMI es do 35 Frequently Asked Questions ss
6. a horizontal symmetry to the board symmetry Toolbar Allows you to hide or show toolbars Board style Choose the board style Pieces style Choose the pieces style XieXie Master User Manual Board size Choose the board size Move Selection You have a choice between drag and drop and click click Animation Allows you to choose the speed of the piece s animation Notation Choose the notation used in the game list Board coordinates Choose the board coordinate system Language Select a language Sounds Sounds ON OFF Using sound slows down the speed of XieXie especially in fast games Process priority level Set the priority of Xiexie s process It is useful if you use several programs at the same time 3 1 4 Thinking Menu Ponder If this item is checked XieXie will think on the opponent s time Permanent When idling Xiexie will search for the best move for the side to Analysis move Show computing moves Indicates the computing moves in real time with arrows Chess engine configuration Customize XieXie chess engine See below Play on the current position Asks XieXie to start thinking on the current position For example when new game press this button to force XieXie to play Red Analyze a game Tells XieXie to analyze the game Select this menu item again if you want the analyzer to stop Next best move Asks XieXi
7. better if you let him think longer During the computer chinese chess world championship Xiexie was estimated to be a 8 Dan Player Equivalent of 2450 Elo 7 13How can I update the version get support Just send an e mail to xiexieqrandmaster yahoo fr or ptang caramail com with your home and Internet coordinates If you find a bug you can also report it to the authors They will do their best to deliver a corrected version If you need any answers about the program feel free to email them Your questions will be answered as soon as possible For XieXie updates opening books news etc just go to the website www cc Xiexie com Note Don t make illegal copies of XieXie You will kill Xiang Qi software development Thanks 41
8. is default xxd You have to fill the current database or select another database by clicking to the button 4 2 8 Importing games to database You can add a game to the current database by using Database save game to database menu If you have a collection of games to add it is better to use the import function in the import tab 30 XieXie Master User Manual ag O x Games Search Import I Besse ELEN et pr ERAS 03 amas adas Hesse NAT CERN x CNE DK Cancel First select the directory of the game files you want to import by clicking the button XieXie can only import game files when the format is recognized Then click the Import button Go to the games tab you will see the imported games By clicking on the list you can directly preview the game Button Oper allow you to load the selected game Button Delete allows you to delete the selected game You can undelete by using the Undelete button The deleted game is still in the database it will be removed only when the button Purge is pressed 31 XieXie Master User Manual i Dialog Games Search Import jo KiewieMaster20 Defauted O C60 Total games 6 Reset database a EY O Pt e PEDES LT EEE for Sos ee Chau Hoan H L Tang Pascal 29 2 2004 Huynh Long W Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Tang Pascal L Chang Huong 28 2 2004 Toumoi du no
9. moves in 4 minutes 20 moves in 4 minutes 20 moves in 4 minutes When the last time control is over then Xiexie will cycle on the last time control oi moves 2280 seconds moves 240 seconds moves 240 seconds du 29 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 7 Handling databases The current database can be accessed via Database browse database menu Select another database Games Search Import C gm xxd K Total games 2388 Reset database mopeda EE Lose Evet LEd Op a w Hu Ronghua 5 Ram cup 1 D Hu Ronghua Hu Ronghua 121 5 Ram cup 1 Hu Ronghua 09 1 5 Ram cup 1 Hu Yuanmao 04 1 China Team C Huang Hailin 11 1 Chinese Natio Huang Hailin 10 1 Chinese Natio Lidiahua 04 1 Chinese Natio Li Laiqun 06 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin We Li Laiqun 05 04 1 China Team C Lu Qin Li Laiqun 01 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin Li Laiqun 01 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin LiLaiqun 01 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin LiLaiqun 02 1 Chinese Qiwa Lu Qin Li Laiqun 12 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin LiLaiqun 01 1 Xiaolin motor c Lu Qin Li Laiqun 01 1 Xiaolin motor c Lu Qin Li Laiqun 01 1 5 Ram cup 1 Lu Qin Li Laiqun 10 1 Chinese Natio t Lu Nin Lil ainun 971 Chinese Niwa 24 Ce Open __Pug Delete Undelete The first time the database is opened it will be empty This is normal By default the database name
10. sky file format XQN ASCII file format This makes it easier for you to view internet games or exchange data with other Chinese chess programs with XieXie 7 XieXie Master User Manual 7 3 How can save a game Use the File menu or the toolbars If you can t save it may be because XieXie is still thinking To stop the thinking click on the flash button in the toolbar W You know XieXie is thinking when the thinking window has activity 7 4 How can I setup a position To setup a position choose game Setup Position menu When you are in setup mode the word Setup Mode is displayed on the board When the desired position is set click on game End setup position You can also use the right button on your mouse Li XieXieMaster 2 0 0 gt File Game Preferences Thinking Database Windows Licence ESAM gt A 000 BP aello 8 4 Revert colors Add red pawn Add red adviser A Add red elephant Add red horse Add red cannon Add red chariot Add black pawn Add black adviser Add black elephant Add black horse Add black cannon Add black chariot Initial position Empty board Cancel Setup End Setup Move your piece freely If you want to remove a piece just put it out the chessboard To add pieces choose among those which are at the right of the chessboard and drag them on the board If the piece on the right is grayed that means that all available pieces of this kind are already on board T
11. you have the faster the search is But it is recommended not to set the size to high It must be strictly inferior to available free memory For fast games set the hash table smaller For instance you can take about 5 10 Mb for games using 5min game Selective search Use selective algorithm to search the best move Selecting this allows Xiexie to search deeper for the same amount of time but as Xiexie doesn t consider all possible moves Xiexie could miss some good moves 20 XieXie Master User Manual Game knowledge This option is used to select the play of XieXie positional or not If knowledge is set to 0 XieXie will play like a robot that means tactically very strong but strategically very weak The more knowledge you use the slower the thinking of XieXie is Press the default button if you want to play with the standard XieXie This selection is recommended Contempt factor The contempt factor is used to control draw situations By repetition By insufficient attacking pieces This factor goes from 500 to 500 it can be adjusted higher but it is not meaningful This is normally set to 0 It is expressed in cent pawns For example if you want XieXie to be more aggressive and not to claim for a draw just set the contempt factor to 100 or 200 for the color XieXie plays If XieXie plays with a stronger player contempt factor of XieXie must be set to 200 because a draw is a good result If XieXie m
12. 00 XieXie will try to trade opponent s cannons with his own horses as his horses have less points This is useful when you know XieXie s opponent likes to play cannons 4 2 4 Learning Here you can configure how XieXie learns from good moves 24 XieXie Master User Manual Properties Pieces value Endgame tablebase General configuration Opening Learning Learning tables size in Mb Learning table used in Learning killer table used in V Use leaming M Leam good moves Total amnesy Default Annuler 4 2 4 1 Learning table size It represents how much memory in Mb XieXie used for learning Usually 4 Mb is enough 4 2 4 2 Learning table used It represents the percentage of the tables filling up If it exceeds 50 that means the learning table maybe too small The size of the learning table can then be enlarged 4 2 4 3 Learning killer table used It represents the percentage of the tables filling up for killing moves If it exceeds 50 that means the learning table may be too small The size of the learning table can then be enlarged 25 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 4 4 Learn good moves When this option is checked XieXie learns the moves from his opponent This option is not consuming CPU time 4 2 4 5 Use learning When this option is checked XieXie is able to use his experience from past games so XieXie cannot fall into the same traps Using this option slows down the se
13. anual 3 3 Keyboard shortcuts W You can use the keyboard arrows gt to replay or take back a move W If XieXie is pondering and you want to play the pondered move you can just press the lt space bar gt instead of moving the piece It also works for permanent analysis BGAN gt gt 15 00 lo GE 0 2 A 0 4 7 In this example pressing Space bar will make the red play H3 4 XieXie Master User Manual 3 4 Auxiliary windows 3 4 1 Thinking window Nb nodes visited Current move analyzed Time spent Time spent in pondering olx Opening s name Time Used P Central cannon 0 0 53 bO c2 c9 e a0 b0 b9 d8 c3 c4 96 05 b0 b6 0 59 0 63 b0 c2 96 95 a0 b0 a9 a8 0 1 9 8 c3 c4 1 14 b0 c2 g g5 a0 b0 9 8 c3 c4 a9 a8 e2 e6 g7 e6 b0 b7 c9 e7 g3 94 06 95 g4 g5 e7 g5 h0 92 a9 a8 c9 e7 h0 92 96 95 c3 c4 b9 d8 0 1 c6 c5 c4 c5 e7 c5 Move predicted Ply reached When characters is displayed on the thinking windows this means that the winning side is going to kill the weak side XieXie Master User Manual 3 4 2 Bar graph window The bar graph window displays the curve of XieXie evaluation function also called score curve This is very useful if you play against XieXie when you have made a mistake Bar graph After a game analysis the red circles represent red mistakes and blue circles represent blue s mistakes Big circles correspond to big mistak
14. arch a little bit But the size of the learning won t affect the speed of search the more learning you get the better it is You have several ways to add learning to Xiexie Check learn good moves option and play with strong players let Xiexie analyze some high hand or tricky games While analyzing Xiexie will learn automatically 4 2 5 Opening book Here you can Tell Xiexie how to use opening books By default Xiexie only uses XXBOOK opening book If you want to use your own opening book you can generate another opening book with BookMaker tool Properties Pieces value Endgame tablebase General configuration Opening Learning NM Opening JUSERXXBDOK Normal Tournament C Blitz V Opening XBDOK Normal C Tournament Blitz Default OK Annuler OK Default button will set the opening dialog defaults 26 XieXie Master User Manual Example Xiexie only uses USERXXBOOK in tournament mode XXBOOK is not used Properties Pieces value Endgame tablebase General configuration Opening Learning M Opening USERXXBOOK C Normal Toumament Blitz TT Opening Default Annuler You don t have to use Xiexie s default XXBOOK you can replace it by your own book so you can manage 2 personal books The first opening book s priority level is higher than the second opening book s priority level if a position is found in the 2 books move from the fir
15. d games from Xiexie s databases will help the beginner to understand some openings and moves 2 1 2 XieXie is designed for advanced players XieXie Master gives the advanced players the possibility to configure the XieXie s chess engine o Chinese chess pieces value o Chinese chess knowledge o Contempt factor o Selective search or not analyze the games comment the game annotate the moves understand standards such as AXF WXF managing a database of important games build your own opening book s Level Advanced player is not the highest level of XieXie To get a stronger level let XieXie think longer Use Level custom menu to set the time XieXie is allowed to think on a given move 2 2 System requirements XieXie runs under Windows NT 4 Windows 2000 and Windows XP XieXie is able to run under Windows 95 Windows 98 and Windows Millennium but with some minor graphics bugs 2 2 1 Minimum system requirements You will need a PC with a 486 DX2 66 processor and 64 MB of RAM XieXie will run under such a system but needs more powerful hardware to play at full strength XieXie Master User Manual 2 2 2 Recommended system requirements The recommended configuration is a PC with a fast processor Athlon XP or Intel Pentium IV with 128 MB of RAM or more and a sound card for the sound effects and the tutorial commentary 2 3 Features Respects 99 of the complex Chinese chess repetition rules Accepts moves
16. e At any moment you can stop the analyzer by selecting the Thinking Analyze the game menu again If you have checked comment window the results can be reviewed in the comment windows The only thing you have to do is to replay the moves and see what XieXie thought in the same position XieXie Master User Manual Example XieXieMaster 2 0 0 gt Licensed to Pascal Tan Bad move score 7 78 Better move score 4 24 e545 b6 a6 a9 c9 ab a5 1541 Bar graph After XieXie has analyzed the game we can see that in the position below XieXie doesn t like red s move b4 d5 he prefers b4 c5 Hence the move b4 d5 is annotated as very bad move XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 Customizing the chess engine 4 2 1 Configuring XieXie engine You have the possibility to customize the A I Artificial Intelligence engine Use Thinking Chess menu configuration menu or just double click the chessboard The following dialog appears Properties Pieces value Endgame tablebase General configuration Opening Learning Contempt factor for Red Contempt factor for Black Hash table size in Mb M Selective search Game knowledge Min Default Annuler 4 2 2 General configuration Hash table size Hash table is an allocated memory to store computed positions That allows XieXie to think faster while she needn t have to recompute any computed moves The more memory
17. e opening book You can choose the kind of opening in the Thinking opening book menu You have 3 kinds of books Tournament lines used by GM in tournament games Normal Random book Blitz most common opening book 7 10 When I open the logs clock bar graph Does it affect the speed of search Opening windows does not affect the speed of search So open as many windows you can display on your screen monitor 7 11 Xiexie cannot run anymore on my PC what should I do 1 Be sure you get the file key dat in your XXM s directory and you get the registration code 2 Be sure XiexieMaster is running in his own directory 3 Remove CurrentGameV1 xgf in your XXM s directory file and restart XieXie If you want XieXie to come back to defaults value press the Shift Key while starting XieXie 40 XieXie Master User Manual 7 12 At what level is XieXie playing This question is very difficult to answer as XieXie is not allowed to play against humans in human championship The following is an estimation Computer 5 minutes game P4 2 8 Ghz 2490 ELO AMD K7 2800 2450 ELO 2380 ELO 2360 ELO K7 1 5 GHz 2420 ELO 2360 ELO 2320 ELO K7 800 MHz 2380 ELO 2320 ELO 2250 ELO Celeron 600 2310 ELO 2260 ELO 2180 ELO Read this carefully that doesn t mean that in 5 min game XieXie plays better It only means XieXie wins the stronger player when the timing is short In theory XieXie program plays
18. e to find out the second best move For that XieXie would take back the current move and look for the next best move Hint Gives a possible move Warning this is not the strongest move 3 1 5 Database Menu Save game to database Saves the current game to database Browse database Allows you to search games from the database XieXie Master User Manual 3 1 6 Windows Menu Clock Shows or activates the clock window Thinking window Shows or activates the thinking window Game list Shows or activates the game list window Bar graph Shows or activates the bar graph window This window shows the evolution of the score during the game Game status Shows or activates the game status window This window is used to enter information about the game Comments Shows or activates the comments window This window enables you to comment the game and annotate the moves Logs Shows or activates the logs window This window is only used for debug 3 1 7 Licence Menu Generate licence Generate a licence file The popup menu tells you where the license file has been generated Enter registration code You can enter or modify the registration code 3 1 8 Menu About XieXie Shows the about dialog XieXie Master User Manual 3 2 The toolbar BOR gt 1 x Ba B k O fm 7 New game
19. es according to Xiexie and the time you let XieXie think See example in chapter Analyzing a game WY You can also click or move the mouse on this window to go to the position in the game you want 3 4 3 Game list window Depending on the notation used AXF WXF etc each move is recorded on a game sheet If you go back on your moves the move is automatically dimmed on the sheet Game list Game list XieXie Master User Manual If the game is a long one and not all the moves appear in the game list window use the scroll box on the right hand side The next moves will automatically be entered at the end of the list whatever the section of the list is currently displayed If you want to see Chinese ideograms in the move list window you have to use a Chinese version of Windows or change the default language to Chinese Please see your Windows user s guide 3 4 4 Logs window This window is only used for debugging purposes 3 4 5 Comments window This window is used to enter comments and annotations for each move Comments gy x 28 d8 a8 M Reset comments Y Right click on the window to open the pop up menu Possible annotations Very bad move Bad move Even Good move Very good move 41 During a game XieXie annotates the best moves automatically The Edit box in the comments window is used to enter commen
20. ies 47999 moon JM LP rome Nb positions 48034 48034 100 Red 27365 Black 20669 Nb files processed 1502 1970 76 Nb games already loaded 51 Nb bad games files 0 Time 22 86 s Speed 65 70 games sec RKARAKKARAKKKAKAARARKARAAARARARKAARAARARKAR RARE To build safer books you may check Check Score So every position is quickly evaluated and when a problem occurs Score for Black very negative for a black book for example Xiexie reports it in the log windows 35 XieXie Master User Manual 7 Frequently Asked questions 7 1 How can I play a lower level If XieXie is too strong for you you have a few possibilities Set the strength lower in the Game level menu For example choose First steps 1 Retrieve pondering option see further Deactivate learning in engine s configuration Set handicap for red side in the game Handicap menu Here you can free 2 horses if you want Handicap is always set on red side Flip the board in the menu preferences Rotate board or directly click the toolbar Force XieXie to play first by choosing the menu Thinking Play on the current position or the green circle button in the toolbar You can simulate 3 moves first by using the setup position function choose game setup position menu make your 3 moves and choose game end Setup position menu 36 XieXie Master User Manual How can I play a higher level If XieXie is too weak for you you can Set the
21. iew your game you can replay and undo move using cursors of your keyboard left and right arrows e A E To review your game you can click on the score curve window XieXie Master User Manual 3 The game 3 1 XieXie s menu 3 1 1 File Menu New game Restarts the current game Red always moves first Load game Loads the game onto the chessboard Save game Save the current game Save on each Automatic game saving This is used to recover the games if the move PC crashes Copy to You can copy clipboard the chess board the game list The FEN position Onto the clipboard This is used to paste the chessboard or the game list in your own editor Paste You can paste from the clipboard a FEN position Print You can Print the move list _ Print graphical movelist Exit Exit program 3 1 2 Game Menu Goto move Select this item to go to a required move number Take back Take back move or take back all Replay Replay a move or replay all Level Choose your level Handicap Allows you to play in handicap mode Setup Allows you to set a new board position No computer Allows you to input free moves without XieXie plays This mode mode is compatible with permanent analysis Stop thinking Stop the chess engine 3 1 3 Preferences Menu Vertical symmetry This option applies a vertical symmetry to the board Horizontal This option applies
22. lts value press the Shift Key while starting XieXie 33 XieXie Master User Manual 6 Creating your own opening books A simple tool called Bookmaker allows you to build your own opening book So if you find Xiexie s book move weak you can patch it with your private opening book 6 1 Selecting game files When you start Bookmaker for the first time it creates red and black directories In these directories 3 sub directories have been created Good very Good and Perfect E E XiexieMaster2 1 E black E 5 Good QC Perfect CO VeryGood E E red E Good 5 Perfect QC VeryGood What you have to dois just to put your game files in the appropriate directories you have a good red game just put this game in the red Good directory If you feel red has played very good just put it on the red VeryGood directory And if you think red plays perfect game put in red Perfect directory In tournament book positions found in Perfect directory are played first then veryGood and then Good 34 XieXie Master User Manual 6 2 Opening book creation When all the game files are in the appropriate place You can generate the book by pressing Create Book Button Xiexie simple bookmaker 1 0 xj A 370137 Working directory G pascal Chess Xiexie2 Setup Output USERXXBOOK Stop D Check Score File 1970 Black Good Black Xiexie BlackWinl 2JUne2004 June 006 draw egf nbBookMakerEntr
23. o get more features please use the mouse s right button on the chessboard 38 XieXie Master User Manual 7 5 How can I search mates or Chinese chess problems puzzles Setup the position click on the infinite symbol on the toolbar and let XieXie think all night week month 7 6 What is endgame tablebase Endgame tablebase is a set of files endgame which is used to store all the positions an its evaluation Draws Wins in n moves Loses inn moves When such a position is encountered Xiexie will always play winning move in a winning position Some endgames are very difficult like krkbbee King rook vs king 2 bishops 2 elephants For example thanks to endgame tablebase Xiexie knows how to play this position SRC RARE SERPUDES Ee NaS Gas A ea Ae ate AAA If Xiexie plays red it will get EGTB 12 as score that means it will take 12 moves to eat a bishop or an elephant if black plays perfectly 7 7 How can l enter a game In the default mode you play against the computer To enter a game just deactivate computer by choosing the Game No computer mode menu Or click on the toolbar When this button is 39 XieXie Master User Manual pressed you only have to enter your moves without being disturbed by XieXie 7 8 What is pondering XieXie is able to think on the opponent s time this is called pondering This option is set by default 7 9 How can I choose th
24. proves every released version 2 1 1 XieXie is designed for the beginner 2 1 1 1 Special levels Special novice levels have been included First Steps 1 First Steps 2 First Steps 3 These levels are adaptive but are easier to beat These are the spirit of the levels First Steps 1 can never win it is not designed to First Steps 2 can win but cannot see all the tactical combinations First Steps 3 can win see more tactical combinations than First Steps 2 It is the best way to start playing Chinese chess and to improve You can also play handicapped games if needed see below 2 1 1 2 Handicaped games Xiexie can play with a few pieces down And it also supports Iron pawn s rule an iron pawn cannot be captured except it has moved or has opponent gives check when capturing the it so for those who are betting a lot in handicaped games it could be a good training Iron pawns look like this special Iron pawn XieXie Master User Manual 2 1 1 3 Game analysis You can let Xiexie analyze your games your tournament games for example Game analyze will help show the beginner in Chinese chess what move is wrong and the correct move in a given position So it will make you improve game after game 2 1 1 4 Permanent analysis The permanent analysis and the arrows on the moves will allow beginner to follow high hand games in real time 2 1 1 5 Databases The great amount of commente
25. s sss ceisstedcavastecancacs pocetauepeasinesyd aes sdancn sek issi isiat 36 7 1 How can I play a lower IE nn ann tae 36 How can T play a higher level ii A TERES 37 12 1 A er 37 1 3 How can I saved gam iecore t onto 38 7 4 How can setup a position viii ia ada ie 38 75 How can I search mates or Chinese chess problems puzzles 0 cccceeseeeeeseeeeeees 39 7 6 How can lentera same cet a A ne M add E A 39 7 7 Whalis ponderada siendo 40 7 8 How can I choose the opening book 40 7 9 When I open the logs clock bar graph Does it affect the speed of search 40 7 10 Xiexie cannot run anymore on my PC what should I do 7 40 7 11 At what level is XieXie playing ii ida 41 7 12 How can I update the version get support 41 XieXie Master User Manual 2 Starting out 2 1 Introduction XieXie Master belongs to the top Chinese chess program in the world XieXie Master is the big brother of XieXie Junior who did very well in the internet tournaments Main XieXie results First tournament summer 2002 at CXQ 3 cash prize 6 Computer Olympiads 2002 3 bronze medal 7 Computer Olympiads 2003 2 silver medal First computer chinese chess World 1 Gold medal Xiexie won the 1 world championship in Tainan Taiwan computer Chinese chess championship 2004 As you see XieXie s level im
26. st book is chosen a2 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 6 Endgame tablebase This dialog box allows you to control the use of the endgame tablebase Properties General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value Endgame tablebase M Use endgame Table base Depth 8 Installation s directory c XiexieMaster2 5 OK Annuler If Use endgame Table base checkbox is checked Xiexie will use endgame tablebase feature Depth is the depth you allows Xiexie to use endgame tablebase Because the search of endgame positions can be slow it is not reasonable to set the depth too high except for solving puzzles Max depth search is 200 28 XieXie Master User Manual Customizing level Setting levels time per move Level time per game Level depth per move has no problem Properties x Timing C FF min P seconds game e a seconds move po C E fixed depth F C 50 moves 4280 seconds 200 moves fran seconds 200 240 moves seconds Annuler Appliquer The tournament time control last one must be used like that Example 1 5 min for the whole game 1 moves 300 seconds jo moves jo seconds CC 0 moves seconds Example 2 40 moves in 40 minutes 10 minutes for the whole game moves 2400 seconds moves 00 seconds moves jo seconds he Example 3 50 moves in 38 minutes 20
27. strength higher in the Game level menu For example choose 20 seconds per move XieXie will think 20 seconds to move You can play with handicap You can change your computer Chinese chess program strength is strongly related to your hardware Your computer may be too slow or has too little memory Check that pondering is enabled Verify the configuration of the chess engine o Hash table size it must be small for fast games o Knowledge must not be 0 except against some software players o Pieces values must be set to default Note that to play at his highest level XieXie must have his learning option enabled See engine configuration Having the learning option enabled allows XieXie learn and use his opponent s best skills In fast games disable all sounds preferences sound None menu Using sounds can slow down XieXie Let Xiexie analyze and learn high hand games the more games he analyzes the stronger he will be enlarge learning table if necessary Y If the thinking time is too long you can force XieXie to play faster with one click on the Flash button in the toolbar A Level Advanced player is not the highest level of XieXie To get a stronger level let XieXie think longer Use Level custom menu to set the time XieXie must think on a move 7 2 Files format supported XieXie supports the following formats XBF XGF EGF XieXie binary file format CCF AXF WXF format AXF WXF AXF WXF format MXQ Move
28. ts on the game XieXie Master User Manual 3 4 6 Game information s window Game information edeo jao od Xiexie central cannon wins black screening horse a g This window is used to enter information on the game When saving the game the same dialog appears Here you can put in your comments which are valid for the whole game 3 4 7 Clock window Clock Re scalable clock A contextual menu appears when you right click on the clock window you can either freeze the clock pause or set the new time Ciock set x Red 00 05 00 Black 00 05 00 Cancel Set time window XieXie Master User Manual 3 4 8 Miniclock window Regular time Contextual menu Instant time Nb moves before next time control This clock is used when there is no room in your screen You can right click on it to set time or to pause the clock 4 Advanced operations 4 1 Analyzing a game XieXie is able to analyze the games you have played and give you an opinion Just use menu thinking Analyze the game x Color to analyze ox M Red Cancel M Black Note 1 First move and last move is expressed in half moves First half move Last half move li Time in s m Output in Y Comment Window Note 2 Time in seconds is the time you allocate to analyze 1 move The greater this value is the more accurate the evaluation will b
29. ust play with a weak player a draw is not a good result so the contempt factor of XieXie must be set to 200 or more This is useful against very strong players XieXie will always look for a draw Consider the following diagrams 21 XieXie Master User Manual XieXieMaster 6e 080006 If Black plays again C8 1 black plays a Draw game Against weak players it is not a good strategy Try to avoid C8 1 and play another move as you usually have more chances to win the weak player To avoid XieXie plays these kinds of repetitions which lead to a draw you can set contempt factor for black to 100 or contempt factor for red to 100 22 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 3 Scoring function in XieXie engine Evaluation of XieXie is based on material score Pieces Score Pawn 100 Advisor 200 Elephant 200 Horse 500 Cannon 500 Chariot 1000 For instance XieXie has a score of 5 00 which means that XieXie is ahead of 1 cannon or 1 horse or has a great positional advantage If you don t agree with these pieces values you can change them Then XieXie will play a different style according to your new settings 23 XieXie Master User Manual General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value Endgame tablebase Fons i a FT a Default Annuler Applique Suppose XieXie is playing black If you set red cannon to 600 and black horse to 4
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