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New engine "Roc", an upgraded and modernized Gull

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 5:38 pm
by TomHyer
Roc is a new chess engine, derived from Gull 3.

Roc has the following refinements:
-- based on a C++ port of Gull 3
-- source code has been clarified, e.g., by eliminating goto statements
-- fixes some minor bugs found in the Gull source
-- unit of valuation changed from 1 cp to 1/4 cp
-- extends Gull's two phases (opening, endgame) to 3 phases (opening, middle, endgame) plus a phase-like contribution for closed-ness
-- supports a contempt setting
-- adds king tropism to evaluation

In tests so far, Roc appears to be somewhat stronger (15 +/- 10 Elo) than Gull 3. The present code builds only on Windows. It is in the public domain at https://github.com/TomHyer/Roc .