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Crafty Chess (version 18)
=========================
crafty can use a startup file in the users HOME for its configuration, which is
~/.craftyrc. Likewise, it can use a subdirectory in the users HOME to store its
data. This can be ~/.crafty/ but it is configurable.
So, if your want to customize crafty to your needs you can do the following:
Copy the file /etc/crafty.rc to ~/.craftyrc and modify it according to the
comments inside the file. The endgame tablebase lookup is enabled. If you don't
like that, just remove the "egtb" line.
Similarly, a ~/.crafty/ directory can be created. Then copy the opening books
book.bin, bookc.bin and books.bin from /usr/share/crafty/ to ~/.crafty/.
The opening books and endgame tablebases that come with this package are
fairly basic. To make full use of crafty's capabilities you should get
larger versions from crafty's site (ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt or
http://www.cis.uab.edu/hyatt/crafty/).
Please have a look at the documentation on how to do this.
What is here?
=============
The following directories exist:
book binary book files for Crafty. At the least,
you need a book.bin. Most likely you will want
a books.bin and bookc.bin (the crafty documentation
explains their purpose).
documentation Documentation files. There is a postscript version (.ps),
a pure ASCII version (.ascii) and a groff version that
can be used to produce any sort of output file you want.
executables these are executable files, that should run on
most any processor around. You can often compile the
source yourself and optimize it for your specific hardware
to get a faster executable.
pgn PGN files that can be used to produce a larger or smaller
book.bin. Beware as "enormous.pgn" is just that. :)
source Here you will find all the source files. Note that
version 20.11 is more recent than version 20.8. The
xx.y version is set so that larger y is more current, not
treating it as a decimal number.
TB 3-4-5 piece endgame databases (Nalimov format)
wccc.2005 log files from the 2005 WCCC tournament produced by Crafty
on the 8-cpu Opteron box.
wccc.2006 log files from the 2006 WCCC tournament produced by Crafty
on the 8-cpu Opteron box.
What do I need to download?
===========================
1. You need a copy of the documentation. While crafty is easy to run, and
has some built-in help facilities, the documentation will help you learn how
to use all the features the program has.
2. You need a copy of Crafty. Source is the best bet, but if you don't feel
comfortable compiling your own executable, look in the executables directory and
grab the version you want. Note that even if you choose to download a ready-
to-run version, downloading the source to go with it is a good idea as that will
get you the "audio" stuff if you want crafty to verbally announce moves, etc.
3. You need at least a book.bin file from the book directory. If you are going
to play computer vs computer matches, you will want a bookc.bin, and the
books.bin is useful to prevent it from playing ridiculous openings.
4. You may or may not want to download the 3-4-5 piece endgame tables. They
total to about 7.5 gigabytes of storage, so they require a lot of disk space
as well as download bandwidth.
Put everything in one directory, except for the endgame tables (if you download
them) which should be put in a sub-directory named "TB" (until you learn how to
put them somewhere else by reading over the crafty.doc information).
You are set.
Which version do I download?
============================
Currently 20.x is the most recent, and it is certainly the strongest Crafty
version to date. The highest .x number is the most current, and should be the
best, but on occasion this is not the case due to bugs.
What's next?
============
Read through the crafty.doc information. It explains everything from how to
create custom books, to using multiple-CPU machines, and so forth. Then join
the crafty mailing list (crafty-list@cis.uab.edu) and participate in the
discussions there, get your questions answered, and so forth.
see you there.
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