XieXie Master 1
Contents
1. PO O 15 3 4 1 A 15 3 4 2 ac A abd Metadata 16 3 4 3 Gamo im diii T 16 3 4 4 AA tree o indeed on Coreen re ete eRe eer U 17 3 4 5 Comments WAIN OW eto A AA ANA NG Augue ie 17 3 4 6 Game information s window sss nennen nenne nennen sensn snnt nas 18 3 4 7 a AA LO OOOO O O A O A NS 18 3 4 8 Miniclock WINDOW rc 19 Advanced OP el AU OS didas 19 4 1 Analyzing AAA A nnda tend sb fU ats la 19 4 2 Customizino the chess CAME iii 21 4 2 1 Contisutine X EXIS CNG ING rerien E 2 XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 2 Generalcon eura AA 2 4 2 3 Scotia FUNCION gn XISXIS CASOS an Aa ated unida tuts 24 4 2 4 WC APTS EE 25 4 2 4 1 Learning table size ica 25 4 2 4 2 Learning table USED uec repa ree e ESTEE tbe tt 25 4 2 4 3 Learning killer table used een 25 4 2 4 4 Learn G000 MOVES aa ANAN ai 26 4 2 4 5 SE Is ERE RR TEN ROMPE 26 4 2 5 DCI ore re dehet PHP 26 4 2 6 CUS POM ZI ONE Ve laa 28 4 2 7 Landis Wala Bases oed cpa A 29 4 2 8 Importin sames to databases dioe tee aaa 20 4 2 9 DS AEC HIT DANS S ses ecce qe Vase odis dde haie edili deis tutos A 3l Tips and MES as 32 5 1 Getting eames rom MOYVOSEY a ANNA AA ANAN 32 3 2 Getting games rom Club Xiang Ol s p at ade oben f pei ate Sedi fs 322. Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun lil anun Reset databaze 5 Ham cup 1 5 Ham cup 1 5 Ham cup 1 China Team C Chinese Natio Chinese Nato Chinese Nato 5 Ham cup 1 China Team C 5 Ham cup 1 5 Ham cup 1 5 Ham cup 1 Chinese Diwa 5 Ham cup 1 taolin motor c taolin motor c 5 Ham cup 1 Chinese Matic Chinese Niwa menu Select another database EENET P O JE Ser PEE properas EE CCE y ear ars al Open Purge Delete Undelete The first time the database is opened it will be empty This is normal By default the database name 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 29 XieXie Master User Manual f Dialog E a X Games Search Import m Import EFE D E 4 I x G pascal Chess MieMie2 games T buraiNouvel amp n 20 OF 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
3. 5 3 Bac Koc EQUIS actes ettet o ee 32 Creating your OWN opening books eseesessssssesssssssssssseseeeee nene nnn nn nennen enne 33 6 1 Selectos Parme TICS soe dei n RR ERE vex E REI MM E E 33 6 2 OPENING Dook ereatione d e ad 34 Frequently Asked questions eee iere te Peto aa 35 7 1 Howcan playa Jowet le Vel pias 35 How can playa hehe KY osse sete ANA etm ud bn petat velint ic mete daa sh 36 ed Fil s Tormat supported deis 36 7 3 How can savea Came A n a AA anaes 37 ta How cand sebup a poson meninei E T O 37 7 5 How can I search mates or Chinese chess problems puzzles 38 7 6 How Cat Enter a Caine od 38 Pol Whiatis pondering tilda 38 7 8 How can choose the opening DOOK ser etta US NE EPI I I NEU 38 7 9 When I open the logs clock bar graph Does it affect the speed of search 38 7 10 Xiexie cannot run anymore on my PC what should I do 38 TAL dXbwhatlevelis Xie Mie play IO P oeste e bete en attt RO teeta 39 7 12 How can I update the version get support 1 111111 a 39 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
4. CXQ 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 world championship in Tainan Taiwan championship 2004 As you see XieXie s level improves every released version 2 1 1 XieXie is designed for the beginner 2 1 1 1 Special levels opecial 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 A 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
5. 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 must 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 2 XieXie Master User Manual Deren SES oe IBID pec E HEN ipe 20 o o beobpp 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 NL XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 3 Scoring function in XieXie engine Evaluation of XieXie is based on material score tom w Pawn 100 Advisor 200 Elephant 200 Horse 500 Cannon 500 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 Properties x General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value oo 500 Sr Default Annuler Appliquer x
6. means that the winning side is going to kill the weak side 15 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 mistakes according to Xiexie and the time you let XieXie think See example in chapter Analyzing a game Jy 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 ii Game list 16 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 u
7. 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 1 XieXieMaster 2 0 0 gt EL ci x 1 XieXieMaster 2 0 05 l 0 xj File Game Preferences Thinking Database Windows Licence File Game Preferences Thinking Database Windows Licence BESH Md tore o EF E MA bN F O E 7 aeo m kP HE G B X Empty chessboard Revert colors Add red pawn Add red adviser 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 To get more features please use the mouse s right button on the chessboard 237x 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 How can l enter a game In the default mode you play agai
8. you will see the imported games By clicking on the list you can directly preview the game Button Open 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 30 XieXie Master User Manual 1 Dialog xl Games Search Import XMiexieMaster2 UNDefaulkxd kai AGD Total games Reset database AA Red RI Black Date Evm L Openi o G c 30 1 Chau Hoan H L Tang Pascal 29 2 2004 Toumo du no sepe A Huynh Long W Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Tournai du na Centra bible Tang Pascal L Chang Huong 28 2 2004 Tournoi du no Centra Tang pascal W Tat Flarentin 29 2 2004 Tournai du no Centra 6 aap Tang pascal Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Tournai du no Centra patag aS d T Huynh Long Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Tournoi du no Centra FES Preso Open Purge Delete Undelete 4 2 9 Searching games The search tab allows you to search your games according to several criteria ul Dialog X Games Search Import Red Event v 1 0 v 0 1 v 0 0 v Opening Black Search in database Search from results BESES Chang Huong 4 Tang Pascal Event Trelis ll O Chal Haar nq Pascal 29 2 2004 Toumo du no 30 aa ie eS
9. A XieXie Master User Manual Suppose XieXie is playing black If you set red cannon to 600 and black horse to 400 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 x General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value Leaming tables size in MB E Leaming table used in lt i 2 6 Leaming killer table used in i 1G v Use learning W Leam good moves Total amnesy Default Annuler Appliguer 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 x 2 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 game
10. 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 Retrieve learning option in Thinking Learning Use learning menu Inhibit all XieXie Experience by clicking Thinking learning Use learning menu 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 2E XieXie Master User Manual How can I play a higher level If XieXie is too weak for you you can Set the 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 P
11. La SHA Ehh Esser pes eser Huynh Long Wi Tang pascal 29 2 2004 Toumaor du no 38 Central Tang Pascal L Chang Huong 20 2 2004 Toumo du no 32 Central Tang pascal We Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Toumo duno 40 Central Tang pascal Tat Florentin 29 2 2004 Toumo du no 40 Central Huynh Long Tang pascal 2922004 Toumoduno 38 Central NAG oo ho Open Purge Delete Undelete if yee 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 Gi 1 Go to Records section 2 Choose your player 3 Right Click on the game number and select save target as 4 Save your file Filename must end with html 5 Read the saved file with XieXie 5 3 Back to defaults If you want XieXie to come back to defaults value press the Shift Key while starting XiexXie 532 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 CC Xie
12. Master User Manual Sounds ON OFF Using sound slows down the speed of XieXie especially in fast games 3 1 4 Thinking Menu 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 Indicates the computing moves in real time with arrows moves Chess engine Customize XieXie chess engine See below configuration Play on the Asks XieXie to start thinking on the current position For example when new game press this button to force XieXie to play Red Tells XieXie to analyze the game Select this menu item again if you want the analyzer to stop Gives a possible move Warning this is not the strongest move Next best move Asks XieXie to find out the second best move For that XieXie would take back the current move and look for the next best move 3 1 5 Database Menu Save game to Saves the current game to database database Browse database Allows you to search games from the database 10 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 SS used to enter information about the game enables you to comment the game and ann
13. XieMaster2 1 CJ black 5 Good Ey Perfect CJ VergGood CJ red E CO Good Ey Perfect CJ YervGood What you have to do is 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 233 lt 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 3 Xiexie simple bookmaker 1 0 x UU directory Gi pascal Chess xieXie2 5 etup u Output USERXxBOOK Stop Check Score File 1870 Black AGood Black dede Black win JL nez 004 une 006 draw egf nbBookMakerE ntries 4 7999 Nb positions 4803448034100 Red 27365 Black 20669 Mb files processed 15027197076 Mb games already loaded 51 Mb bad games files 0 Time 22 85 Speed 65 70 games sec 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 204 XieXie Master User Manual 7 Frequently Asked questions 7 1 How can I play a lower level
14. XieXie Master User Manual BG ha gt Hele lc Hz u sim T Version 2 1 0 Author Pascal TANG 1 l 2 4 XieXie Master User Manual Indexes MARES AA AS 2 A OUD ERN E 4 2 1 Introd UOTE oui dos vie miibartecsd A tont Erase tedio 4 2 1 1 MICXIC 1S destened for the DES mille uote e iate See Ros tede 4 2 1 1 1 ODeclal levels isso listada 4 2 1 1 2 handicaped dame as 4 2 1 1 3 Game anal SIS a m tein pita odds 5 2 1 1 4 Felmanent analista ana 5 2 1 1 5 AAD ASC S cas T Ep 5 2 12 XieXie 1s designed for advanced players ccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeessseesseseeeeeeeeeeeees 5 2 2 DV SECU Ted DIPe DUO HUS dido 5 2 241 Minimum system reg le menis oerte INAAMAG 5 2 22 Recommended system TEQUES none ette ee V e i t dedo dst cedi 6 2 3 PENE ais 6 2A PEOSTAM TEEN RANA BANA NLA ANNA NG AG 7 24 1 KA Ce ETE 7 2 5 Starina d dew CAINS ios 8 2 0 ANTON TIN DICCOS uerus dto mti Phot tH octies hah Pvt ed tu ne ab ti psi ecu Ed 8 TUE D AN 9 3 1 PIC KG S MENU POTNIT 9 3 1 1 A A A 9 312 Game Mella a 9 3 1 3 PTS ST Ss NM LN M RTL 9 3 1 4 anakan IVS Ka oS o tte aaa ci tis 10 3 1 5 El AM A den soie aeu Retest ena suo Cd en df i ull gata 10 3 1 6 Windows MENU m M 11 3 1 7 Licence Meta 11 3 1 8 AAA ILU TI TE 11 3 2 TMG TOO DAE RR 12 3 3 Keyboard KON AN fat te tum oan lesu uf t Ce toam aaa 14 S Aay WOW PT M
15. cond opening book s priority level if a position is found in the 2 books move from the first book is chosen xm XieXie Master User Manual 4 2 6 Customizing level oetting levels time per move Level time per game Level depth per move has no problem Properties zi s i ome x C E miri jo seconds game Inr o seconds move E E fined depth 50 moves 2280 seconds 200 moves g seconds po moves 240 seconds Annuler Sppliquer The tournament time control last one must be used like that Example 1 5 min for the whole game E moves 200 seconds n moves fo seconds fo moves fo Example 2 40 moves in 40 minutes 10 minutes for the whole game e pao moves 2400 seconds amm st E seconds fo moves fo seconds seconds Example 3 50 moves in 38 minutes 20 moves in 4 minutes 20 moves in 4 minutes 20 moves in 4 minutes e 50 moves 2280 seconds 20 moves 240 seconds 20 Mmoyes 240 seconds when the last time control is over then Xiexie will cycle on the last time control 28 4 2 7 Handling databases The current database can be accessed via Database browse database i Dialog Games Search Import XieXie Master User Manual E gm x d a Total games 2388 Lu fn W Hu Ronghua Hu Hanghua Hu Honghua Hu Hanghua Hu fuanman Huang Halilin Huang Hailin Li Jiahua ULaiqun W Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun Li Laiqun
16. h 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 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 game time 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 Program registration 2 4 1 First registration Before you can use XieXie you have to generate a license If the license is not generated you will see You are no
17. hall move il W Red Last half move 55 IF Black Cancel w Blac Time ins 2 Output in lM Comment window Note 1 First move and last move is expressed in half moves 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 be 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 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 20 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 x General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value Contempt factor Far Hed t Contempt factor for Black jo T ash table size in Mb 170 v Selective search B ame knowledge Default Annuler Appliquer 4 2 2 General configuration Hash table size Hash table is an al
18. he board XieXie Master User Manual 3 3 Keyboard shortcuts W You can use the keyboard arrows to replay or take back a move WY If XieXie is pondering and you want to play the pondered move you can just press the space bar instead of moving the piece It also works for permanent analysis A 3j il XiexieMaster 2 1 0 Licensed to Pascal Tang 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 Speed Time spent in pondering YH Thinking 7 JO x ENodes Time Used 250 Opening s name N ndes EH Time UsedP 3 35 Current B 96 05 1443 Central cannon 19972 gt 0 42 Bb 4059 O80 h3 g b c2 a3 a8 a b 19 16 1041 zm UE eese 05h Fo 043 12 h99f bio c9ef a0 b0 b3 d8 b0 b4 19 18 E a o 0161 238 Seg bio a3 a8 a bl 8 342114 ss gt 2 52 0 53 b c2 coe al b0 bode c3 c4 gb 95 b bb5 b 453 063 bl c2 gb gb al bll a3 a8 10 11 19 8 co c4 7 34 114 bO c2 g6 95 al b0 19 18 c3 c4 a8 a8 e eb gr eb b b7 7 006 153 bio c3 e q3 94 gb g5 g4 g5 amp gh hl gz 233 38 o UFO 413 bO c2 c9 87 hl gz gb gb c3 c4 B3 d8 10411 ch c5 c4 ch ech Move predicted Nodes core of the ply Ply reached When characters is displayed on the thinking windows this
19. ieces 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 d 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 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 Abe XieXie Master User Manual 7 3 How can I 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
20. k registered Please contact ptang caramail com to get a registered code Thank you XieXie Error X A Incorrect registration cade If you don t have a valid license the program does not run normally and may crash this is a protection against piracy What you have to do is 1 Generate the license file using the instructions below n xiexieMastker 2 1 0 Licensed to Pascal Tang a xj File Game Preferences Thinking Database Windows Licence 7 zr E E 4 4 gt Y S a d Too Generate licence File Enter registration cade HE G B x 5 EB 2 Then the file is generated in the install directory See the displayed message box l The licence File is in c yxiexieMasterz OLicencez 0 0 bin 3 Send the Licence2 0 0 bin file to ptang caramail com or tang pascal free fr Please provide your registration email unknown emails will be ignored 4 You will receive a program by e mail that fills the registration code for you 5 You can play normally now XieXie Master User Manual 2 5 Starting a new game Press button zi 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 6 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 Y To
21. located memory to store computed positions That allows XieXie to think faster while she needn t have to recompute any computed moves The more memory 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 move 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 zd e XieXie Master User Manual Game knowledge This option is used to select the play of XieXie positional or not If knowledge is set to O 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 O 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
22. nst the computer To enter a game just deactivate computer by choosing the Game No computer mode menu Or click on the toolbar g When this button is pressed you only have to enter your moves without being disturbed by XieXie 7 7 What is pondering XieXie is able to think on the opponent s time this is called pondering This option is set by default 7 8 How can choose the 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 9 When l 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 10 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 38 XieXie Master User Manual 7 11 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 5 minutes game 10 minu
23. otate the moves 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 You can enter or modify the registration code code 3 1 8 Menu About XieXie Shows the about dialog XieXie Master User Manual 3 2 Ihe toolbar Bug 4 oal ael HEG H 27 Open game file Save game file Undo all moves Undo move Replay Replay all 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 X seconds move 2 Cancel EN HE 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 2 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 t
24. 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 commented 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 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 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 wit
25. review your game you can replay and undo move using cursors of your keyboard left and right arrows 1 r To review your game you can click on the score curve window XieXie Master User Manual 3 he game 3 1 XieXie s menu 3 1 1 File Menu Restarts the current game Red always moves first 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 the chess board or the game list onto the clipboard clipboard This is used to paste the chessboard or the game list in your own editor Print Printthe move list Ext Exitprogram 3 1 2 Game Menu Replay Replayamoveorrepayall o 1 0 Handicap Allows you to play in handicap mode 1 1 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 This option applies a horizontal symmetry to the board symmetry Allows you to hide or show toolbars Board style Choose the board style Pieces style Choose the pieces style Notation Choose the notation used in the game list O Choose the board size Move Selection You have a choice between drag and drop and click click XieXie
26. s so XieXie cannot fall into the same traps Using this option slows down the search 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 xi General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value US USERXXBDOE C Normal C Toumament Blitz Iv Opening BOOK Normal Tournament Blitz Default Appliguer Default button will set the opening dialog defaults De XieXie Master User Manual Example 1 Xiexie only uses USERXXBOOK in tournament mode XXBOOK is not used Properties General configuration Opening Learning Pieces value I Opening JUSERXXBOOK C Normal f Tournament Blitz gl D pening x800K Normal Toumament Blitz Default Annuler Sppliquer 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 se
27. sed to enter comments and annotations for each move 7 Comments Reset comments JA Right click on the window to open the pop up menu Possible annotations Very bad move Bad move 2 Even mm Good move Very good move During a game XieXie annotates the best moves automatically The Edit box in the comments window is used to enter comments on the game XieXie Master User Manual 3 4 6 Game information s window Game information Ioj x Evet Movesky 000000000000 ewe central cannon wing black screening horse E 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 Clock Set x Set time window 18 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 Color ta analyze First
28. tes game 1 hour game P4 2 8 Ghz 2490 ELO 2470 ELO 2450 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 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 12How can I update the version get support Just send an e mail to tang pascal free 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 39
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