[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]

StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About


Paths
BeginnerGameSampl...
BeginnerGameSample3

Referenced by
GoClient
GoHistory
GoPlayingPrograms
GoPrograms
GGo
GoTextProtocol
TeachYourselfGo
FusekiExperiments
MathematicalBound...
ComputerGo
HandheldSoftware
GoPlayingPrograms...
WaveFrontAnalysis
SowDiscordInTheEn...
GoKnot
TheCodeSoFar
MacintoshGo
ANoviceTriesToWri...
BeginnerGameSample4
DougSGoBlog

Homepages
Bisqwit
David
Dnerra
Evand
Frs
Hdouble
KarlKnechtel

 

GNU Go
    Keywords: Software

GNU Go is a [ext] free (under the [ext] GNU GPL) go-playing program. Maintained ports exist for (at least) GNU/Linux, Unix, Windows and Mac OS (both classic and Mac OS X).

A graphical go client is not included, but GNU Go supports the Go Text Protocol and the Go Modem Protocol which can be used to connect with third-party clients as well as text-based ASCII and [ext] GNU Emacs user interfaces.


URLs


GNU Go at go servers


Tips

  • The --replay option is very useful to teach yourself go. It adds weighted move alternatives as comments to SGF files. (But does not keep previous comments.) The command line is as follow: gnugo -l game.sgf -o replay.sgf --replay colour where colour is the colour to replay (can be black, white or both).

Wanted tips

  • Frs: The --replay option (in version 3.2) is very talkative. Is there a Go program or Go client or software tool to cut these comments to a readable limit?
Nico: I have tried the latest developement version (3.3.16), and it is not verbose anymore. Only the best move (according to Gnu Go) is marked. I cannot tell wether this will still be the case for the upcoming final 3.4 version.
  • Frs: GNU Go alway plays its best move, frustrating deshis. Is there an option, so that it will play an occasional "weak" move by random? I do not want to save, reload and reset GNU Go --level's.
dnerra: If you are using a client such as gGo that communicates to GNU Go via GTP, and allows you to intercept the GTP stream in a shell-like window, you can just type "level 2" in the GTP window to change the level during play.
Toey: I am playing GNU Go 3.2 on gGo 0.3.7. Is the replay mode the one giving comments on moves? How can I make it work? I tried to put the command into the GNU Go arguments, in advance page of the preference. After doing so, there's no comment and the programme does not play at all. Probably I put it in the wrong place or I used the wrong format. Could anyone please let me know?
Nico: The replay mode does not give comments, but only the move(s) GnuGo would have played if it was its turn (actually, depending of the version, it proposes several weighted moves; the higher the better). This is a command line only option. You provide your sgf file and the colour you were playing, and GnuGo generates another sgf file with all the moves (see the tips section above).
dnerra: If you want "online" commentary, you can add "-t -w" to the command line options. This might give too much output (in the GTP window), but it shows which dragons are (according to GNU Go's calculations) alive/dead/critical (including the moves to attack/defend them), and how it valued its own possible moves.

History

  • 2003-Jul: GNU Go 3.4 released. A bit more than two handicap stones stronger than 3.2 and is supposed to be of about the same speed.
    • mgoetze: Yes, this is what everyone was dreaming of. In truth, however, in truth, it's not quite two stones stronger (perhaps one and a half), and actually a bit slower.
    • evand: Well, judging the speed is a bit difficult. Suffice to say that it depends heavily on the type of game, and also on the computer (performance characterists change differently on different computers). Also, if you want it faster, you should try level 9. Level 9 should be stronger than 3.2 by some amount and faster than 3.2 or of comparable speed. The other thing worth noting is that the strength differences depend strongly on your measurement techniques.
    • Concerning strength: GNU Go 3.4 wins over a half games against 3.2 with two handicap stones and komi 5.5, but less than a half if komi is 0.5. So one can say it is somewhere between 1 and 1.5 ranks stronger than 3.2. Komi matters.
    • Scryer: When I was a chess programmer I found that playing my program against itself did tell which version was better, but it would not tell accurately how much better. This is because both programs shared weaknesses: for example, the better program would believe the worse program's threats, because they were just the same threat it would make itself. To get an objective measure of the actual strength difference I needed to play humans over the board in tournament conditions. Does this factor carry over into GNU Go? I assume you've decided the answer is "no", since you feel it's accurate enough even to make the komi relevant.
    • dnerra: No, the answer is a definite "yes"! :-) Some aspects hardly appear in GNU Go vs GNU Go games, because GNU Go's style makes these games somewhat No-Contact-Games. But it's really the only thing you can measure reliably. GNU Go is playing hundreds of games on NNGS per week, but its rating can still vary highly e.g. due to some 2k* learning its weaknesses very well, and thus being able to beat it at 9 stones or so (and then playing tens of games against GNU Go...)
  • 2002-Apr: GNU Go 3.2 released. About three handicap stones stronger than 3.0, uses less RAM, and about as fast.
  • 2001-Aug: GNU Go 3.0 released. About four handicap stones stronger than 2.6.


This is a copy of the living page "GNU Go" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.