Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello,

I please need kind support from someone owning a Novag Constellation Expert and the Novag printer.

I would like to run the Khmelnitsky test, using the emulator in debug mode, as a workaround for the lack of display.

For this I need to spot the memory position where the computed score is stored, which is far from easy (up to now, I failed).
I assume it would be helpful to have some samples of positions (out of book!) with the associated score, this can be done using the printer (option: Set Level + Print Evaluation). The positions can be setup and quite simple ones, no need for many pieces.

This would also require a static score (no pondering) which I guess can be achieved using training levels, as they stop the search once the selected depth is reached (option: Set Level + Training Level). Any low depth level would be good enough for the purpose. Such a depth level is as well expected to be independant from the CPU speed.

I can't commit I can achieve my goal, as the score can be stored using specific encoding, but worth a try, isn't it?
Thanks & regards,
Eric

Re: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello Tibono,

You are not alone ;-)

White : King D2
Black : King D5 Rook D6
Level 4


1 D2-E3 D5-E5
- 4,57 4,05
I RESIGN
00:02:02 00:01:28
2 E3-F3 D6-D3
- 4,68 4,28
3 F3-G4 D3-C3
- 4,61 4,32
4 G4-G5 C3-G3
- 4,71 4,70
5 G5-H4 E5-F4
- 4,83 4,82
6 H4-H5 G3-G5
- 4,59 4,86
7 H5-H6 F4-F5
- 4,82 4,80
8 H6-H7 G5-G6
- 4,64 97,00
9 H7-H8 F5-F6
- 4,67 98,00
10 H8-H7 F6-F7
- 4,55 99,00
11 H7-H8 G6-H6
-99,00 0,00
CHECK MATE

Cordially.

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Thanks a lot Mychess.

I worked hard (a dozen hours :wall:), but achieved spotting the RAM location and encoding for the score.

The score is located at &h0222 and &h0223 of the maincpu memory.
&h0223 is the heavy byte of the score word.

The heavy bit of the heavy byte acts as the sign (1=positive score, 0=negative score). The score is always the computer's one.

To convert the hex word into a decimal value:
- add &h8000 to the hex score which is concat RAM(&h0223);RAM(&h0222)
(you can get the same result with Xor'ing the score and &h8000)
- convert the above result into decimal
- divide this decimal value by 256, you got it!

examples from Mychess' data
move 2. ... D6-D3 RAM(&h0222)=48, RAM(&h0223)=84
score is &h8448
+ &h8000 = &h0448 = 1096
1096 / 256 = 4,28

move 4. G4-G5 RAM(&h0222)=4A, RAM(&h0223)=7B
score is &h7B4A
+ &h8000 = &hFB4A = -1206
-1206 / 256 = -4,71

Beware the score is computed continuously, this means you need to use the latest value displayed just before the move is announced, as this triggers a new computation (the pondering phase starts).

Worth pointing out: the printed value (using the printer, I mean) is truncated after the second decimal (not rounded).

The formula can easily be entered in a worksheet in order to provide the decimal score from the two bytes input.

Specific values are used to announce "mate in" (based on distance to mate, in half-moves)
8. ... G5-G6 score is &hF800 (printed as 97) = mate in 3
9. ... F5-F6 score is &hFA00 (printed as 98) = mate in 2
10. ... F6-F7 score is &hFC00 (printed as 99) = mate in 1
11. ... G6-H6++ score is &h0001 (printed as checkmate)

Now I can run the Khmelnitsky test!

A guide on how to get the RAM values:
- run MessExtra.exe from the MessExtra sub-directory (don't use CB-Emu.exe from the parent directory)
- from the GUI, open the Properties menu for the Novag Constellation Expert device
- on the Debug tab, enable Activate Integrated Debugger
- run the device as usual, an additional "Debug" window should appear
- use the Debug menu to run the emulation (or F5 from the Debug window)
- use the Debug menu to open a new memory window (or Ctrl-M from the Debug window). You may either let the default drop-down memory area (named Rockwell R65C02 ':maincpu' program space memory) or select memory/:maincpu/0/00000000-0000ffff. The data we are interested in is present in both options, at the very same offset.
- input 222 in the top/left blank area, and hit enter. This will shift the display to the RAM address we want to observe. You can reduce the window size, as only a couple of bytes are useful on display.

Have fun!
MfG,
Eric

Re: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello Tibono,

Me too ... (ie I also worked hard).

However, I simulated a printer always ready, and use the evaluation printer option.

Then I put a viewpoint @b62
Cordially.

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

By the way, the same trick applies to the Super Constellation, the score location being slightly different: &h022F and &h0230.
Grüße,
Eric

Re: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello,

So a Khmelnitsky test for the super Constellation too ;) ?

Cordially.

AW: Re: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Maybe so, yes, as I am aware the Super Conny is a beloved one for many. I currently reached 40% of the test for the Expert, then I will need to build graphs and update my web page with the result. The Super Conny should be next.
Franz' work is a real asset to make the test more easy, fast and reliable using MessChess and the auto-setup from test positions (I got them all in a pgn file, ready to use). And of course the debug mode can also be used the same way with MessChess, as with MessExtra.
Cheers,
Eric

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello,
the KT test is now completed for the Constellation Expert :juchu:
You can find it in this page.
Ready for the Super Constellation now... please stay tuned.
MfG
Eric

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hi,

after 20% progress in the test for the Super Constellation, as Ivan the Terrible would voice it: 'I think, I am onto something...'

First, a highlight about the hex score encoding method: the heavy weight byte relates to pawn-units whilst the light byte relates to the decimal fraction of the score.
Now, to the point: I noticed a blatant behavior discrepancy about the score management of the Super Constellation, compared to the Constellation Expert.

With the Expert, the score evolves in a very usual way, along with the computing time and depth reached: the light byte changes more frequently than the heavy byte. To apply a change to the heavy byte, the search needs to identify a change in the material balance, or to consider a large impact from positional change(s). Many variations within the search tree only provide small adjustments to the score, thru positional evaluation.

With the Super Constellation, the behavior follows another way: after a few seconds the score gets steady (due to the selection of the best move so far) and from then, the light byte value does not change any more. Along with the computing time and depth, the heavy byte may change (an in-depth capture being discovered), but the light weight byte is not any more changed by any positional concern. As far as I could check, it only may change along with a change in the material score, which I assume is a change in the root best move so far.

To my understanding, this reveals a PSH strictly applied either at root or at low depth in the search tree, providing a positional score per root move, followed by a material trading evaluation only for the rest of the tree search.

On another hand, the Constellation Expert is deemed to benefit from an improved positional play, and the fact is its score can be positionally refined much deeper within the search tree.

This is just all my understanding, but anyone can experiment in this field using the debug mode of the emulator; feel welcome to share your own outcomes!

Kind regards/MfG
Eric

Re: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hello Tibono,

I think that the score is the sum of 2 parts :

material points = (@223h) with 77AB : 01 1E 03 05 03 09 , the king has a value of 30 pawns.

positionnal points = (@222h)

And so 256 positionnal points = one material point = 1 pawn = 1 :
I agree with your understanding.

Cordially.

Re: AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hi, I've been following this thread with great interest.
Thank you all for all amazing information and research in this thread.

I just want to share some information I have gathered on the "PSH" topic.
(Maybe there already is a Super Conny thread about this, but I've not read that, sorry.)

From Kittinger: https://www.talkchess.com/forum3/vie...opic_view=flat:

"Had to research PSH as I suffer from TMA (too many acronyms). 'pre search heuristics' involved recognizing certain specific characteristics and feeding bonus/penalties
into specific moves in the root position move list (ply one move list).
Most famous example of course is the bxh7 sac, although as I recall there were a couple for center pawn sacs when danger of getting constricted to death.
These rules were done from white POV then list run through and swapped for black POV.
With limited processing and search depth, at the time it seemed necessary to look for some typical chess themes cheaply
(applied only for the plyone moves) as opposed to testing lots of positional features deeper in the search.
Obviously there are all kinds of negatives to this approach, but in practice worked out reasonably enough.

As I recall, another short cut which led to interesting play at times had to do with long strings of checks which were not repeats.
With Super Conny at least, these were given a bonus as this was before all the more intelligent extensions for checks had been worked out
(and I think ram space only allowed something like 18 ply maxdepth).
Idea was that such strings of checks might be leading to forced mate or gain of material which program did not have depth to see actual end of."

"Quite a few of my programs had both ply 1 move bonuses/penalties and PVT bonus/penalties.
I spent a lot of time trying to move the PVT values deeper into the search w/out much success.
Never tried that with the PSH though, might work, could have then played to actually achieve or avoid the sac like positions.
The bxh7+ effectively added 5 or 6 ply of depth.
As I recall, the rules for that one required (from white POV) wp on e5, wn access to g5, wq access to h5 or h4. bp at e6 and g7 and no bn access to f6.
Something like that, it was pretty specific rules to give sac high chance of succeeding.
At the time, none of the micro chess programs had a prayer of seeing deep enough to play the sac, even though fairly weak humans could find it.
However, with one-reply to check and singular extensions, I think the sac can be found at much shallower depths, making the whole PSH less valuable."

From Chess Life #11 1984, page 26-27+82: https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL...84/1984_11.pdf

"Kittinger used a unique approach. He
deliberately simplified his tree-search
evaluation down to an absolute minimum,
coding it very tightly so that it would execute
quicldy. Although this evaluator is not very
smart positionally, it is excellent tactically,
and fast enough to carry out an extended
quiescence search.
To give his program positional knowledge,
Kittinger added an initial positional evalua-
tion routine that examines the board position
before going into the tree search. The pro-
gram assigns "strategy values" for each of
the legal moves, depending on how much
sense they make positionally. It also
values of the pieces depending on posi-
tional considerations, and assesses the
values of the squares pieces are placed on.
This initial evaluation is quite elaborate com-
pared with the evaluation done at the tree-
search level by any microcomputer pro-
gram, and it takes much longer to execute.
But this does not slow the program down,
because the initial evaluation is executed
only once, at the beginning of the search,
while other programs must do positional
evaluations many thousands of times.
Later in 1983, Kittinger extended the Con-
stellation program, adding many more posi-
tional factors to the initial evaluation
routine, endgame improvements, and a
greatly enlarged opening book.

Opening Book. The Super Constellation's
opening book contains a remarkable 21,700
moves, about one-fifth of the lines appearing
in boldface type in the Encyclopedia of Chess
Openings Although this standard opening
book (some variations are 22 moves deep) is
more than enough for most players, the pro-
gram's author has recognized the special
needs of the strong player with an interest in
opening theory. The machine accordingly
features a special learner/trainer mode,
which allows you to "customize" its opening
book with up to 1,200 additional moves.

During the game, both
machines will show you at what depth the
program is searching. For the Super Con-
stellation, that can be up to 20 or 21 plies in
infinite modes; at tournament levels, it
searches to five or six plies in the middle-
game, 10 or more in the endgame.

HIGH-POWERED FEATURES
The Super Constellation s special playing
features illustrate what the future holds in,
chess computers. For example, how many
human players can mate with Bishop and
Knight? This machine can carry out that
mate — as well as all the other basic mates-
at five seconds per move!
Super Constellation's play in pawn end-
games is also quite impressive by computer
standards. To begin with, the program
understands the "square of the pawn" rule,
with such refinements as whether a King
can help its own pawn by taking squares
away from the opposing King. This helps the
program to accurately evaluate threats
created by passed, or potentially passed,
pawns. Super Constellation also knows to
move Rooks behind passed pawns and to
blockade passed pawns.
An unusual and impressive feature is the
machine's ability to sacrifice a piece for a
pawn to reach a drawn endgame.
In the middlegame, Super Constellation
plays an active, tactically oriented game. It'
unique initial evaluation routine also
enables the program to formulate and carry
out positional plans. This does not work
perfectly (neither do my positional plans),
but it greatly strengthens the program's play
and also makes it an interesting opponent
with a relatively "human" style. This initial
evaluation routine contains about 160
specific instructions, which is quite an ac-
cumulation of chess lore for a computer.
Half of these instructions relate to pawn
play, half to play with other pieces. The total
chess knowledge contained in this routine
vastly outweighs anything that could be put
into an evaluator function that must look at
each end position in the search tree.
About 25 percent of these instructions act
negatively; that is, they prevent the machine
from making typical silly "computer —.
moves." For example, many programs tend
to play a move such as ... Bb4 + , "thinking"
that the only reasonable reply is Nc3. Some
programs will even do this with a piece "en
prise, losing after the unexpected reply
c2-c3. Thanks to its initial positional evalua-
tion, Super Constellation avoids this and
similar blunders.
The other 75 percent of the instructions
drive the machine into a search for active
play. Slow maneuvering games are still |
beyond any computer's abilities, but Super
Constellation has some impressive capabili-
ties in more active positional operations. For
example, it knows how to play a minority at-
tack in the Exchange variation of the
Queen's Gambit Declined, and it seeks
pawn breaks to open up a position.
A really impressive feature of the pro-
grams middlegame play is its ability to make
sacrifices on positional grounds. These are
not always perfectly sound (neither are my
sacrifices), but they usually are, and they
nearly always lead to difficult and in-
teresting tactical play. The program knows
how to make the stock sacrifices on e6 in the
Sicilian, and on h7 in the French when Black
lacks a Knight at f6. And it knows how to
follow through on them. It also recognizes
opportunities for positional pawn and Ex-
change sacrifices by either side, and em-
phasizes fast development in openings —
when "out of book" the program will give
back a gambit pawn for development."

/Lars

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hi,
thank you kamoj for all this information, retrieved and shared.

Until quite recently I had not realized the PSH was the only positional evaluation featured in the Super Constellation, this changed with my being able to observe the score behavior; and of course is confirmed by the above information you shared. It is quite an extreme solution; that nevertheless worked well by that time, especially in fast play or blitz.

I completed the Khmelnitsky test, the overall score of the Super Constellation is 1506 (using my usual conditions = 3 minutes thinking time on a position, or 1 minute thinking time on a specific move if needed).

https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...1&d=1685115836

https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...1&d=1685115836

For comparison purpose, the same score has been achieved by Rebel 5 and Saitek Turbo King II D+, whilst the Constellation Expert 5Mhz achieved 1685.

Here is a comparison between both Super & Expert (the Expert features a refined positional evaluation, most probably the root PSH plus later refinements identified deeper in the search tree):
https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...1&d=1685115836

I do think the peak strength in the Strategy domain is a common outcome from the PSH. Anyway, for the Super Constellation, it cannot result from anything else ;)

Despite faster clocking, the Expert does not outperform the Super Constellation in the calculations area; this looks consistent with some additional positional evaluation effort performed along the search. On another hand, the gain in middlegame and opening is quite impressive for the Constellation Expert.

Enjoy the graphs!
Cheers,
Tibono

Re: AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Very very interesting!
Thank you for sharing your enormous amount of knowledge and work on these investigations and graphs!

Ulf Rathsman's programs use the same type of heuristics, but change evaluation for each move/ply like the Expert and later.
Maybe that's why the MM II outperforms the SC as I see in an ongoing thread in this forum, despite MM II's worse handling of pawn structures?
(https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...ead.php?t=6837)
(Pawn structures were not treated good until the last Rathsman, the Plymate Victoria.)

Maybe Schröder did the same!?
You can browse his algorithms at https://web.archive.org/web/20120320...l/prostuff.htm

Feels like a pawn structure test in the "Khmelnitsky test" suite would have been interesting! ...

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Thats a huge difference between superconny and expert, isnt it ?

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Indeed a huge difference, Thorsten. I would have thought they were closer as far as the software is concerned; just wood, some enhancements and more speed for the Expert... But the evidence is the evaluation management evolved a lot from 1984 to 1985. And surely did not freeze later on, that's why it is a struggle to identify the legacy "PSH effect" in the next Kittinger devices.
My conclusion: the Super Constellation is one of its own, a singularity blessed with some flash of genius!

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

Hi, I'm not an expert in this, but if you take a closer look at the games played by Super Nova in my "Welcome"-thread, I strongly have the impression that Dave Kittinger also implemented Pre Scan (Search) Heuristics in this little middle class computer!? Do you have any information about this?

Best regards
Roberto

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

My guess is Dave Kittinger did not jettison the PSH concept, but the more the positional evaluation evolved, the more the effect became diluted.

Here is a comparison graph, including both Beluga and Super Nova:
https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...1&d=1685197491

Of course there are some family genes (this is true with most program series from any programmer), but more specifically I think the peak in Strategy skills is mostly inherited from the inital bare PSH.

6 years later (compared to Beluga & SN), there is no more such a visible footprint from the PSH in the Emerald Classic' Khmelnitsky test (check the Strategy skill):
https://www.schachcomputer.info/foru...1&d=1685198126

MfG,
Tibono

AW: Novag Constellation Expert with Printer required
 

The schematics show us that the psh machines are those listed,

SC, CE, Beluga, Supernova.

Können wir jetzt nicht in Mess bzw. CB-Emu Pro die Bewertungen beim SC und CE einblenden, optional meinetwegen, nachdem die Speicherstellen entdeckt worden sind ? Sagen wir mal nur anzeigen wenn jemand die Print Evaluation Funktion als Tasten anzeigt.

Mich würde das sehr erfreuen einen SC bzw. CE mit Bewertungen zu sehen.