In the specification, the commands "white" and "black" will be superceeded by a new command, "move" which takes the "white" or "black' as parameter in addition to the coordinate. Also commands "genmove_black" and "genmove_white" change similarily to "genmove". This also reduces the number of standard commands.
I recommend for backwards compatibility, in the short-term, that the Engine continue to support the old commands. However, they will not be in the final specification.
A "setup" command is also being added to support setting up freely placed handicap positions. The "setup" command is only valid before the first "move" or "genmove" is issued. This is similar to SGF.
A final note, the protocol_version of this specification will be "2" - to distinguish itself from the previous implementations.
Phil
----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Dailey" drd@supertech.lcs.mit.edu
From: "Anders Kierulf" anders@smartgo.com
... are part of the state. Apparently, the current player is not (I think it should be, which would simplify many commands, but that's
a
different matter). ...
Agreed, except the comment about current player. Not to include a current player is very intentional to avoid unnecessary limitations
on
the protocol.
/Gunnar
How would this limit the protocol? In my mind, if there was a 'genmove' and a 'move' command, the color would be an optional parameter (same with 'is_legal'). In most cases, you want to know the best move for the current player, but you always have the option to specify the player to move.
I'd even argue that it may be a greater burden to require programs to support consecutive moves of the same color, while every program must
be
able to handle alternating moves and keep track of whose turn it is to play. So assuming there's a 'setup' command, the core standard might
not
even require handling the optional color parameter.
Yes, the 'white' and 'black' commands seem to require moves that are actually "legal" in some sense, and yet is it permissable to send 2 white moves in a row? Isn't this illegal?