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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) IDEA (Read 46229 times)
Vass
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Re: IDEA
Reply #56 - 04/08/15 at 13:59:18
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adrianus wrote on 04/08/15 at 06:02:31:
If I use for example H4 in IDEA I see the same analysis like in normal analysis. Is normal?

It has to be..
As I already said, IDeA can be useful for complicated positions only where the normal infinite analysis can miss a good line just because one of the moves in this line is omitted very fast by the engine. As for H4, well...it's one of the best engines nowadays.
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #55 - 04/08/15 at 06:02:31
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If I use for example H4 in IDEA I see the same analysis like in normal analysis. Is normal?
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #54 - 03/13/15 at 08:40:23
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@amza iulian
Well, it depends on what you are looking for...
If you want to analyse a normal position for your OTB chess knowledge, infinite analysis will do. Even two cores will be enough.
While, if you want to dig deep into some positions for writing an opening book for example, you will need 4 cores and running an infinite analysis + a good knowledge of the arising positions will complete the task.
Another matter is while playing a correspondence chess game at high level - you will need 4 cores at least to constantly run a mix between infinite analysis and IDeA analysis as well. And then, you would be amazed to perceive how rich is the game of chess in real.  Wink
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #53 - 03/13/15 at 05:25:21
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Vass wrote on 03/12/15 at 14:47:56:
amza iulian wrote on 03/12/15 at 12:52:48:
Vass wrote on 02/13/15 at 07:49:18:
Tony, just read my posts above and you'll find how to cope with this problem, as well as other problems in the future!

Hi Vass, I am beginner in IDEA. I put one position in Sanbox, send to link IDEA project, after start IDEA with 30 sec and 21 ply. No more settings. After 8 h with 1 core, Stockfish 6, I stop it. The result in tree is similar with infinite analysis. ( only the values is different). I very wrong what I`m doing? For me, is ok, becouse the tree show same imagine about options of oponent.

For operating with IDeA you need 4 cores at least.  Smiley
What is more, IDeA is effective in complex positions only. No need to use it in every single position when you can run infinite analysis. I use it only when there are more than two moves of equal value as candidates.  Wink

Thanks for info. SO, in normal position 8 or 16 core infinite analysis, and for complex positions IDEA minim 4 core. The ideal is to have 2 computers i5 and i7....Smiley..and of course money for electricity. Smiley
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #52 - 03/12/15 at 14:47:56
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amza iulian wrote on 03/12/15 at 12:52:48:
Vass wrote on 02/13/15 at 07:49:18:
Tony, just read my posts above and you'll find how to cope with this problem, as well as other problems in the future!

Hi Vass, I am beginner in IDEA. I put one position in Sanbox, send to link IDEA project, after start IDEA with 30 sec and 21 ply. No more settings. After 8 h with 1 core, Stockfish 6, I stop it. The result in tree is similar with infinite analysis. ( only the values is different). I very wrong what I`m doing? For me, is ok, becouse the tree show same imagine about options of oponent.

For operating with IDeA you need 4 cores at least.  Smiley
What is more, IDeA is effective in complex positions only. No need to use it in every single position when you can run infinite analysis. I use it only when there are more than two moves of equal value as candidates.  Wink
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #51 - 03/12/15 at 12:52:48
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Vass wrote on 02/13/15 at 07:49:18:
Tony, just read my posts above and you'll find how to cope with this problem, as well as other problems in the future!

Hi Vass, I am beginner in IDEA. I put one position in Sanbox, send to link IDEA project, after start IDEA with 30 sec and 21 ply. No more settings. After 8 h with 1 core, Stockfish 6, I stop it. The result in tree is similar with infinite analysis. ( only the values is different). I very wrong what I`m doing? For me, is ok, becouse the tree show same imagine about options of oponent.
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #50 - 02/13/15 at 07:49:18
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Tony, just read my posts above and you'll find how to cope with this problem, as well as other problems in the future!
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #49 - 02/12/15 at 00:38:16
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Have any of you guys lost tree data somehow? I have a massive Mar Del Plata project going, and I loaded it up. and it appears as though a huge number of positions from the tree are simply gone, as though somehow I lost days and days worth of analysis!

#$!#&*# IDeA!!  Angry Shocked Sad
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #48 - 02/04/15 at 20:10:00
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@ Merlin
I just try to keep it simple.
The net is full of "aaarrrrghssss" and "ohhhhhhhhs" from users that have "broken", "busted" and so on projects. It is enough to read the Aquarium section of the Rybka forum about it. Even TonyRo, who uses IDeA from several months only has his bad experiences with it. Just to say that I never experienced problems in IDeA usage keeping strictly to my methods!  Wink
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #47 - 02/04/15 at 19:52:59
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Quote:
Hi, Tony!
I'm, glad you are deep enough in IDeA, so we can discuss pluses and minuses of this outstanding tool for analysis!
1. "...it might be better to use shorter depth/time controls per task to simply run through a lot more tasks per time."  Yes! 10 seconds (max 15) "and" 21-23 moves must be enough for most tasks.
2. Of course, Mar Del Plata is a real test for the good correspondence chess players! "How to" do it?
Well, first, you'll have to import all the moves from the played correspondence and high quality OTB games in the concrete variation you're interested in. [Create an IDeA project with a "root" (say 14...Nh5) - the starting point for your analysis job. Copy all the quality games you could find after this move, make a pgn out of them, paste it in your Sandbox, put the cursor after the initial (12...Nh5) move, right click with your mouse, "copy rest of moves" and paste them in your created IDeA project (after 12...Nh5) using "join moves" option. Then, stepping on every move in the variations you can make it task for analyzing or create an alternate task with the appropriate button on the top of the program window.] Secondly, you can create additional "roots" on the main moves you're interested in (say after 14...Rf7, 16...Bf8, 18.b5, 20.Nxb5 and so on..). Thus, IDeA, when creating tasks, will turn special attention to the positions you gave as "roots" and will create much more tasks for these positions. You can make thousands of "roots" if you want, but usually it's not necessary. The best method is to create additional "roots" after moves that can be countered with many variations. Of course, a root after, say, 19.cxd6 would not be necessary if you see that 19...cxd6 is the only answer. As for Mar Del Plata and the tree shapes, first use "aggressive" shape, then "tactical", next can be "wider", then "default", then "moderate" and the "longest" one in the very end.. And, please, do not stop entering "your" moves pressing the buttons on the top of the IDeA interface for analysis or alternatives! The engines are often blind for the best moves, especially in the Mar Del Plata variation. If you doubt an IDeA evaluation after a specific move, you can start an "infinite analysis" (put the mouse cursor after it and press the appropriate "infinite analysis" button on the top of the IDeA interface) with one of your six IDeA engines right into the project, leave it for some time and you'll see the line and the evaluation of the engine (while the other 5 engines will continue their work on the project). You can stop it by clicking with your mouse on the task (usually a white one) and while seeing the line the engine is counting on, press the underlined "finish task" below the tasks row. Then your engine will stop its infinite analysis and will take its usual job..
3. I used all the Aquarium versions since 2012 - now I'm on 2015 which is more stable than the 2014 version. My advices: Make a backup copy of the Aquarium "Data" folder every day (after stopping the analysis and exiting the program)! Aquarium is a buggy program, so use it simply - do not make connections between IDeA and Aquarium's database games. Copy and paste moves between Sandbox and IDeA interfaces is better than making connections between them and run an infinite analysis from the Sandbox while sending the analysis lines in the IDeA to be expanded. Most of the bugs come from the complexity of this software.. Next, if you have too many projects and too many positions are already analyzed, your IDeA will become slow. And if you experience this issue, then make a backup of the Aquarium's "Data" folder, uninstall your Aquarium, delete the folder it leaves and install it again. Then use the "Import" option to import your projects from your backup Data folder! This will eliminate all the evaluations of the IA column, but will import all the evaluations from the IDeA analysis column, which are necessary for the program to start from where you've been before. And IDeA will be faster in minimaxing and creating tasks than it was before. What is more... There are tools which you can run from time to time - better handled in the 2015 version.. For example, go to the Sandbox, find the appropriate button "Verify" and use it to verify your IDeA  and "infinite analysis" trees as well as the "configuration folder". If  a tree turns red after verifying, then it is broken. The only way to save your work is to backup your Data folder, uninstall Aquarium and then install it again, configure it as it was before and import the broken project with the "Import" button. This will import only the safe lines out of your big broken tree, cutting the bad ones. Of course, the IA column with its evaluations will be empty, but the IDeA evaluation column will be all there - and this is enough to continue from where you've been.. Another tool for maintaining the system is "compress trees" which can be used by right clicking on the status bar (on the very bottom on the program while in Sandbox or in IDeA window) and choosing it from the menu that is opening.
4. Highlighting moves green (or red, or whatever..) is useless. The only real marks for the program are the "roots" - using them is the key! As I already mentioned, your good work with the "roots" will bring you the results you're after.. Don't stop using them, because they are guiding the otherwise blind program what to analyse. Aaah, and one more thing, my usual observation is that you will need more than 50.000 completed tasks analyzed after every move, in order to decide that your analysis is done.. And sometimes, in complex positions like in the Mar Del Plata variation, even 100.000 completed tasks are not enough to decide upon the best move.. Tough task, isn't it?  Wink
As for the "shapes" of the analysis tree, two or three years ago one of the best correspondence chess players in the world said that in the complex positions he usually leaves the software to analyse with 100 % wide tree for 4-5 days, then 75 % wide tree for 3 days, then 50 % wide tree for 2 days and so on... Well, as I suppose he must have had very powerful hardware then... And no, it's not necessary! 33 % wide tree is enough for most of the positions you analyse... 50 % wide tree is too much already and can be used only in very complex positions.
So far...so good! Feel free to ask if more questions arise!
By the way, a helpful link for an appropriate thread in a well-known forum:
rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/board_show.pl?bid=9
Your truly,
Vass


This post is quite interesting in many ways (but hard to read with no spacing between paragraphs) and your method gets the job done. However, you are making things much too difficult for yourself, considering, for instance, the easy to use tree verification in Aquarium 2015. Seeding an IDeA project straight from a database search is another thing which I use regularly and is much easier than the method you prefer.
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #46 - 02/04/15 at 09:06:52
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TonyRo wrote on 02/03/15 at 21:07:34:
Thanks for responding Vass - appreciate my responses are below and correspond to the numbers above again:

1. I'll continue to use the smaller depth/time then - do you have an engine preference. I suppose it depends on the type of position, but I have mostly been using Stockfish, and some Houdini 4. I'll occasionally use Komodo in IA to look for new ideas or to check the IDeA Main Lines for soundness and alternatives.

2. Hi Vass - I have gotten in the habit of always seeding IDeA with relevant games, usually putting an extra "game" in the database at the end that's filled with my analysis and analysis from books if I have the time. The problem with the KID is that once you prove that one White defense is winning, another equally lame move pops up, and then you have to show the computer that this move also loses, and so forth. And that might be only one critical line - then you have to step back, etc, and do it all over again in some other variation. It feels faster to simply use Infinite Analysis with large hash so for at least a bit, the computer remembers that Black is winning there...I'll have to re-investigate all of the tree shapes - I can't remember the difference between aggressive and tactical. Good reminder about using the infinite analysis tool within IDeA - will that change the evaluation of the whole branch though, or?

3. I will have to check out 2015. Nikos suggested to me that perhaps my problem was that my trees were getting too large - apparently there's a 2 GB limit. You can compress them though, so I'll see if that fixes my crashing problem too.

4. I was under the impression that highlighting red stopped IDeA from considering this move or assigning tasks to positions occuring after it, and that any moves highlighted green would be the only moves considered? I don't highlight red at all anymore though, as I noticed if I highlighted a move red, IDeA would simply generate another alternative, usually worse of course!

100% wide trees seems ludicrous, and completely unnecessary! I have normally been around the limits you suggest - 25-40% is really about as low or high as I go.

Have you ever used the networking features to connect more than one machine to an IDeA project? I was thinking about trying this with my laptop in addition to my desktop for more power!

Cheesy Grin

Thanks Vass! 

Amazing software, isn't it?!  Wink Very addictive..
1. As for the engines I use, the main IDeA engine has to be one and only - the one that will put the final verdict and give a reasonable evaluation. So, let's see - we use smaller depth/time for the analysis - which engine would be the best one? The evaluation of Stockfish is unique and a bit overrated, imho, fast, but usually needs more time to calculate properly than what we give (15 seconds / 23 moves), so it can miss tactics.. Komodo is an amazing engine, but can miss tactics too, because it needs more time than our 15 seconds - it's a kind of positional engine, not a fast calculator.. While Houdini has everything - a good evaluation function and a fast way to "see" what is going on.. Therefore, I use Houdini as a main IDeA engine, while making additional analysis with Stockfish and Komodo, thus feeding the tree with moves to be considered by Houdini. (A hint: Use only five cores for IDeA and run an infinite analysis within IDeA with a different engine with the sixth core!) I know people who use Critter for IDeA engine and I understand them very well. One may ask why - after all, Critter is not amongst the best three. But... It is a very good tactical engine - calculates tactics maybe even better than Houdini (for a small amount of time given). It has excellent evaluation function, too - almost as Houdini's one. And at last, but not least, it has excellent feature that is handled even better than the Houdini's one - the internal hash learning file. If set properly in Aquarium, it stores all these lines that were previously considered and (as in your case in Mar del Plata) there won't be too much 'new moves popping up', needing your attention to be calculated again and again..
2. About popping up, see above! As for using infinite analysis within IDeA, just try it and you'll see the difference! IA column will be changed as soon as you start the process, thus giving the software a hint where to dig in.. And the aggressive shape is much stubborn than the tactical one - it will dig and dig even into a bad line, just to assure you that the evaluation of this line is as it is shown.
3. Well, Aquarium is not an expensive software, compared to others, so I think that 2015-version will be a good experience for you, if you're addicted to it.  Wink As for crashing, Install Aquarium anew as I described in my previous post (don't forget to back up the data folder as well as deleting the remaining Aquarium folder after uninstalling!), configure your new Aquarium as it was before (with engines an so on..), then use the "Import" function to import your old projects from the backed-up "Data" folder! Start your work from where you've been and don't forget to use the "Verify" function from time to time, as well as "Compress trees" function! And never connect IDeA projects to databases' or Sandbox games! Use it simple and you won't regret! Aquarium can handle even bigger trees than 2GB ones - the only problem it has is the handling of the infinite analysis files which are getting bigger and bigger. To get rid of them, just reinstall the Aquarium from time to time! Who cares these IA column evaluations, after all? All you need is the IDeA column evaluations.
4. Good observations about red highlighting! Yes, it is so! While green highlighting doesn't have the power that "roots" have. Then keep it simple - use "roots" properly and you won't regret! And in most cases, 33-35 % wide tree setting fits for all projects, except for some special ones. And I never used the networking features of Aquarium, though I heard they work well. The reason - the processor cores of my two laptops work on different (GHZ) speed than the ones of my desktop PC. They will be slower while considering the tasks and their evaluation may be different from the evaluation made by my PC engines/cores. Your six PC-cores are usually enough, and if you want more powerful hardware, my advice is to look at the two-piece Xeon processors systems. Unfortunately, they are too expensive, imho..  Undecided
  
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TonyRo
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Re: IDEA
Reply #45 - 02/03/15 at 21:07:34
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Thanks for responding Vass - appreciate my responses are below and correspond to the numbers above again:

1. I'll continue to use the smaller depth/time then - do you have an engine preference. I suppose it depends on the type of position, but I have mostly been using Stockfish, and some Houdini 4. I'll occasionally use Komodo in IA to look for new ideas or to check the IDeA Main Lines for soundness and alternatives.

2. Hi Vass - I have gotten in the habit of always seeding IDeA with relevant games, usually putting an extra "game" in the database at the end that's filled with my analysis and analysis from books if I have the time. The problem with the KID is that once you prove that one White defense is winning, another equally lame move pops up, and then you have to show the computer that this move also loses, and so forth. And that might be only one critical line - then you have to step back, etc, and do it all over again in some other variation. It feels faster to simply use Infinite Analysis with large hash so for at least a bit, the computer remembers that Black is winning there...I'll have to re-investigate all of the tree shapes - I can't remember the difference between aggressive and tactical. Good reminder about using the infinite analysis tool within IDeA - will that change the evaluation of the whole branch though, or?

3. I will have to check out 2015. Nikos suggested to me that perhaps my problem was that my trees were getting too large - apparently there's a 2 GB limit. You can compress them though, so I'll see if that fixes my crashing problem too.

4. I was under the impression that highlighting red stopped IDeA from considering this move or assigning tasks to positions occuring after it, and that any moves highlighted green would be the only moves considered? I don't highlight red at all anymore though, as I noticed if I highlighted a move red, IDeA would simply generate another alternative, usually worse of course!

100% wide trees seems ludicrous, and completely unnecessary! I have normally been around the limits you suggest - 25-40% is really about as low or high as I go.

Have you ever used the networking features to connect more than one machine to an IDeA project? I was thinking about trying this with my laptop in addition to my desktop for more power!

Cheesy Grin

Thanks Vass!
  
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Re: IDEA
Reply #44 - 02/03/15 at 11:18:24
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TonyRo wrote on 02/02/15 at 18:45:11:
Revisiting this old thread to ask Vass or anyone else with IDeA experience some questions (if he/they have the time to answer me). I have been using IDeA exlusively in an ICCF Master Class tournament and have been having good results so far, I'll post my finished games below. But as I use it, I still have some thoughts and questions:

1. Do you have any preference on analyzing deeply or not deeply per task? I have a year or two old i7 6-core processor, so my computer is fairly powerful, but I can't help but think that based on how IDeA works and how the analysis is structured, it might be better to use shorter depth/time controls per task to simply run through a lot more tasks per time. Because IDeA continues to prolong lines and minimax the tree, it seems like shorter depth/task isn't a huge deal - it might be better to simply have a tree with two times as many positions at shorter depths. Maybe I'm wrong here.

2. Have you had any luck using IDeA in the Mar Del Plata? Computers have a hard time with this line in general because of the heavy sacrificial attacking resources Black has that frequently feature quiet moves, combined with the fact that the positions are very closed, but IDeA might be struggling even worse. It just generates so many alternatives, and in each one usually fails to reach the depth and find all of the necessary moves for Black, even given large amounts of time. There are just too many branches. I tried using the "aggressive" tree option, but that might be just making it worse. The use of the thematic moves perhaps helps some, but I'm not sure what format those strings need to be in for Black - sometimes I notice it's not always checking them. Maybe I need to move to longer time/depth and limit the White alternatives to 4-5 just to make sure it's focusing on a smaller subset of the positions. I make progress by linking the projects and inserting analysis of my own and games from databases, but it's really not enough to make good progress.

3. I am currently using 2014 - it crashes on me overnight probably 70% of the time. I wake up and it's not responding. Does this happen to you? Do you know if the upgrade to 2015 is worth it?

4. What is your approach with the tree shapes? I have been using low time/depth and "aggressive" at first to fill up the tree with a ton of a moves for a few days, and only then moving to thinner shapes like Default or Moderate, occasionally Longest to focus on the most important moves, always moving the roots around as needed and highlighting moves green, etc. Just wondering what other people were doing as far as IDeA strategy was concerned.

Thanks!
...

Hi, Tony!
I'm, glad you are deep enough in IDeA, so we can discuss pluses and minuses of this outstanding tool for analysis!
1. "...it might be better to use shorter depth/time controls per task to simply run through a lot more tasks per time."  Yes! 10 seconds (max 15) "and" 21-23 moves must be enough for most tasks.
2. Of course, Mar Del Plata is a real test for the good correspondence chess players! "How to" do it?
Well, first, you'll have to import all the moves from the played correspondence and high quality OTB games in the concrete variation you're interested in. [Create an IDeA project with a "root" (say 14...Nh5) - the starting point for your analysis job. Copy all the quality games you could find after this move, make a pgn out of them, paste it in your Sandbox, put the cursor after the initial (12...Nh5) move, right click with your mouse, "copy rest of moves" and paste them in your created IDeA project (after 12...Nh5) using "join moves" option. Then, stepping on every move in the variations you can make it task for analyzing or create an alternate task with the appropriate button on the top of the program window.] Secondly, you can create additional "roots" on the main moves you're interested in (say after 14...Rf7, 16...Bf8, 18.b5, 20.Nxb5 and so on..). Thus, IDeA, when creating tasks, will turn special attention to the positions you gave as "roots" and will create much more tasks for these positions. You can make thousands of "roots" if you want, but usually it's not necessary. The best method is to create additional "roots" after moves that can be countered with many variations. Of course, a root after, say, 19.cxd6 would not be necessary if you see that 19...cxd6 is the only answer. As for Mar Del Plata and the tree shapes, first use "aggressive" shape, then "tactical", next can be "wider", then "default", then "moderate" and the "longest" one in the very end.. And, please, do not stop entering "your" moves pressing the buttons on the top of the IDeA interface for analysis or alternatives! The engines are often blind for the best moves, especially in the Mar Del Plata variation. If you doubt an IDeA evaluation after a specific move, you can start an "infinite analysis" (put the mouse cursor after it and press the appropriate "infinite analysis" button on the top of the IDeA interface) with one of your six IDeA engines right into the project, leave it for some time and you'll see the line and the evaluation of the engine (while the other 5 engines will continue their work on the project). You can stop it by clicking with your mouse on the task (usually a white one) and while seeing the line the engine is counting on, press the underlined "finish task" below the tasks row. Then your engine will stop its infinite analysis and will take its usual job..
3. I used all the Aquarium versions since 2012 - now I'm on 2015 which is more stable than the 2014 version. My advices: Make a backup copy of the Aquarium "Data" folder every day (after stopping the analysis and exiting the program)! Aquarium is a buggy program, so use it simply - do not make connections between IDeA and Aquarium's database games. Copy and paste moves between Sandbox and IDeA interfaces is better than making connections between them and run an infinite analysis from the Sandbox while sending the analysis lines in the IDeA to be expanded. Most of the bugs come from the complexity of this software.. Next, if you have too many projects and too many positions are already analyzed, your IDeA will become slow. And if you experience this issue, then make a backup of the Aquarium's "Data" folder, uninstall your Aquarium, delete the folder it leaves and install it again. Then use the "Import" option to import your projects from your backup Data folder! This will eliminate all the evaluations of the IA column, but will import all the evaluations from the IDeA analysis column, which are necessary for the program to start from where you've been before. And IDeA will be faster in minimaxing and creating tasks than it was before. What is more... There are tools which you can run from time to time - better handled in the 2015 version.. For example, go to the Sandbox, find the appropriate button "Verify" and use it to verify your IDeA  and "infinite analysis" trees as well as the "configuration folder". If  a tree turns red after verifying, then it is broken. The only way to save your work is to backup your Data folder, uninstall Aquarium and then install it again, configure it as it was before and import the broken project with the "Import" button. This will import only the safe lines out of your big broken tree, cutting the bad ones. Of course, the IA column with its evaluations will be empty, but the IDeA evaluation column will be all there - and this is enough to continue from where you've been.. Another tool for maintaining the system is "compress trees" which can be used by right clicking on the status bar (on the very bottom on the program while in Sandbox or in IDeA window) and choosing it from the menu that is opening.
4. Highlighting moves green (or red, or whatever..) is useless. The only real marks for the program are the "roots" - using them is the key! As I already mentioned, your good work with the "roots" will bring you the results you're after.. Don't stop using them, because they are guiding the otherwise blind program what to analyse. Aaah, and one more thing, my usual observation is that you will need more than 50.000 completed tasks analyzed after every move, in order to decide that your analysis is done.. And sometimes, in complex positions like in the Mar Del Plata variation, even 100.000 completed tasks are not enough to decide upon the best move.. Tough task, isn't it?  Wink
As for the "shapes" of the analysis tree, two or three years ago one of the best correspondence chess players in the world said that in the complex positions he usually leaves the software to analyse with 100 % wide tree for 4-5 days, then 75 % wide tree for 3 days, then 50 % wide tree for 2 days and so on... Well, as I suppose he must have had very powerful hardware then... And no, it's not necessary! 33 % wide tree is enough for most of the positions you analyse... 50 % wide tree is too much already and can be used only in very complex positions.
So far...so good! Feel free to ask if more questions arise!
By the way, a helpful link for an appropriate thread in a well-known forum:
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/board_show.pl?bid=9
Your truly,
Vass
  
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TonyRo
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Re: IDEA
Reply #43 - 02/02/15 at 18:45:11
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Revisiting this old thread to ask Vass or anyone else with IDeA experience some questions (if he/they have the time to answer me). I have been using IDeA exlusively in an ICCF Master Class tournament and have been having good results so far, I'll post my finished games below. But as I use it, I still have some thoughts and questions:

1. Do you have any preference on analyzing deeply or not deeply per task? I have a year or two old i7 6-core processor, so my computer is fairly powerful, but I can't help but think that based on how IDeA works and how the analysis is structured, it might be better to use shorter depth/time controls per task to simply run through a lot more tasks per time. Because IDeA continues to prolong lines and minimax the tree, it seems like shorter depth/task isn't a huge deal - it might be better to simply have a tree with two times as many positions at shorter depths. Maybe I'm wrong here.

2. Have you had any luck using IDeA in the Mar Del Plata? Computers have a hard time with this line in general because of the heavy sacrificial attacking resources Black has that frequently feature quiet moves, combined with the fact that the positions are very closed, but IDeA might be struggling even worse. It just generates so many alternatives, and in each one usually fails to reach the depth and find all of the necessary moves for Black, even given large amounts of time. There are just too many branches. I tried using the "aggressive" tree option, but that might be just making it worse. The use of the thematic moves perhaps helps some, but I'm not sure what format those strings need to be in for Black - sometimes I notice it's not always checking them. Maybe I need to move to longer time/depth and limit the White alternatives to 4-5 just to make sure it's focusing on a smaller subset of the positions. I make progress by linking the projects and inserting analysis of my own and games from databases, but it's really not enough to make good progress.

3. I am currently using 2014 - it crashes on me overnight probably 70% of the time. I wake up and it's not responding. Does this happen to you? Do you know if the upgrade to 2015 is worth it?

4. What is your approach with the tree shapes? I have been using low time/depth and "aggressive" at first to fill up the tree with a ton of a moves for a few days, and only then moving to thinner shapes like Default or Moderate, occasionally Longest to focus on the most important moves, always moving the roots around as needed and highlighting moves green, etc. Just wondering what other people were doing as far as IDeA strategy was concerned.

Thanks!

Oh, my games so far:





  
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trandism
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Re: IDEA
Reply #42 - 11/06/13 at 12:32:34
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Well, my question was about the situations when the number of projects exceeds the number of cores and whether the software allocates CPU core time equally or using some kind of scheduling algorithm for allocating time. E.g. 4 projects, 2 cores. Is the allocation something like 50% of each core per project or is it dynamic? My guess is dynamic - at least that's how I would it - but who knows?

  
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