1.0
First release of Black Marlin or BM for short.
Features:
Supports the UCI Protocol
NNUE trained on self-play
Classical Alpha Beta Search that supports LazySMP
NNUE:
The Neural Network comes embedded in the binary, and can't be deactivated. Due to major differences in design, Black Marlin neural networks can't/most likely won't be compatible with other engines' neural networks.
Search:
The search supports usage of multiple threads. The optimal number is most likely the amount of threads your CPU supports however a larger Hash will be required. An Elo gain of ~80 can be expected for each thread doubling.
UCI:
Black Marlin supports everything that is necessary to play a game of chess. Although it has a few additions that only work in the command-line interface.
Dev:
Calling eval will output what Black Marlin currently thinks of the position without doing any sort of calculations.
Calling detail will make Black Marlin output how much each square contributes to the total evaluation.
Calling detailsearch x will make Black Marlin output how much each square contributes to the total evaluation considering the future x moves.
Which Binary to Download? (Windows)
Before everything, the main branch on GitHub is always the strongest version and is configured to compile for the CPU of the specific machine. Building from source will always give you the strongest possible engine.
The binaries require the instructions in their names (e.g. blackmarlin-popcnt-avx.exe will require popcnt and avx instructions).
Binaries Ordered by Runtime Performance:
- AVX512F + POPCNT
- AVX2 + POPCNT
- AVX + POPCNT
- SSSE3 + POPCNT
- SSE2 + POPCNT
- SSE2
- No Instructions Included