DragonDraughts version 0.0 (beta)

What is DragonDraughts?
=======================
Dragon plays the game of international draughts.

This distribution contains:
README          - this file
dragon*         - The draughts program. (linux ELF executable)
xdragon*        - a simple script to run dragon with the correct options for
                  running under xwindows.
xboard.draugts* - the GNU xboard program, adapted for draughts.
		  (linux ELF executable)
databases/      - databases for all 3 piece and some 4 piece endings.
examples/       - a few example games/positions.
endings         - tells dragon which endgame databases to use.
patterns/       - includes 500 tactical patterns.
pattern_tree    - tactical pattern decision tree.
tables/         - the opening book (5000 positions).
dragon.man      - the manual for the text-based dragon program.
src/            - the source code of dragon and the database
                  generation code.
generate.man    - manual for the database generation program.

INSTALLATION
============
If you are not running a linux (elf) system you need
to recompile dragon and xboard with

	'make'
or
	'make dragon'

to get the text version only.

If you have root permission on your system, you may wish to
move the program to the appropiate directories with 

	'make install'

which copies the files to /usr/local/lib/dragon. For each
file dragon tries to find its files in both '.'
and /usr/local/lib/dragon. '.' has priority.

If you don't do X first read the manual and type
	'dragon'.
Under X never mind the manual and type
	'xdragon'.

ENDGAME DATABASES
=================
The documentation of this section is under development!

If you want the (extra) 4 piece databases you can find them
on the www site or generate them yourself with

  	'make databases'

This takes about 4 hours on a 16 Mb pentium 100.
If you want 5 piece databases you have to edit
the 'src/database.c' file.
This requires 32 Mb ram(64 Mb is strongly preffered),
300 Mb HD space and a lot of virtual ram. Execution time is a
couple of weeks. You also have to edit the 'endings'
file to get the databases actually into dragon.

KNOWN BUGS/PROBLEMS WITH DRAGON
===============================
- It loses sometimes :-)
- the time mechanism doesn't like takebacks. (text-based version)

KNOWN BUGS/PROBLEMS WITH XBOARD.DRAUGHTS
========================================
- Only small pieces are supported (*)
- It is unable to read games.
- Unable to read/write positions (*)
- show thinking not supported
- hint/book not supported
- ics not supported (will never be)
- ambigious moves can not be resolved; edit the position
  if this happens (typically once in a hundred games)

If you want to contribute, you can try to solve those marked
with a (*).

COPYRIGHT
=========
About 'dragon':
Permission to use, copy, and distribute this software and its
documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,
provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
supporting documentation.

All rights reserved.

Dragon has been written by Michel Grimminck, 1996.

About 'xboard':
Xboard has its own copyright license, which is included in the
xboard directory.

NOTES
=====
The distribution is called 'DragonDraughts' to avoid
confussion with other programs that have the 'Dragon'
in their name. The program itself is called 'dragon'.

Dragon has been created on a Linux-1.99.14 elf system,
P100, 16 Mb, compiled with gcc-2.7.0 .

Dragon has participated in the Open Dutch Computer Draughts Championchip 1996,
where it got 7 points in 8 games (2 points for a win, 1 for draw).
Not an impresive score, but I think it plays very strong compared to
most humans. (I never win against it) Playing strength continues to
improve ofcourse.

HOW TO HELP
===========
If you like to contribute to this program, the best
thing you can do is to play against it, and send in
bug-reports. What I especially want is games in which
the program loses, or misses a win. A note that says
which moves are wrong and why would be great.

This version expires after Oct. 1 1996, after which
the program will continue to work as before. However
after this date you are asked to upgrade to a newer
version, and refrain from sending bug-reports/games
concerning this version.

If you report a bug/louzy moves please state
which version you have, how much ram, which OS,
and which machine.

Michel Grimminck 12-June-1996
Email: grimmink@fwi.uva.nl  or  grimmink@phys.uva.nl

















