The ringmaster ============== The ringmaster is a command line program which arranges games between |gtp| engines and keeps track of the results. See :doc:`ringmaster_cmdline` below for details of the command line options. .. contents:: Page contents :local: :backlinks: none Competitions and runs --------------------- .. index:: competition The ringmaster takes its instructions from a single configuration file known as the :doc:`control file `. Each control file defines a :term:`competition`; the :ref:`output files ` for that competition are written to the directory containing the control file. .. index:: run A competition can take place over multiple invocations of the ringmaster (:dfn:`runs`). For example, a run can be halted from the console, in which case starting the ringmaster again will make it continue from where it left off. Competition types ----------------- The ringmaster supports a number of different :dfn:`competition types`. These are divided into :dfn:`tournaments` and :dfn:`tuning events`. In a tournament, the ringmaster plays games between predefined players, in order to compare their strengths. The types of tournament are: Playoff tournaments In a playoff tournament the control file explicitly describes one or more pairings of players (:dfn:`matchups`). Each matchup can have separate settings. All-play-all tournaments In an all-play-all tournament the control file lists a number of players, and games are played with the same settings between each possible pairing. In a tuning event, the ringmaster runs an algorithm for adjusting player parameters to try to find the values which give strongest play. See :ref:`competition types` for full details of the types of tournament and tuning event. Using the ringmaster -------------------- .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 3 :titlesonly: competitions results ringmaster_cmdline settings competition_types Error handling…