pygo/gomill/docs/ringmaster.rst

72 lines
2.0 KiB
ReStructuredText

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 <settings>`. Each control file defines a
:term:`competition`; the :ref:`output files <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… <errors>