Re: [chessx-developer] Encoding moves

[Ejner B. <ej...@gm...>]

On 7/14/07, Michal Rudolf <mr...@kd...> wrote:
> Ejner Borgbjerg,  sobota, 14 lipca 2007:
> >I have thought loosely about file formats for implementing position
> >databases. One question that is also relevant for native game
> >databases, is how moves can be encoded. Of course, texts like "Nge2"
> >is wasteful of space. So, I was wondering if someone else here has
> >considered this ?
> Yes. Most straightforward idea is to encode piece index in first 4 bits of a
> byte and move direction in the next 4 bits. This allows to encode all moves
> for all pieces except for queen's diagonal moves.

Ok, so we can just use two bytes for a Q diagonal move. Sounds like a
reasonable suggestion to me. It may be possible to squeeze all moves
into one byte, but I fear this could get much more complex (!?)

Ejner