The Syzygy 6-men EGTB system is the recommended table base solution for Houdini.

For the Syzygy EGTB support you'll need to install the Syzygy EGTB files. At the time of writing all the Syzygy files are available for torrent download at http://oics.olympuschess.com/tracker/index.php. The 3-4-5-men Syzygy are also available for direct download at http://olympuschess.com/egtb/sbases.

Update: the 6-men Syzygy are now also available as HTTP download, see http://tablebase.sesse.net/syzygy.

The total size of the 3-4-5-men files is 938 MB (290 files), the 6-men table bases require 149 GB (730 files).

 

For the Nalimov EGTB support (Houdini Pro only) you'll need to install the Nalimov EGTB files. At the time of writing they are available for download at the address ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt/TB or http://tablebase.sesse.net. Download all files and save them in a directory on your hard disk. The total disk space required for the 3-4-5-men table bases is about 7 GB (290 files in total).

Alternatively you can order the tables on DVD from several suppliers, this is probably the more efficient way of obtaining the 6-men Nalimov table bases.

 

SyzygyPath

Folder(s) containing the Syzygy EGTB files. If multiple folders are used, separate them by the ; (semicolon) character.

Example: C:\tb\Syzygy345;C:\tb\Syzygy6

 

NalimovPath (Houdini Pro)

Folder containing the Nalimov EGTB files.

 

NalimovCache (Houdini Pro)

Amount of Nalimov EGTB cache memory in MB.

Default 32, min 4, max 1024.

 

EGTB Probe Depth

Minimum search depth for EGTB probing.

Default 1, min 0, max 99.

The default value is useful for Syzygy table bases on a fast SSD drive (the recommended usage). Increase the value when the table bases reside on a slower, mechanical hard disk.

For more detailed explanations, see the EGTB support topic.

 

EGTB Fifty Move Rule (checkbox)

Default true (checked).

When this option is enabled (the default value), the Syzygy probing will take into account the 50-move rule. Win conversions that take more than 50 moves (so-called "cursed wins") are considered a draw.

When this option is disabled, the Syzygy probing will discard the 50-move rule and cursed wins will always be considered won.