SCID vs PC

Those steps work for me.  You'll have to switch the engine off at the end, since it doesn't switch off automatically at the end of analyzing the game.  (A "bug" I hope will be fixed in some future version.)  And you'll then have to switch over to the PGN window, to see the analysis.  But yes, those steps should work.  If it's not working for you I can't imagine what might be wrong.

@ MrEdCollins : No need to switch off the engine at the end of analysis. It works for me without any problem

ive just tried the analysis again using the steps above and ive got the same problem

In the Annotate Mode, no matter which engine I use, at the end of the game the engine continues to analyze the final position.  I tried it again now, with different games and different engines.  Same result.  The Annotate Button undepresses (is that a word?) itself, but the engine continues to analyze.  You have to click the Stop Engine button to force it to stop.

This is with Scid vs. PC version 4.11 (Dec 1, 2013)

Ive another question

Ive just played against stockfishDD at 30mins time control with permanent brain on. the game was shockingly easy for me so i presume i have the settings configured wrong.

i expected to be wiped out. the game is below. can anyone advise on how to configure the engine so that it plays strongly. im only 1300 ELO and Tarrasch Toy Engine has been beating me consistently at beginner level 5 on Lucas Chess.

From Move 10 on it really played some strange pawn moves

I also use scidvspc 4.11. but i dont need to stop engine. dont know why theres a difference in our gui.

> Ive just played against stockfishDD at 30mins time control with permanent brain on. the game was shockingly easy

Perhaps you have "Skill Level" reduced in UCI settings ?

> In the Annotate Mode, no matter which engine I use, at the end of the game the engine continues to analyze the final position.

This is now changed. Engine stops in the recent windows 32 beta.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/scidvspc/files/windows-beta/scidvspc_20140216.zip/download

Recent changes include
* Allow reordering of docked window tabs with drag and drop
* Allow removal of "GM ", "IM " prefixes via the player spellchecker
(you'll need the new spelling.ssp from here -)
https://sourceforge.net/p/scidvspc/code/HEAD/tree/spelling.ssp?format=raw
* new approach to Depth-based engine analysis (probably still bugs),
and Stop analysis at end of annotating a single game
* Make 'scoreToMate' work better and faster
* Game history persists between sessions
* Some filter bug-fixes for when copying games in the switcher.
* Booktuning nextmove is now highlighted, and widget is padded tighter.
* Bug fix for wish8.6 with undocked windows
(thanks to Enrico for finding this, and driving me crazy in the process :>)
* Undo/redo refinement/fix for when buffer has been full
* Some sound restructure - still not great though.
* Disable engines when playing a FICS game.
* pgn export tweaks (piece translations shouldnt be exported)

I dont see where the option is to change skill level in UCI settings

I uninstalled Scid vs Pc and downloaded again from the sourceforge website and Installed again just in case it didnt set up correctly first time.

i ran the analysis again and i have the same problem. no analysis annotaion is added to the game when analysis is finished.

when i choose my settings after pressing annotate button there is no ok button in the dialog screen and that is even after i put the Task bar bar on the left of screen. do you think the lack of the Ok button is the problem

i use windows 8.1 64bit. the screen is below

lack of ok button isnt a issue, because once u choose the annotate window and hit enter, it starts analysis. 

i missed Edcollins post at number #421

thanks for clarifying. i understand the search depths better now

Stockfish DD UCI Settings.  Notice SKILL LEVEL in the lower right column:

Thanks

what should these settings be set to.  For example is the current setting of 20 considered high or low

and

what time control and thinking time should be set. 

i normally play 30min games and occasionally 90/30. does the 30min time control limit how strong or what depth the engine can think.

I wasn't aware of this app - very nice.  I also see that the author also has a program called ChessOCRPict for those of us that don't have a camera on our Android device (I have JB running on Nook HD), but can send in the picture.  I'll have to try this out tonight.

MOST players, including me, usually leave most all these settings alone, and leave them at the program defaults.  But there are a group of players that love to tweak them, in an attempt to get more out of the engine.  I myself have never touched SPACE, or PAWN STRUCTURE ENDGAME, for example.

The higher the number, the stronger the setting.  Unless you want to dumb-down the engine, SKILL LEVEL should be left at 20, for example.

Notice this version of Stockfish only allows one thread.  There are development versions of Stockfish that allow 8 threads.  The more threads, the better, of course.

As far as time controls that you use to play against, that's up to you.  You can give yourself more time, or an increment, or both, to give yourself more of a chance against the engine.  You can give the engine a max of x number of seconds per move, or give it a fixed depth.  Playing with these Configure UCI Game options, along with the UCI SKILL LEVEL setting, should allow you to find a combination that will give you a competitive game against the engine, if that's your goal. 

(When I play against the engine, I don't like to dumb it down.  I want it to crush me, so I can learn how to to do the same thing to others.)

I want the engine to play strong also. thats why i was surprised the way it played in the game on previous page. i didnt dumb the engine down.

i never went near the settings apart from setting the time control for both me and the engine to 30mins and truning permanent brain on.

i shouldnt be beating stockfish so i presumed something is wrong. 

does permanent brain weaken the engine in time control games

If anything, having permanent brain on would strengthen it a bit, since it's also thinking on your time.

You must have had the engine dumbed down; Either that, or you somehow got the engine drunk on its butt. Were you using Scid vs. PC or Lucas Chess?

P.S. You are missing a golden opportunity - Your task is clear. You must immediately start a new thread with a title like, "I Just Beat Stockfish DD at Full Strength with One Hand Tied Behind My Back!!!!!!!!!!". We would expect nothing less on this forum.

I played it on Scid vs Pc and never touched the settings apart from above. 

Something is clearly wrong when you look at the moves it played form 10 on.

When you press Play Computer-UCI engine a dialog windwo opens and the default thinking time is 6 seconds and search depth is 3. I left this as it was.

I set the time control for 30mins for me and 30mins for stockfish.

i turned permanent brain on and Tutor is watching on.

Maybe because Permanent brain and tutor were on at same time it took away from engine.

What settings should i use to make sure it plays at its maximum strength

I think you may have found a bug; I'm getting similar results.

I opened Scid vs. PC 4.11 and clicked on Play --> Computer - UCI Engine. I used the supplied Stockfish engine (which is Stockfish 240813 x64). I didn't change any of the engine configurations, and I verified that the skill level was set on the default of 20. I set the time control to 30 minutes for each player, and I turned on "permanent thinking" and "coach is watching".

And then I destroyed the engine. The coach did periodically tell me when I would make a bad move and ask if I wanted to take it back, but I'd say no, and then it would proceed to make an even worse move.

There is definitely something wrong here, and the bug will have to be tracked down by someone.

P.S. I will now start a new thread, "I Beat Stockfish At Full Strength - I Am The World's Best Player!!!!!!!".

thats what happened with me.  it kept saying i think the last move you made was bad and then it would go and make even worse moves as i showed in the game window.

how do i use the quote function?