Improve default parameters

This closes #80

HISTORY.rst

@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 History
 =======
 
+0.6.0-beta.1 (2020-08-24)
+-------------------------
+* Improve default parameters to be slightly more robust for most use cases and
+  be more in line with what a user might expect.
+
 0.6.0-beta.0 (2020-08-24)
 -------------------------
 * Add support for time per move matches (option ``st`` in cutechess-cli).

docs/parameters.myst

@@ -134,13 +134,13 @@ fitting process:
 * - `"acq_function"`
   - `-a --acq-function TEXT`
   - The search strategy used by the tuner. The following values are possible:
-    * `"mes"` (default): Max-value entropy search tries to sample points which
+    * `"mes"`: Max-value entropy search tries to sample points which
       yield a lot of information about the value of the optimum.
       A good allrounder strategy leaning on the exploitative side.
-    * `"pvrs"`: Predictive variance reduction search tries to sample points
-      which reduce the uncertainty of promising regions as much as possible.
-      Another good allrounder strategy, which compared to `mes` focuses more
-      on exploration. Is slightly more robust.
+    * `"pvrs"` (default): Predictive variance reduction search tries to sample
+      points which reduce the uncertainty of promising regions as much as
+      possible. Another good allrounder strategy, which compared to `mes`
+      focuses more on exploration. Is slightly more robust.
     * `"vr"`: Variance reduction picks points which reduce the overall
       uncertainty as much as possible. This is not useful to find the best
       configuration, but to fit the optimization landscape very precisely.
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ fitting process:
 * - `"rounds"`
   -
   - Number of rounds to play in the match (each round consists of 2 games).
-    [default: 5]
+    [default: 10]
 * - `"engine1_tc"`
   -
   - Time control to use for the first engine. Can be a non-increment time
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ fitting process:
   -
   - Specify, if cutechess-cli is allowed to adjudicate draws, if the scores of
     both engines drop below draw_score for draw_movecount number of moves.
-    Only kicks in after draw_movenumber moves have been played. [default: True]
+    Only kicks in after draw_movenumber moves have been played. [default: False]
 * - `"draw_movenumber"`
   -
   - Number of moves to play after the opening, before draw adjudication is
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ fitting process:
   - Specify, if cutechess-cli is allowed to adjudicate wins/losses based on the
     engine scores. If one engine’s score drops below -resign_score for
     resign_movecount many moves, the game is considered a loss for this engine.
-    [default: True]
+    [default: False]
 * - `"resign_movecount"`
   -
   - Number of consecutive moves one engine has to output a score below the
@@ -283,14 +283,18 @@ fitting process:
 * - `"plot_every"`
   - `--plot-every INTEGER`
   - Plot the current optimization landscape every n-th iteration. Set to 0 to
-    turn it off. [default: 0]
+    turn it off. [default: 1]
 * - `"plot_path"`
   - `--plot-path PATH`
   - Path to the directory to which the tuner will output plots.
     [default: plots]
 * - `"random_seed"`
   - `--random-seed INTEGER`
   - Number to seed all internally used random generators.  [default: 0]
+* - `"result_every"`
+  - `--result-every INTEGER`
+  - Output the current optimum, its score estimate and confidence intervals
+    every n-th iteration. Set to 0 to turn it off. [default: 1]
 * -
   - `--resume / --no-resume`
   - Let the optimizer resume, if it finds points it can use.

tune/cli.py

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def run_server(verbose, logfile, command, experiment_file, dbconfig):
 @click.option(
     "-a",
     "--acq-function",
-    default="mes",
+    default="pvrs",
     help="Acquisition function to use for selecting points to try. "
     "Can be {mes, pvrs, ei, ts, vr}.",
     show_default=True,
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ def run_server(verbose, logfile, command, experiment_file, dbconfig):
 )
 @click.option(
     "--n-initial-points",
-    default=30,
+    default=16,
     help="Size of initial dense set of points to try.",
     show_default=True,
 )
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def run_server(verbose, logfile, command, experiment_file, dbconfig):
 )
 @click.option(
     "--plot-every",
-    default=0,
+    default=1,
     help="Plot the current optimization landscape every n-th iteration. "
     "Set to 0 to turn it off.",
     show_default=True,
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ def run_server(verbose, logfile, command, experiment_file, dbconfig):
 )
 @click.option(
     "--result-every",
-    default=5,
+    default=1,
     help="Output the actual current optimum every n-th iteration."
     "The further you are in the tuning process, the longer this will take to "
     "compute. Consider increasing this number, if you do not need the output "
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def run_server(verbose, logfile, command, experiment_file, dbconfig):
 )
 def local(  # noqa: C901
     tuning_config,
-    acq_function="mes",
+    acq_function="pvrs",
     acq_function_samples=1,
     confidence=0.9,
     data_path=None,
@@ -239,12 +239,12 @@ def local(  # noqa: C901
     gp_initial_burnin=100,
     gp_initial_samples=300,
     logfile="log.txt",
-    n_initial_points=30,
+    n_initial_points=16,
     n_points=500,
-    plot_every=5,
+    plot_every=1,
     plot_path="plots",
     random_seed=0,
-    result_every=5,
+    result_every=1,
     resume=True,
     verbose=False,
 ):

tune/local.py

@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def _construct_engine_conf(
 
 
 def run_match(
-    rounds=5,
+    rounds=10,
     engine1_tc=None,
     engine2_tc=None,
     engine1_st=None,
@@ -187,11 +187,11 @@ def run_match(
     engine2_npm=None,
     timemargin=None,
     opening_file=None,
-    adjudicate_draws=True,
+    adjudicate_draws=False,
     draw_movenumber=1,
     draw_movecount=10,
     draw_score=8,
-    adjudicate_resign=True,
+    adjudicate_resign=False,
     resign_movecount=3,
     resign_score=550,
     adjudicate_tb=False,
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def run_match(
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    rounds : int, default=1
+    rounds : int, default=10
         Number of rounds to play in the match (each round consists of 2 games).
     engine1_tc : str or TimeControl object, default=None
         Time control to use for the first engine. If str, it can be a
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def run_match(
         Path to the file containing the openings. Can be .epd or .pgn.
         Make sure that the file explicitly has the .epd or .pgn suffix, as it
         is used to detect the format.
-    adjudicate_draws : bool, default=True
+    adjudicate_draws : bool, default=False
         Specify, if cutechess-cli is allowed to adjudicate draws, if the
         scores of both engines drop below draw_score for draw_movecount number
         of moves. Only kicks in after draw_movenumber moves have been played.
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ def run_match(
         engines drops below this value for draw_movecount consecutive moves,
         and there are no captures and pawn moves, the game is adjudicated as
         draw.
-    adjudicate_resign : bool, default=True
+    adjudicate_resign : bool, default=False
         Specify, if cutechess-cli is allowed to adjudicate wins/losses based on
         the engine scores. If one engine’s score drops below -resign_score for
         resign_movecount many moves, the game is considered a loss for this