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Subject: Paris Some Afterthoughts on the Blitz Tournament

Author: Ingo Althofer

Date: 03:51:04 11/02/97


o   The Blitz tournament included some sportive elements: After each
round half the participants had to change places ( with tower,
monitor, keyboard, mouse, mouse-pad and all the cables ). For some
machines the equipment is more than 50 kg, so really heavy.

o   A good operator ( concentrated, familiar with the program. fast
    in moving the pieces and beating the chess clock ) is an important
    factor in Blitz computer chess. This may partly explain why
    Shredder was so successful, although it is in general a slow
    program. Even in its manual you find a sentence like "Don't expect
    too much in Blitz chess. Shredder is better in games under
    tournament conditions ( 40/2 ). The key point is that Stefan
    Meyer-Kahlen is an operator of professional calibre... Maybe
    his operating skills are good for 20 percent of Shredder's points.

o   In rgcc there was, several months ago, a discussion on a tactical
    barrier: If programs are searching deep enough, another ply will
    help only marginally compared to knowledge implementations ( say
    the supporters of the barrier theory ). Maybe on "Stefan's"
     Alpha 533  even a slow program like Shredder may have passed
    the tactical barrier already in Blitz chess ?! ( wild speculation)

Ingo Althofer.



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