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Subject: Re: A pondering idea... [a more clear {hopefully} example]

Author: Miguel A. Ballicora

Date: 10:02:44 09/28/01

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On September 28, 2001 at 12:10:58, J. Wesley Cleveland wrote:

>On September 26, 2001 at 21:45:46, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>
>>Here is the problem..   I had to explain this to Komputer Korner a few years ago
>>as well...
>>
>>If you correctly predict your opponent's move at least 50% of the time, or
>>more, then the way we currently ponder can _not_ be improved on.
>[snip]
>
>This all assumes that saving time is linearly equivalent to playing better,
>which is not true. A simple counterexample is asymmetric time limits, e.g. you
>have 1 second to move and your opponent has 1 day to move. If you ponder only
>one move, you will often make a bad move when you do not predict correctly.
>More relevantly, when you are pondering a move past the time when you would move
>instantly, you are no longer saving time by pondering that move more deeply, and
>the question becomes: Is the increased probability of choosing the right move by
>pondering more deeply more valuable than the time you might save if you pondered
>another move ?

Good example, it could extrapolate to situations where a program is in time
trouble and the opponent has plenty of time.

Miguel




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