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Subject: Re: Which program plays

Author: Serge Desmarais

Date: 14:58:02 09/11/98

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On September 11, 1998 at 03:02:18, blass uri wrote:

>
>On September 11, 1998 at 01:23:39, Serge Desmarais wrote:
>
>>On September 11, 1998 at 00:01:10, Roy Brunjes wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>I think the subject says it all.  Of course this is a huge matter of opinion,
>>>but if a large group like this comes close to a consensus, then I'll consider
>>>the input valuable.  To me, human play contains more subtle,
>>>positional/strategic stuff as well as speculative sacrifices (fairly rare for
>>>programs I gather - though some claim Hiarcs 6 does spec sacs).
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>>
>>>Roy
>>
>>
>>   What does it mean "playing like a human"? If you look at the games of a
>>Petrosian and compare them with those of Tal, Fischer, Kasparov etc. you will
>>find that ONE SINGLE human style doesn't exist. Your question seems to imply
>>that humans play chess in a way, while computers/programs play another way. In
>>any given chess position, you do not have an infinite number of good/playable
>>moves, but still more than one (usually or at least often). Now, today's
>>programs do play moves that any human could/would play
>
>Sometimes computers play stupid moves that no human in the level of at least
>2000 elo could play.
>I cannot say it about grandmasters
>
>Uri

   Players rated above 2000 do make mistakes and blunders. Now, what is a
mistake, error or blunder, if not a "stupid move"? But I know what you mean
:`stupid moves made after an error in calculation (tactical error) aren't the
same as mistakes caused by a misunderstanding/misjudgement of a position. But I
am persuaded that for an important percentage of games, showing these without
naming the players, it would be tough (even for "specialists") to tell what
players were computers and in what games. That would be a nice test to do! I
think you would/could be surprised by the results. Note that I was surprised
too, when I looked at the games Deen Hergott (rated a little below 2400) vs
HIARCS 6.0. And I was even more surprised reading that IM Jean Hebert, from
Montreal, plays Fritz 5 in "Friendly mode" to have a fair chance of winning! He
said that himself in the chess magazine Echec + , July-August 1998, in an
article about how he is using Fritz 5 to train and revew his variations before
publishing his analysis. Note that Hebert is rated 2460 FIDE and 2507 at the
Quebec Chess Federation, so not a "weak" player...


Serge Desmarais



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