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Subject: Re: Chess System Tal II

Author: Geoff Lane

Date: 07:12:10 10/12/03

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On October 11, 2003 at 10:58:40, James T. Walker wrote:

>On October 11, 2003 at 00:57:53, Michael Agnos wrote:
>
>>On October 10, 2003 at 12:11:30, Tord Romstad wrote:
>>
>>>On October 10, 2003 at 05:36:02, ludicrous wrote:
>>>
>>>>CSTal 2 is the one program you CANNOT be without.
>>>
>>>Yes.  CSTal is still the best (not strongest) chess program I have ever played
>>>against.  Clearly a "must have" for any Windows computer chess enthusiast
>>>who actually likes to *play* against the programs, rather than just running
>>>engine-engine matches and using the programs as analysis tools.
>>>
>>>Tord
>>
>>
>>Yes!  I completely agree.  I have Fritz 7 and Chessmaster 6000, but for pure
>>playing pleasure, CSTal is the most fun because of its almost human style of
>>play.  This is *not* to say CSTal is easy to beat, however.  Without severely
>>crippling it, CSTal has beaten me every time, (except for a few draws by
>>repetition.)
>>
>>Here's an interesting essay by the developer of CSTal, Chris Whittington,
>>describing his programming methods:  http://www.thorstenczub.de/complcss2.html
>>It seems to me that with more developement, CSTal could be a world beater!  warm
>>regards, Mike in California
>
>That's what Chris wanted everybody to believe.  I was one of his supporters and
>played CSTal-2 on an ICC computer account for a while.  The problem is when his
>program was compared to the real programs of his time CSTal came up very short
>on producing wins.  He is a self proclaimed genius and his way is the only way
>to go.  I could live with that if he had stuck to his ideas and continued his
>work.  He turned out to be a quitter when his program turned out disappointing
>results.  Maybe he didn't have as much faith in his ideas as he claimed.

Maybe he preferred to become a millionaire by selling his business instead of
trying to prove a point. Who wouldn't?

Geoff

  I
>would have loved to see him prove his ideas by continuing to improve CSTal-2.
>It is still a fun program to play against but cannot keep up with the
>"Artificial Stupidity" based programs of even his own time much less today.  Too
>Bad he quit.
>Jim



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