Author: Terry Ripple
Date: 23:46:52 09/03/99
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On September 04, 1999 at 01:21:20, James Robertson wrote: >On September 04, 1999 at 01:03:26, Terry Ripple wrote: > >> >>When i run engine vrs engine matches i set it that each engine plays white and >>black in each opening, this way it totally makes it more fair! >> >>Regards,Terry > >I think not. It _will_ skew the results. > >For instance, say you pick the King's Indian and make both programs play it. It >is a very hard opening for a program to play because black accepts a big space >deficit in return for a kingside attack. Most (all?) programs don't understand >this and as a result white has a _big_ advantage. So if you play two games >between two engines, white has a good chance of winning both, even if one engine >is a lot stronger than the other. Ditto for all Gambits and even a lot of other >openings that 'seem' equal (and maybe for humans are). > >Maybe you pick a very tactical opening, or an opening that revolves around >kingside attack. Some engines are worse tactically than others, but rely on >their book to avoid tactical positions. This time, instead of the games being >skewed in favor of a certain color, they are skewed in favor of a certain >engine. > >My program's book is tailored to its needs, and fits its style. To separate the >two will result in a _big_ decrease in playing strength. > >James --------- Hi James, I thought about this and i believe that you have a very good point which i never really thought about! So what you are saying is if engine A should choose e4 and then engine B chooses d5 (Chosen frequently by CM6000)and it now leads into the Center Counter which CM6000 likes to play and now the next game i force engine A with black to play that exact line of the Center Counter, then this might not be tailored toward its style of play like CM6000 likes! I thought the top chess engines are "tactical monsters" and that a chess game is won by 99% tactics! So, are you saying that not all programmers are selecting their opening books based on this because they programmed a style in to their program to play more positionaly and choose closed lines of play rather than the open tactical lines, perhaps because their program is not as strong a tactical player? I have been playing a match between Hiarcs 7.32 and Crafty 16.13 (Single CPU) with a time control of 40/120 + 30/60. The match will randomly select a opening and then it will play that same opening again with colors reversed. I'am using the opening book of Hiarcs for both. Now i know that Hiarcs has more position sense than Crafty but the opening book don't seem to be hindering Crafty in the least because it's is doing quite well so far in the match. They played a total of 8 games so far with a score favoring Hiarcs 5 to 3. I know this is not nearly enough games to make an accurate judgement but it's a start and i'am not a rating agency trying to prove who's the best but only doing this for the enjoyment of playing over the games afterward and posting here for others who might enjoy the games. You can still enjoy some beautiful moves from the engine matches, even if they aren't optimized for their maximum strength! Best regards, Terry
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