Author: Stephen A. Boak
Date: 17:26:41 12/05/99
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On December 05, 1999 at 18:53:32, James Robertson wrote: >On December 05, 1999 at 15:14:08, Peter Hegger wrote: > >[snip] > >>I think a fair ratio would be 2150 positionally and 2750 tactically. To say they >>are only 1600 positionally is absurd in my opinion. > >[snip] > >Why is there even this discussion? You guys are just picking numbers out of the >air. > >James Lighten up, James! Abstract thinking (including formation of opinions) based on concepts not reduced to concrete calculations is the fertile background for creative ideas that eventually may bear fruit. Don't stifle the free thinking, please! Actual program improvements start with ideas, even the unproven ones. They start with judgements, even the unfounded ones. They start with the free exchange of ideas, both the good and bad, the empirically deduced as well as the gut feelings. When a programmer creates or improves a program, doesn't he often judge (not calculate) in what aspect the program is weakest and then spend his time trying to improve that aspect--even if the surmise is just 'picked out of the air' without exact calculation but only gut feel. For example, does the programmer have to know whether the lack of coding handling Bishops of opposite color endings or the lack of coding handling KQP vs KQ endings (before tablebases, that is!) has caused his program exactly 50 lost rating points or 60 lost rating points, in 2% or 13% of its games, in order to determine which is worth pursuing next? No, he only needs to have an opinion on how the program is weak and a feeling as to whether the coding effort will be worth it (to him, the programmer) to tackle right now. Even the most sophisticated of chess programmers started with simplistic ideas in their attempts to understand chess and chess programming on a computer. Don't try to stop basic discussion even if you hope more for the Hyatt, Theron, Ban, and Schroder type expert programmer input. CCC readers include a broad gamut of types and interests, from the beginner programmer to the sophisticate. Have a heart, man. There are many more threads in this forum worth complaining about--that waste more bandwidth and don't contribute even a single opinion to the computer chess subject. --Steve Boak
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