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Subject: Re: Poll Question - Tournaments vs Matches

Author: Chris Carson

Date: 10:59:08 01/05/00

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On January 05, 2000 at 13:25:12, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On January 05, 2000 at 10:53:50, Bertil Eklund wrote:
>
>>On January 05, 2000 at 09:45:04, Chris Carson wrote:
>>
>>>For ELO measurements (FIDE, PCA, SSDF or combined).  Would a computer
>>>(or perhaps a person) get a higher rating in a tournament than in
>>>a match?
>>>
>>>My opinion is that a tournament is a better predictor of strength
>>>than a match.  My reason (not based on any facts, it would be an
>>>interesting study) is that in a tournament a person (or machine) would
>>>face a broader range of styles than in a match.  In a match, the person
>>>or computer might face an opponent that just plain does well against
>>>him/her/it (Even Fisher had a nimises).  Also, in match play, each
>>>player can book up on the opponent and may get an advantage that might
>>>not be there in a tournament (more players to worry about).
>>>
>>>So, I think a tournament is a better measure of strength than a match.
>>>
>>>Second question:  Would computer ratings benifit more from tournament
>>>play than match play?  I vote that tournament play would produce higher
>>>(more accurate) ratings for computers against people than match play.
>>>
>>>Just my two cents.  :)
>>>
>>>Best Regards,
>>>Chris Carson
>>Hi!
>>
>>You are right humans plays a lot better in single game matches and that is the
>>main reason between the discrepance between the SSDF-list and these matches
>>often with increment or double-increment time-controls.
>>
>>Regards Bertil SSDF
>
>
>Here I still disagree.  The SSDF list is simply grossly inflated.  Programs are
>not playing at a 2700 level, if by 2700 the word "FIDE" comes to mind.  The lack
>of human competition over the last 7-8 years has caused this, as
>machine-vs-machine ratings tend to get exaggerated.  I can't count the number of
>times I have made small changes to crafty that would cause version N+1 to beat
>version N by a 60-40 margin, yet the rating remained _exactly_ the same on ICC.
>
>Most versions will beat the earlier versions by significant margins, yet the
>overall skill level gain (against humans) is lower than what is suggested by
>taking the win/lose/draw score and running it thru the Elo formula.
>
>As I have said before, the pools are totally different.  The ratings are not
>comparable in any fashion until the two pools of players are merged and mingled
>enough that they can be treated equally.

Bob,

You know a lot more about this than I do.  I have a lot of respect for
your opinion on this (as well as Bertil). I do not mean this to be an
attack.  :)

My opinion: If the top programs played in a series of GM tournaments
(not matches), they would score 95% of the time in the range of their
SSDF ratings (plus or minus two error of measures).

Given (SSDF ratings):
1 Tiger 12.0  128MB K6-2 450 MHz    2696   44   -40   317   72%  2533
2 Fritz 5.32  128MB K6-2 450 MHz    2671   45   -41   297   72%  2506
3 Nimzo 7.32  128MB K6-2 450 MHz    2663   37   -35   409   69%  2526
5 Hiarcs 7.32 128MB K6-2 450 MHz    2636   42   -39   320   67%  2509
6 Junior 5.0  128MB K6-2 450 MHz    2619   54   -50   190   65%  2508

Note: I only include one version of Nimzo (the highest rated).

The top expected performance (in my opinion): 2696+44+44= 2784
The low expected performance (in my opinion): 2619-50-50= 2519

This means that I am 95% confident that the performance of
the above programs in GM tournaments would fall between 2519 and 2784.
I would expect a performance out side this range (lower or higher)
about 5% of the time.  :)

So I guess that a performance of 2519 would not surprise me, nor would
a performance of 2784.  A performance of 2419 (two more error of measures
lower) or a performance of 2872 (two more error of measures higher)
would surprise me.

Just my thoughts.  :)

Best Regards,
Chris Carson



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