Author: Michael Neish
Date: 21:03:59 01/11/00
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On January 11, 2000 at 21:46:38, Roger wrote: >Excerpt from the interview: > >"For instance, if you were to remove the database, you can >have a computer ten times faster than it is today. Ten >times faster than Deep Blue, easily. If it couldn't >consult its opening book, my result would improve >immediately. I think most of the top twenty, thirty >players could beat Beep Blue if it wasn't allowed to >consult an opening database. Or, even the opening >database is restricted to a certain size. What happens >is, their opening database is almost 400-500 MBs of >information. It has access to all the games that are >played but we have to remember all that. Or, if I am >allowed to have a computer with me, okay, I can't check >my thoughts but I can see what was played at any given >time. My result would then go up." And where do you draw the line anyway? It's a shady area I think. While Anand can't remember every single game played by every GM and IM in the last century, I suspect he has his own private little database in his brain concerning every game he's played and quite a few that others have played, not to mention his opening repertoire. Is it okay to deprive a computer of this knowledge and allow the human to use it? And if you choose to deprive a computer of its database, next thing you know someone might suggest that hash tables are unfair since they are a temporary database of thousands of positions of which the computer will have perfect memory. But a human doesn't search and research lines either: during a game she or he remembers lines which are good and bad. Endgame databases are probably another issue. And while we're at it, search routines are unfair too, since a computer is making and retracting moves in order to look ahead. Humans aren't allowed to move pieces are they? And on and on ...... It'll be interesting to see what happens when computers finally start to defeat GMs at tournament time controls on a regular basis. Any estimates on how long this will take? Mike.
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