Author: Peter Kappler
Date: 23:24:15 01/20/00
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On January 21, 2000 at 01:16:56, Will Singleton wrote: >On January 20, 2000 at 22:25:42, Peter Kappler wrote: > >>>I think that more speed is not the answer, because at 15+ plies, you're already >>faced with with seriously diminishing returns per extra ply. Any tactics that >>exist in the position (or that a human would ever have a prayer of finding) have >>long since been discovered, so the computer's positional evaluation starts to >>become the limiting factor. And computer chess still has a long, long way to go >>in that area. As you've stated yourself in other threads, the GMs are getting >>better at exploiting these weaknesses. >> >>--Peter > >I'd have to disagree here. I don't see the diminishing returns as depth >increases. There are certainly tactics present at any depth, and one can >imagine a positional advantage at 18 ply that couldn't be seen at 17. > Imagine a slow chess program that can only search 5 plies in the middlegame. Even simple combinations will be beyond its search horizon. Now, take the same code, and put it on a much faster machine that can search 8 plies. The 8 ply machine will destroy the 5 ply machine. It won't even be close. The 8 ply searcher would probably win every game. At shallow depths, tactics are everything. Now lets imagine the same scenario, but with 15 plies vs 18 plies. The 18 ply machine will be stronger, but I think the games would be very closely contested, with lots of draws, and a few wins for the 18 ply machine. The concept I'm trying to illustrate is something that others have described as a "tactical sufficiency threshhold". It's a point (depth) beyond which forced tactical sequences are extremely unlikely. In short, if you compare an n-ply searcher to an n+3 ply searcher, the difference in strength will certainly diminish as n grows. >So, in the arena of comp vs human, speed is really the only answer. Or, more to >the point, in the absence of improved algorithms, speed would still do the job. Speed always helps. Beyond a certain depth, I just think knowledge helps much more. --Peter
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