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Subject: Re: New SSDF-list!!!

Author: Enrique Irazoqui

Date: 06:08:12 02/01/00

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On February 01, 2000 at 08:07:18, Albert Silver wrote:

>On February 01, 2000 at 00:58:37, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On January 31, 2000 at 09:38:21, Enrique Irazoqui wrote:
>>
>>>On January 31, 2000 at 09:30:27, Amir Ban wrote:
>>>
>>>>On January 31, 2000 at 07:48:02, Albert Silver wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On January 30, 2000 at 13:36:38, Hans Christian Lykke wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>-  Games   Won  Oppo
>>>>>>                                           ------  ---   --- -----   ---  ----
>>>>>>   1 Junior 6.0  128MB K6-2 450 MHz          2706   38   -35   403   70%  2556
>>>>>>   2 Chess Tiger 12.0 DOS 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2682   37   -35   414   67%  2555
>>>>>>   3 Nimzo 7.32  128MB K6-2 450 MHz          2661   36   -34   420   68%  2530
>>>>>>   4 Fritz 5.32  128MB K6-2 450 MHz          2659   34   -32   474   65%  2548
>>>>>>   5 Junior 5.0  128MB K6-2 450 MHz          2629   35   -33   438   63%  2532
>>>>>>   6 Nimzo 99  128MB K6-2 450 MHz            2627   44   -42   278   64%  2526
>>>>>>   7 Hiarcs 7.32  128MB K6-2 450 MHz         2624   40   -38   347   66%  2505
>>>>>>   8 Chessmaster 6000  64MB P200 MMX         2574   61   -53   184   76%  2378
>>>>>
>>>>>Wow. Sorry if I forgot to convey my own congratulations to Amir and Shay. Like
>>>>>everyone else who doesn't yet have the program (notice the "yet"), I am
>>>>>extremely curious to play this newest of the wunderkinds. Afterall, it is the
>>>>>first to clearly sidestep the results of certain secret tests of certain
>>>>>secretive Spanish testers, showing a true evolutive step towards that elusive
>>>>>superiority of knowledge over tactics, allowing it to 'see' beyond its tactical
>>>>>boundaries. And not content with this you even released a patch improving it! My
>>>>>hat is off. Congratulations once more!
>>>>>
>>>>>                                     Albert Silver
>>>>
>>>>Thanks very much. And, yes, I was going to about the "secret test suite", but
>>>>you beat me to it.
>>>
>>>So the test goes to its original purpose. Still, all programs perform basically
>>>the same in the test and in the SSDF list, as Bertil and Christophe can confirm,
>>>and this includes Junior 5. The exception is Junior 6. Why! :(
>>>
>>>Enrique
>>
>>
>>No offense intended to the new #1, but your test does not take book quality and
>>book learning quality into account, Enrique.
>>
>>I have still faith in your test. It is too good to be damaged by one exception,
>>and the exception can be maybe explained by other factors.
>>
>>    Christophe
>
>Of course you could be right, but that means it would also be the first time a
>program's books (and learning) is so good that it defies Enrique's test suite.
>Afterall, the other programs all had excellent books, and apart from Tiger
>_some_ book learning. If it were just some new book learning (I doubt it is just
>the book) then he still has found something so well conceived, it is clobbering
>the competition. I realize finding Tiger (for DOS) fell victim to this a number
>of times must be quite annoying, but I don't believe this is the biggest issue
>here. Forget the results for a minute and look at the games in Enrique's
>tournament. I haven't seen it constantly better in the opening, killing the
>opposition as a result of it. It has been taking equal positions (sometimes even
>worse) and slowly outplaying its opponents. No big power tactics, just better
>moves, and Enrique's suite tests tactics.

I agree with you, Albert. Looking at the games it is clear that the book doesn't
explain the difference test-SSDF. What amounts to be unique to Junior 6, but not
to prior versions of Junior, is that it is the only program that deviates from
my test. Junior 5 doesn't, since the difference between its performance in my
test and in the SSDF list is within 2 Elo points, as shown in the list that I
posted here and emailed to Bertil and Christophe *before* the SSDF included
programs like Tiger and Nimzo 7.32. All other programs in that list fit well in
the correlation test-SSDF.

Enrique

> I could be completely wrong of course,
>but if I'm not, then we are looking at the first program (according to Enrique's
>suite) whose knowledge actually outweighs (not compensates) its tactical
>deficiencies. I know you dislike the whole search/knowledge comparisons,
>claiming they are the same, but it is simply wrong unless the search can reach
>deep into the endgame or avoid positional mistakes because of its depth.
>Sometimes, it CAN make up for it, but some mistakes may only become a real
>problem MUCH much later, far beyond the scope of the search, and can ONLY be
>avoided through knowledge. Perhaps when computers can search so deep they can
>see this, knowledge can be removed, but for the moment, this is the reality I
>perceive. I won a game in the endgame against Fritz 5.32 which should have been
>a dead draw, but it allowed me to break it's pawn structure, then tried to hold
>on to certain material instead of seeking greater activity (rook ending), and
>was finally killed with an eventual king infiltration. Knowledge would _easily_
>have saved it. The point is only to illustrate how important knowledge can
>really be. I played the same ending out of curiousity against Hiarcs BTW, and it
>_easily_ held the draw. Maybe you're right. Maybe it IS the book and the
>learning, but maybe it's something else.
>
>                                     Albert Silver



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