Author: Bruce Moreland
Date: 19:34:45 04/07/00
Go up one level in this thread
On April 07, 2000 at 08:05:56, Jeremiah Penery wrote: >On April 07, 2000 at 04:23:04, Tom Kerrigan wrote: > >>On April 07, 2000 at 01:29:39, Jeremiah Penery wrote: >> >>>On April 06, 2000 at 22:44:39, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >>> >>>>Isn't it possible for a human to reach a "won" endgame and still draw due to the >>>>50-move rule? >>>> >>>>What if a human says, "I know this endgame perfectly and I can win it in 51 >>>>moves." Why should a TD allow a computer to play out the game and not a human? >>> >>>When they play out the 50 moves and he shows that he converts in 1 (capturing >>>opponent's piece or mating), IMO he should get the win. According to the rules >>>this would be a draw, but it's a silly rule. >> >>I think it's a little silly if it obviously keeps someone from winning. >> >>However, the 50 move rule keeps you from having all sorts of stupidity, like a >>person who thinks he can win but he can't, so he refuses to draw. You don't want >>to play out that sort of position for hundreds of moves... > >I definitely agree. Pretty much the only thing I've said is that for computers, >especially with TBs, the 50-move rule is pretty silly. Because they _can_ >deliver the mate in >50 moves without an irreversible move, and without >depending on an opponent's slip-up. I think taking out the 50-move rule wreaks havoc on anyone who doesn't use tables. Imagine an amusing case. Program A has KRB and DTC tables, program B has KR and no tables. The position is drawn. They go back and forth for 40 moves, and B makes a mistake, which allows a mate or conversion in 11. At the 50th move, how is the game scored, won or drawn? What if program A had DTM tables, and it turns out that it overlooked an opportunity to convert in 10 moves, in favor of mate (with no conversion) in 11? Is that won or drawn? Just stick to the FIDE rules and leave these cases as drawing refuges, like the KP vs K stalemate, perpetual check, positions where ome side allows a third repetition by mistake, and 50-move draws where one side can't mate in KBN vs K. I don't want to see anyone get credit for a win if they sacrifice a queen for a pawn in order to go into a mate in 124. Leave this case drawn as incentive for people who use tables to figure out a way to use them sensibly, rather than taking them as-is and trying to get the rules changed so they don't have to think about the down-side to these things. bruce
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