Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 15:08:33 04/24/00
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On April 24, 2000 at 17:22:05, Peter Kappler wrote: >> >>I'm not sure I am a respectable chess programmer, but I want to ask something: >> >>Why is Crafty's management of pondering supposed to be superior to Fritz'? >> >>Why is pondering=off supposed to handicap Crafty more than Fritz? >> >>Who can seriously believe that Frans Morsch is so lousy that he cannot take >>advantage of pondering as well as Bob does? >> >> >> Christophe >> > >Good questions, Christophe, but don't be surprised if they go unanswered. > >This debate has been raging forever and I still haven't seen any convincing >evidence that "no-pondering" hurts Crafty more than it hurts other programs. > >--Peter You miss the point entirely. The point is that it _does_ hurt crafty. For several reasons. But to hit them again:: (1) it screws up the time allocation, because I assume I will save some time and I use it before I save it up. Without pondering, this doesn't happen. (2) I am very aggressive with null-move. As you reduce the time per move, there is a noticable point where Crafty will start getting killed by a program that doesn't use it as 'carelessly' as I do. This means that (1) above will cause (2) to happen since time trouble -> reduced search depth. I simply say that to play a match, you play the two opponents at their strongest (and best tested) settings. Not at some crippled level where we spend the next year arguing which is affected the most. The point is that _neither_ should be affected because chess programs are designed to use 100% of a machine while playing a game. Not 50%. Or 25%. But 100%. Anything less is harmful. Who cares how much? Go pull one spark plug out of two different cars. Neither will run worth a damn. Does the resulting race mean anything? Is it possible that this 'equal' handicap is really not equal? If you think so, check out the NorthStar Engine in Cadillacs. It wouldn't be too bothered at all, when compared to an engine that is not used to shutting down a couple of cylinders when they aren't really needed, or when the engine overheats. That is the point...
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