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Subject: Re: A New Self-Play Experiment -- Diminishing Returns Shown with 95% Conf.

Author: Peter Kappler

Date: 12:30:17 05/24/00

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On May 24, 2000 at 15:08:15, Ernst A. Heinz wrote:

>Dear Fellow Computer-Chess Enthusiasts,
>
>In view of the current discussion about diminishing returns in the thread
>"Ply Depth in Relation to ELO again", I like to share the results of my
>latest self-play experiment with you.
>
>The stunning outcome of the new experiment is that it shows the existence
>of diminishing returns for additional search in computer chess self-play
>with 95% statistical confidence, exemplified by the program "Fritz 6"!
>
>The title and abstract of my M.I.T. LCS Technical Report on the
>experiment follow below.
>
>***********************************************************************
>
>        ``A New Self-Play Experiment in Computer Chess''
>
>                         ABSTRACT
>
>This paper presents the results of a new self-play experiment in
>computer chess. It is the first such experiment ever to feature search
>depths beyond 9 plies and thousands of games for every single match.
>Overall, we executed 17,150 self-play games (1,050--3,000 per match)
>in one "calibration" match and seven "depth X+1 <=> X" handicap
>matches at fixed iteration depths ranging from 5--12 plies. For
>the experiment to be realistic and independently repeatable, we relied
>on a state-of-the-art commercial contestant: "Fritz6", one of the
>strongest modern chess programs available. The main result of our new
>experiment is that it shows the existence of diminishing returns for
>additional search in computer chess self-play with 95% statistical
>confidence, exemplified by the program "Fritz6". The diminishing
>returns manifest themselves by declining rates of won games and
>reversely increasing rates of drawn games for the deeper searching
>program versions. The rate of lost games, however, remains quite
>steady for the whole depth range of 5--12 plies.
>
>***********************************************************************
>
>Please find the full report in gzip'ed PostScript format at the URL
><http://supertech.lcs.mit.edu/~heinz/ps/new_exp.ps.gz>.
>
>Any comments welcome!
>
>=Ernst=



Wonderful work, Ernst.  Thanks.

--Peter




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