Author: Mark Young
Date: 16:19:45 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= > >P.S. > >Electronic preprints of my earlier publications on the relationship >between computing power and playing strength of chess programs are >available from http://supertech.lcs.mit.edu/~heinz/ and the WWW >pages of "DarkThought" at http://supertech.lcs.mit.edu/~heinz/dt/. Thanks you for the data. I know if you would run this experiment with other programs you would also find diminishing returns. I think this is more to do with the "nature of chess" then to the chess program itself. At least I have not found a program that does not display diminishing returns.
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