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Subject: Re: But Not Yet As Good As Deep Blue '97

Author: Peter Kappler

Date: 13:49:19 07/18/00

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On July 18, 2000 at 16:03:28, Ed Schröder wrote:

>On July 18, 2000 at 14:08:54, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On July 18, 2000 at 11:38:01, Ed Schröder wrote:
>>
>>>On July 18, 2000 at 10:58:51, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>
>>>>On July 18, 2000 at 02:00:31, Ed Schröder wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On July 17, 2000 at 20:08:06, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On July 17, 2000 at 17:02:22, Peter Kappler wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On July 17, 2000 at 16:09:09, Amir Ban wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>On July 17, 2000 at 07:22:41, Graham Laight wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I'm afraid I still feel that Junior could have come out ahead (instead of
>>>>>>>>>level)in this tournament by beating Bareev and Khalifman - and possibly by not
>>>>>>>>>losing with such apparent ease to Kramnik. Continuing the game against Anand
>>>>>>>>>might possibly have gained an extra half point as well.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I think that Amir has an aspiration to make his program demonstably better than
>>>>>>>>>Deep Blue (this certainly comes across in his interviews published on the
>>>>>>>>>Chessbase Website coverage of Dortmund (www.chessbase.com) before the Kramnik
>>>>>>>>>game). If so, as a (hopefully!) impartial member of the viewing public, I'm
>>>>>>>>>afraid to say that I've yet to be convinced.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>As evidence, I point firstly to the games against Bareev and Khalifman. On both
>>>>>>>>>occasions when Deep Blue '97 gained an advantage over Gary Kasparov (who's a
>>>>>>>>>better player than anyone at Dortmund was), it parlayed that advantage into
>>>>>>>>>victory - whilst Deep Junior twice failed conspicuously to "slam in the lamb".
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I would also point to the game against Khalifman. Here we see Deep Junior lose
>>>>>>>>>to a combination of blocked centre and king attack - classic anti computer
>>>>>>>>>methods which have both been well known for a long time. They work because, in
>>>>>>>>>this case, nothing short of truly massive search depth is going to help you to
>>>>>>>>>make the correct moves.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>However, for both king attack and blocked centre, Deep Blue '97 demonstrated
>>>>>>>>>that it's evaluation knowledge was able to adequately handle the challenge.
>>>>>>>>>Indeed, in game 2 in '97, Deep Blue not only handled the blocked centre, it
>>>>>>>>>turned it into a win!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>It took Deep Blue 2 attempts to beat Gary Kasparov, the world's best player -
>>>>>>>>>maybe another year of work will push Deep Junior to a position where it can try
>>>>>>>>>to win these tournaments, instead of settling for a middling position.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>But let's not be completely churlish - Dortmund 2000 was indeed a fantastic
>>>>>>>>>performance by Deep Junior - and a landmark in computer chess history, since
>>>>>>>>>here is both a computer and a program which one can buy in the shops!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I disagree with most of this, but it's your opinion, and if experience teaches
>>>>>>>>us anything, it's useless to argue.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>For the record, I'm not trying to prove that I'm better than Deep Blue. I think
>>>>>>>>I've already shown this some time ago, and I'm not the only one who can say so
>>>>>>>>either.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Looking at the (very few) games of DB, I don't see that it had either better
>>>>>>>>evaluation or deeper search than today's top programs.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Amir
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I must say I'm skeptical, though I would have a good laugh if it were true.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Are you aware of any positions from the 2nd Kasparov-DB match where Junior (or
>>>>>>>any other micro) plays a clearly better move than DB?  Not that this would
>>>>>>>conclusively prove a thing - it would just be interesting.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>--Peter
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Or we can take a few of the positions from the DB log files and try them on
>>>>>>"top programs".  I'm not aware of any "top program" that can do 16-18 plies
>>>>>>in the middlegame...
>>>>>
>>>>>Please post these positions that would be fun and you might be surprised
>>>>>about the outcome. But the key-moves must be clear as there should be no
>>>>>discussion what is the best move. I for example don't believe the Rc6 vs
>>>>>Rc7 is a good position as this is a case of 0.10 (or so) in evaluation.
>>>>>
>>>>>Ed
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I am not talking about "key move" at all.  I am talking about doing a full-width
>>>>exhaustive search to depth 16-18 in the middlegame, in the same positions where
>>>>DB did 16-18 ply full-width searches.
>>>>
>>>>I don't believe _anybody_ can match their depth/speed.
>>>
>>>All fine but where are the promised positions from the log-files...
>>>
>>>Ed
>>
>>
>>I didn't "promise" any positions:
>
>Yes you are right after I read again. I thought you had some challenging
>positions for us poor micro users to compare. What a pity.
>
>Ed
>
>

I would suggest that we take a close look at some of the positions from game 1
of the '97 match.  It's the only game that DB lost.  Could the micros have
avoided some of those mistakes at tournament time controls?

BTW, I don't think it's interesting to compare search depths with the IBM
logfiles, as Bob has suggested.  I think Amir's original point was that Junior
searches as deeply as DB in the lines where it matters.

--Peter




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