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

Author: Ed Schröder

Date: 21:51:49 07/18/00

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On July 18, 2000 at 21:58:45, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On July 18, 2000 at 16:49:19, Peter Kappler wrote:
>
>>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
>
>
>I would claim that point is nonsense.  You only have to read their papers on
>DT and DB to see what their search was doing, extension-wise.  It was quite
>sophisticated, as it proved over and over against micro programs in ACM events.

I would claim that point is nonsense. Chess is about playing the right
moves. We have seen machines with >200 processors losing all the time
from the micros. If memory serves me well no multi-processor system was
able to win the world champion title since 1992, Deep Thought included.
Chess isn't about ply-depth only. One little mistake and a game can be
over no matter how many processors are added. Chess is about playing the
right moves.

So it would be very interesting to have a set of critical positions (not
necessarily mistakes) from the DB-GK matches do a comparison.

Ed



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