Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 12:05:34 07/21/00
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On July 21, 2000 at 14:34:39, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >On July 21, 2000 at 01:12:16, Dann Corbit wrote: > >>On July 21, 2000 at 00:58:29, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >>[snip] >>>My point is that giving away your source code doesn't necessarily make you a >>>better programmer. Saying that Bob Hyatt is one of the top 5 chess programmers >>>(partially) because Crafty is open source is bogus. >> >>Crafty recently won a high profile internet event, with the best commercial >>engines participating also. >> >>Crafty is *without any question* the strongest freely available chess engine. >> >>To offer *THAT* source code to the public is a service so large it cannot be >>expressed properly, except in the most glowing terms. > >Actually, I can express it in less than glowing terms: >1) ICC is polluted with Crafty clones. That is pretty bogus. Before crafty, we were up to our armpits in gnuchess clones. Today, we have about as many tiger clones. With a few fritz clones sneaking in as people figure out how to automate them. Crafty isn't the 'majority' any longer I don't think... >2) Crafty clones show up at official CC tournaments. So? I know of at least one "Genius" clone that showed up at a WMCCC event. Does that make Lang "stupid"? Ditto for gnuchess clones. There will be others. >3) Why write your own program if Crafty's source code is open and it would take >years to make a program that beats it? Why build your own house when you can rent an apartment? Why build your own radio receiver when you can buy one ready made? Some want to know what goes on inside and do it themselves. Others want a ready-made 'thing' so that they can do something _else_ with their time. >4) People worship Bob only because he gives them free stuff. based on the comments I see here on CCC, I don't see anyone that "worships" me. Nor would I want to. I do what I do because I _want_ to do it, not because I _have_ to do it, or because I _should_ do it. It is all about _want_... Do people have to give _you_ something before you develop a friendship with them? If so, you ought to rethink that... > >I'm sure there are more reasons to be unhappy with Crafty, and I know I'm not >the only person who feels this way. > >>Crafty epitomizes all of the most efficient techniques in modern chess >>programming. > >Sure, if you like bitboards... > >-Tom Or even if you don't. Board representation is but a small part of a complete chess engine. Comments/internal documentation is important to. There is a plethora of _that_ in Crafty that has nothing to do with bitboards at all.
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