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Subject: Re: move in *zero* seconds?

Author: Mike S.

Date: 07:13:38 10/08/00

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On October 08, 2000 at 09:35:04, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>(...)
>Programs only move in zero seconds in three cases that I know of.
>
>1.  book move.  The assumption is that someone/something has already spent
>a lot of time in choosing these moves.
>2.  forced move (only legal move).  There is no reason to search at all if
>you have no choice, legally.
>3.  Pondering.  These moves are not really made in zero seconds.  It just so
>happens that all the calculation was done while waiting on the opponent.
>
>Humans do exactly the same thing.  I have seen them make several 0-second moves
>in a row.  I am not sure why you think this is a problem?

Thanks for adding the special situations (1.) and (2.) which I forgot; I think
this cases are possible exceptions from a general situation, where a human
opponent just can't move in zero seconds. Maybe it's possible at chess servers,
when the human player's program has a "premove" function or something - or the
player is a blitz expert with a very fast hand. But I was thinking of the fact
that a human opponent has at least to make some physical movement normally,
which the computer doesn't need to do, and I think this might be unfair (I'm not
a blitz player mayself).

Btw., in the other "unfairness" discussions I always expressed the opinion that
computers play under equal conditions and there is no unfairness at all, but in
this case of zero seconds (or 0:00.2 for example, which is more or less the same
in this respect) thinking time, I thought this may indeed not be fair.

Furthermore, it is known from engine matches that long sequences of moves are
"produced" at the end of some games with practically no calculation time,
because the programs can neither agree a draw, nor win, nor loose on time. Most
of this bad chess could be avoided by a minimum of 1 second per move probably.

I may be wrong - just an idea.

Regards,
M.Scheidl



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