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Subject: Re: typical: a sensation happens and nobody here registers it !

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 07:10:47 10/17/00

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On October 17, 2000 at 07:15:13, Enrique Irazoqui wrote:

>On October 17, 2000 at 07:08:32, Uri Blass wrote:
>
>>On October 17, 2000 at 05:56:11, Enrique Irazoqui wrote:
>>
>>>On October 16, 2000 at 21:12:58, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>
>>>>On October 16, 2000 at 17:06:38, Enrique Irazoqui wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On October 16, 2000 at 15:38:56, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On October 16, 2000 at 14:05:52, Chessfun wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On October 16, 2000 at 00:53:06, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>My take:  let's wait until the thing is released and see how it does.  Without
>>>>>>>>beta testers that exert a bit of influence over the program's time allocation
>>>>>>>>and book choices.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Can you prove this statement please;
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>There are no beta testers who exert any influence over book choice or
>>>>>>>time allocation. The program runs automatically on the server, the book
>>>>>>>is set.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Sarah.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I base it on the following.  I have played multiple gambit tiger clones.  They
>>>>>>are reasonably predictable in their time usage.  With a "couple" of beta
>>>>>>testers, the thing will go into a "deep think" that is _far_ longer than the
>>>>>>time one would expect for a move.  IE it moves consistently at 30-50 seconds per
>>>>>>move, then takes 10 minutes.  In a position where it did _not_ fail low.  I
>>>>>>believe that the operator simply wants to give it a chance to find something
>>>>>>that may (or may not) be there.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>It is my opinion, with no proof of course.  But it is _very_ common with _all_
>>>>>>engines.  ChessPartner makes it trivial for the operator to influence things.
>>>>>>I can do it with xboard if I thought that I somehow might know more about when
>>>>>>to spent more time than Crafty does...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>As far as proof, simply play a few fully automatic games at (say) 30 30 or
>>>>>>whatever time control you like, and then check the times.  See if you see any
>>>>>>case where it takes more than 10x the normal time per move, when the score did
>>>>>>_not_ drop _or_ rise during that search.  If you find such cases, I will
>>>>>>certainly retract my statement.  But in watching so many games of late, it
>>>>>>is obvious that something goes on "from time to time".  IE I see most programs
>>>>>>taking 2x-3x on fail lows.  And sometimes for other reasons.  But not 10x or
>>>>>>longer.
>>>>>
>>>>>I have seen it often enough, mostly under panic, but not always. Assuming that
>>>>>auto232 and automatic FICS are similar, you will see these 10x and bigger from
>>>>>time to time. The longest I have seen was almost 16x, but I don't remember if it
>>>>>was in panic time.
>>>>>
>>>>>When starting an auto232 match in DOS, it is good to set the /t parameter
>>>>>(timeout) to at least 10x, or else too many games will be terminated before they
>>>>>should. SSDF people can confirm.
>>>>>
>>>>>Enrique
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I don't believe this was a panic.  I let crafty search it overnight and the
>>>>score remained constant.  IE there was no reasonable explanation for taking
>>>>such a long time...  except that the position looked "right" for a deep
>>>>combination, one just wasn't there...
>>>>
>>>>Have you seen that sort of 'deep think'?
>>>
>>>What a perfect timing that just last night I saw this game Gambit 1.0 - Deep
>>>Fritz beta. Time control was 40/20 (30''/move average). Look at Gambit's move
>>>29.Qg5+ played after 545 seconds, which is 18x. Gambit wasn't failing at this
>>>moment, but had been in book for the first 27 moves and had plenty of time to
>>>spare. It doesn't happen often, of course, but now and then you do get these
>>>>10x.
>>
>>The average time per move is 30  second per move but if you consider the fact
>>that white was in book for 27 moves then is it 20 minutes/13 moves and the
>>average time for these 13 moves is more than 1.5 minute per move(assuming that
>>the program use the 20 minutes or almost all of the 20 minutes for 40 moves and
>>most programs do it) so it is only 6x and not 18x.
>
>Still 18x, no matter how you look at it in the context of this thread. Bob was
>surprised to see Gambit taking more than 2 or 3x and he doesn't know when it
>leaves book. Also, had you been autoplaying this game with a timeout <10x, it
>would have been terminated at move 29. 18x it is.
>
>Enrique
>
>>Uri


That certainly lowers my confidence in my original statement about human
intervention in time management...  although 18x sounds very dangerous...
it _could_ be related to the depth of the book line, which would then change
my mind a second time, as the book line I watched in the game I mentioned
was only 10 moves, and the deep think came 20 moves later.



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