Author: David Rasmussen
Date: 02:11:53 12/14/00
Go up one level in this thread
On December 13, 2000 at 19:26:20, Robin Smith wrote: >On December 13, 2000 at 13:33:55, Bruce Moreland wrote: > >>On December 13, 2000 at 12:50:16, walter irvin wrote: >> >>>would most people considder chess to be solved if a computer had an oppening >>>database that always left the computer +2.50 when it was out of book and not >>>ever permitting the blocking of position??? with best play does anyone believe >>>that black does not lose ?? also if 100% represents the total number of legal >>>positions then what % make up positions that could SAFELY be reached vs strong >>>opposition ???(3% perhaps)and if that is the case then should that not be the >>>positions to solve??? >> >>There is no guarantee that this would solve chess, but the odds would be high >>that there is at least one forced win if white can force a +2.5 computer >>evaluation from the root. > >The likelyhood of chess being a win for white, with perfect play from both >sides, is very low. This is born out by computer-computer games, where the draw >percentage increases as search depth/time increases and also by the fact that >super GM vs. super GM games have a much higher draw rate than games by lower >rated players. In both cases as playing strength increases the percentage of >draws also increases. Strong evidence that chess is a draw. Also, in decisive >games one almost invariably finds that one of the players either made a mistake >or mistakes, or at the very least took unneccesary risks. And most strong >chesspayers believe a perfectly played game should end in a draw. When Kasparov >was once asked why he did not win a particular game he replied "Chess is a draw, >no?". > >So, there will NEVER be any computer opening database, no matter how big, where >computers (playing white) think the 1st position out of book is always at least >+2.50 for the computer .... unless the computer has a seriously flawed >evaluation, in which case it will hardly mean chess is solved. > >Robin Smith Many twoplayer zerosum games with perfect information have game trees that are dominated by draws close to the winning lines. Connect 4 is a win for white with best play, but with slightly less perfect play, it's a draw. There are many more draws, than wins. So unless players play perfect, in practice, there is a 55% win rate for white, as in chess. You have to remember that there may, in theory, only be 1 perfectly winning line for white, to make chess a win for white. If this is the case, and people haven't found this line, you're not going to see this in practical results. My personal belief is that chess is a win for white.
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