Author: José Carlos
Date: 05:52:43 02/14/01
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On February 14, 2001 at 06:18:48, Leen Ammeraal wrote: >When playing matches, it is obvious that >the number of games should not be too low >and the same applies for the time control >settings. However, my total time to play >and watch matches is limited so I am always >wondering what is best, many quick games >or few more serious games. For example, >which of the following alternatives is >best to estimate the relative strength >of two chess programs? > >12 games with 10 s per move, or >6 games with 20 s per move, or >4 games with 30 s per move, or >3 games with 40 s per move, or >2 games with 60 s per move. > >A related question is this: >If program A is stronger than program B >in a serious game (with realistic time >control settings), how likely is it that A >will also be stronger than B in a quick game? > >Leen Ammeraal 1st. It makes sense speaking of 'strong at blitz' or 'strong at long time controls', etc. so you can get very different results testing the programs the same number of games on different time controls. So, regarding time control, no one is better than the others, it's more a matter of what you like best. 2nd. The more games, the more accurate strength measurement. Now, what is the answer to your question? As I assume you are not intending a scientific work, but just having fun, it's simply a choice. Do the games in the time control that seems more interesting to you, and don't worry about the number of games. Simply, do as many as you can. But if you want to measure the relative strength of some versions of your program, to decide which one keep, I'd go for many slow "enough games". What does "slow enough" means? It depends mainly on your computer. If you have a fast computer, you can play blitz 15 or even blitz 10 if superfast. I use blitz 30 in my Athlon 550, and run matchs against a bunch of opponents overnight. Hope this helps, José C.
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