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Subject: Re: Updating engines during tournaments? (Odyssee Tournament)

Author: Dann Corbit

Date: 13:22:45 03/05/01

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On March 05, 2001 at 16:08:48, Andreas Schwartmann wrote:

>On March 04, 2001 at 11:51:18, Thorsten Czub wrote:
>
>>On March 04, 2001 at 10:36:15, Ulrich Tuerke wrote:
>>
>>>Die B.27 ist okay, unterscheidet sich kaum von der Paderborn-Version.
>>>Gruss, Uli
>>
>>
>>brilliant. i ask because i don't want that anybody feels disadvantaged.
>>if anybody thinks he has a better version he is allowed to upgrade
>>between the rounds.
>
>
>And that's completely rubbish. If you update engines between rounds, what use is
>the outcome of such a tournament? There is no consistency in this tourney! An
>updated engine is a DIFFERENT engine, so you might as well not call it a tourney
>but a set of engine matches. Hell, you might even start such a "tourney" with
>Fritz 1 and end up with Fritz 7 ... and what would this say about Fritz's
>playing strength? He started weak but ended up the winner nontheless? Har har.
>In my opinon, the engine version that started the tournament should be the very
>engine that ends it. No changing of horses in midstream or else the results get
>worthless!
>
>Imagine Linares ... Kasparov gets bored in midtourney and gets exchanges by
>Kramnik ... Shirov does not play to good, so he sends in his brother (does he
>have one?) ... but that would not be a tourney anymore. Just like your Odyssee
>with updated engines is no tourney in my opinion.
>
>Just my $0.02.
>
>Any comments?

Scientifically, you are right, and I run my tournaments that way.  If they are
intended purely for entertainment, then who cares?
;-)

You can always argue it both ways.  Consider the crippled ChessMaster version
that does not use its allotted time to think.  On the one hand: The outcome of
that program will not be nearly so strong as it ought.  On the other hand: Many
people will have only the CD with the version which does not think long enough.
On the other, other hand: If you change in mid-stream, it won't be as strong as
the patched version nor as weak as the pre-patched version.  On the other,
other, other hand...
etc.



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