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

Author: Dann Corbit

Date: 17:59:05 03/05/01

Go up one level in this thread


On March 05, 2001 at 20:41:17, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>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!
>>
>
>
>That's inconsistent with _reality_. All you have to do is go to a _real_
>computer chess tournament, like the annual WMCCC events, and just sit and
>watch.  Changes are made between rounds all the time.  Changes to the code
>is very common.  Changes to the book.  Changes to the engine parameters.
>
>Why is this different from Thorsten allowing someone to fix a known bug?
>
>
>
>
>>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.
>
>
>I'll bet Kasparov _does_ change between rounds.  He sees someone play a TN
>he hasn't seen.  you can bet by the time he meets that person OTB he has
>studied the TN and found a refutation.

Then again, it may be a matter of definition.

Crafty learns as it plays.  So, after many games, the actual play of the engine
may be a bit different as it encounters positions or openings it has modified
information for.

This is very different from a code change and recompile.

If you are trying to produce a reproducable experiment, then you don't change
the parameters as you go.  If you just want a fun contest, then do whatever you
want.

So, what are the goals?  That should determine the conduct during the contest.



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