Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 20:12:33 03/22/01
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On March 22, 2001 at 22:39:31, Christophe Theron wrote: >On March 22, 2001 at 20:52:37, Mike S. wrote: > >>On March 22, 2001 at 19:55:55, Dann Corbit wrote: >> >>>(...) Considering the population of the countries >>>and the number of programmers writing excellent chess programs, the proportion >>>is as enormous as the previously mentioned GM proportions. >>> >>>Does anyone have any sort of explanation as to why this is so? Educational >>>system? Cultural focus on this topic? What? >> >>In terms of chess programmers to GMs ratio, Austria is even more astounding I >>think. For example, Nimzo, Inmichess, and - geographically speaking - Hossa are >>written in Austia. Lesser known examples are the old Ychess and RDChess, which >>aren't WB engines. We have currently one or two GM's AFAIK. >> >>I don't know if there is a cultural focus on chess in the Netherlands, if there >>is any, then it is certainly bigger than in Austria. Chess is virtually >>inexistant in public live here; it appears neither on the local television nor >>in advertisements etc., with very few exceptions. >> >>I think the reasons will be personal and individual one's; the programmers >>themselves could probably explain this better. >> >>Interesting is also, that some countries seem to be underrepresented, at least >>among the top programs (Italy, Spain, Canada, etc.). The importance of chess >>tradition in this respect is noticable, when you think of Japan. Looks like >>there must be large capacities which are not (yet) busy with chess programming. >> >>Regards, >>M.Scheidl > > >India comes also to mind. India is interesting because it has a large number of good chess players and a large number of good programmers but no (known -- at least by me) chess programmers. France is interesting because it has a lot of good chess programmers, but the programs tend to stay in France (Notable exceptions: AnMon, TCBishop, ZChess and a certain professional program from a French protectorate). I think (at least for good amateur programs) Austria is behind Germany and the Netherlands. And now that I have again reviewed this list: http://amateurschach.in-trier.de/schach/uebersicht.htm Here is a count of countries with large numbers of amateur chess programmers: Germany (18) USA (16) [High population -- not surprising] France (7) [it seems that I have slighted France -- quite a few here too] Italy (5) Netherland (4) England (4) The German, French, and Dutch engines seem to be strong on average. I was also thinking of Vincent when mulling over the Netherlands. Tossing out the US and looking at the locations of these countries on this map: http://www.virtualtourist.com/Europe/?s=@985319572-4163& showed it to be an intesting geographical locus for chess programmers. Must be something in the water. ;-)
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