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Subject: Re: THE GAME: Chessmaster/Quark

Author: John Merlino

Date: 11:00:46 05/23/01

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On May 22, 2001 at 15:52:15, Dann Corbit wrote:

>I think for sure, the most fascinating game was the Chessmaster/Quark battle in
>round 1.  (I imagine John Merlino wishes some other game were more compelling)
>;-)
>

No, I merely wish that the result was different. ;-)

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that Johan did NOT use the default
settings this time around. He DOES follow CCC and was intrigued (as I was) by
the fact that the King Safety values of most of the "superior" personalities
that are posted here are much higher than the default value of 100 -- usually
somewhere between 130 and 160.

So, Johan decided to go with an ASYMMETRIC KS value of 100,140, meaning it is
concerned about its OWN King Safety with a value of 100 (the default) but it is
concerned about its OPPONENT'S King Safety with a value of 140. Here's Johan's
explanation of why he chose this configuration:

-----------
Though I was tempted to use Kurt Utzinger's, I later rejected this jump in the
dark. But then you mentioned the KS pattern on CCC, and I came up with the
following rationale (no proof!). The merit of high KS is that the computer
opponent will be more likely to face lethal mating threads. On the other side,
it tends to "chickenize" TK himself, which might cramp its style in wild
positions. Against the average program TK should not need to be defensive on the
King's side, hence the asymmetrical weights.
-----------

This could very well explain moves like 25...Re5? that Vine Smith was
questioning -- a failed attempt at a kingside attack.

As a side note, he also used Selective Search=10, but that's ONLY because he got
an Athlon 1.3GHz machine just before the tournament. If he had used his trusty
550MHz instead, then he would have stayed with SS=6.

jm



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