Author: David Blackman
Date: 07:39:25 07/07/01
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On July 06, 2001 at 20:10:03, Joshua Lee wrote: >Computers are Tactically as Strong as GMs? You have to realise that for a GM it is very hard to seperate tactics from other aspects such as positional play, endgame play, and swindles. In a difficult tactical position, a GM, especially if in time trouble, will not try to calculate every line to evaluate what is the best move. Instead they rely on their positional understanding of the kind of position, to decide what moves are likely to work, then calculate just a few sample lines to see how they turn out and confirm their positional judgement, then in the end they make an educated guess based on all this. So it is often the case that a GM can make a correct move without fully understanding all the tactical sequences of moves from the position. (They can also totally stuff up where a computer could instantly make the right move. Look at some of the GM games that are hidden inside the tournament bulletins, rather than the ones that make lead articles in the magazines.) So if you get a sharp position that has positional motifs that the GM is reasonably familiar with, the GM will sometimes find the right move where a computer will fail to in any reasonable time. On the other hand, in a mixed up position where all that matters is shear calculating power because there are no obvious positional ideas, the computer will find the right move (or a good enough move) more often than a GM. My feeling is that most of the top programs today have a slight edge in tactics against most GMs. There are exceptional positions where the GMs get it right and the computers get it wrong. There are also just a few GMs who are probably similar strength (or maybe even better) than the top programs tactically. (This doesn't count Deep Blue, which is (a) retired, (b) of unknown strength really, and (c) quite likely a real tactical monster.) And of course, in many games there are important positions which are not about tactics at all.
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