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Subject: CSTAL and the Cheop-Machack Experiment in the 70’s

Author: Fernando Villegas

Date: 15:03:33 05/07/98





Air mail Special for Thosrten:
In relation with what has been said here in order to strengthen CSTAL in
such a manner as giving him the capability to win won games that
sometimes he loses, let me call your attention to page 8 of the old book
“More Chess and Computers” by David Levy and Monroe Newborn. There you
an read:

"...Cheops would be used by an improved version of the Greenblat program
-Machack- in the following way:  whenever the program reached a position
it considered strategically  satisfactory, Cheops would take a look  at
the further tactical possibilities. This enables the program to avoid
numerous traps...”

Levy played two games against this comb in 1978 and won both, but this
Janus-kind of monster did pretty well considering the level of chess
computer in those days. So, this is a somewhat old approach that
probably was abandoned somewhere in the road when stronger computers and
programs appeared and the hope to get it all with one engine simply
vanished the idea of a combined entity. But now we know better. I wonder
if Chris, in the meantime he develops a new CSTAL engine  capable of
transforming himself according to situation, could not produce a comb as
a transient  experiment. I am sure he can put in code in half a week at
least a reasonably strong conventional chess engine  to do the work
Cheops did for Machack. I believe that not even a top notch engine is
necessary for this testing of tactical lines in complex positions. I
intend to do myself the experiment giving to a old program like Fritz 1
the winning positions CSTAL did not win.
Ciao
Fernando



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