Author: Gordon Rattray
Date: 04:26:37 08/08/01
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On August 07, 2001 at 19:18:00, K. Burcham wrote: [snip] >so maybe a dual 2 gig palomino by january. >this should mean about 3300+ kns (fritzmark test). > >it wont be fun for the gamers anymore. go to a chess server with deep tiger >on dual 2 gig palomino----and play against deep fritz on dual 2 gig >palomino = draw. i am not sure how all these comp vs comp games will >change with the capability to search so deep. i do know that the stronger >the programs get it seems there are more draws with all this increase >in mhz. > >the next six to twelve months will be very interesting for chess programs > and the hardware that will become available. > >kburcham [snip] I agree that many people, including myself, find it hard to resist the latest hardware. It's just part of the "quest" to obtain the "ultimate" chess playing machine by optimising our hardware and software as much as we can. However, the attractive Mhz numbers don't translate into direct playing strength that easily... - nodes per second is a poor estimate of playing ability so we shouldn't get carried away by this - it takes a significant increase in hardware in order to be guaranteed an extra ply in search depth - even if a deeper search is achieved, I think it has been shown that there is a diminishing return in terms of strength as the search gets deeper - there are many weaknesses that search alone won't solve (well, not in the near future) such as poor strategical planning, bad opening lines, inherit software weaknesses due to design optimisations (e.g. use of null move in certain positions), etc. I think that the nature of chess presents a harsh reality in the light of hardware advances. Not that I am saying that good hardware isn't important; I just think that we have to keep it in perspective and be realistic about the actual increases in playing strength that will be achieved. Gordon
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