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Subject: Re: Congratulations to Christophe and Ed ...

Author: Roy Eassa

Date: 10:03:19 11/06/01

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On November 06, 2001 at 12:43:38, Christophe Theron wrote:

>On November 06, 2001 at 12:05:29, Roy Eassa wrote:
>
>>On November 05, 2001 at 13:22:24, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>
>>>We will see what happens with the new
>>>generation (Junior 7, Fritz 7 and Tiger 15).
>>>
>>>
>>
>>...and Shredder 6 and Hiarcs 8 and Gandalf 5 and ...
>>
>>And the beat goes on.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.
>>[Insert favorite cliche here.]
>
>
>
>Things change. Just two years ago there was no Tiger in the SSDF list. No SOS
>either for example...
>
>Computer chess is a highly competitive field.
>


That's actually what I meant.  What does NOT seem to change is the battle for
the top spot(s).  Every couple years, new contenders come along.  I vividly
recall when it seemed to be reduced forever to a 2-program battle: MChess and
Genius.  Even before that, it was Sargon versus Chessmaster 2100.  You can bet
that five years from now the top five (or so) will no longer be Tiger, Fritz,
Junior, and Shredder, and Rebel Century.  Some will drop off the pace, and
others will appear.  I cannot imagine the battle being won decisively once and
for all.

A cynic might view this as being similar to continual upgrades to Windows,
MS-Office, etc.: a way to collect payments year-in and year-out.  (Software
doesn't rust out like cars, so you have to do _something_ to keep 'em buying.)
But I'm not that cynical, and really do appreciate the continual improvements.



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