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Subject: Re: Fair conditions for human vs. computer play

Author: Bruce Moreland

Date: 05:39:46 07/29/98

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On July 29, 1998 at 07:54:07, Guido Schimmels wrote:

>As FIDE rules were not designed with computers as possible opponents in mind,
> they don't apply to computers. In fact computers break the FIDE rules in many
> ways, if you think of it:
>1) They don't note the moves on the form
>2) They don't move the pieces nor handle the clock
>3) They access external information during the game (opening book, tablebases)
>
>Ok, 1) and 2) could be easily addressed, but what about 3) ?

As far as I know, they play by FIDE rules for blind players.  Blind players
don't have to press the clock, someone else can move the pieces, and they don't
have to do their own notation.  They have an assistant to dthis.

As far as opening books go, this has been an often-discussed issue.

Humans spend a large amount of time learning openings.  There is nobody out
there who had to learn e4 e5 nf3 nc6 bb5 on his own, we've all got our MCO and
our ECO and our books on how to play the openings in general and our books on
how to play specific openings, and when we play a game using a specific opening,
maybe we study the opening after and learn a little more.

So we read these books, and we take information into our brains, and some of it
sticks, and some of it doesn't, but we didn't have to figure out *all* of it
four ourselves.

A computer can't do something completely analogous to the above.  They can't
benefit from reading a book about general principles, but they can suck up lines
line mad, and once a line is sucked up, it is remembered for good.

So this is information externally acquired, like in the human case although not
exactly, but there can be a lot more of it, and there is no danger of forgetting
anything or confusing two lines or anything like that.

The real weakness of computer books is that lines tend to end up in there that
are bad, or that the computer doesn't understand, and you come out of book into
a lost position.

I don't see why people get so hung up on computer opening books, there are many
differences between humans and computers.

It's true that they do though.

It is my opinion that there will be more pressure to brand computer players as
cheaters, the stronger they get.

bruce



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