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Subject: Re: Comments of latest SSDF list - Nine basic questions

Author: Rolf Tueschen

Date: 13:14:50 06/01/02

Go up one level in this thread


On June 01, 2002 at 13:14:58, Andrew Dados wrote:

>On June 01, 2002 at 01:32:55, Uri Blass wrote:
>
>>On May 31, 2002 at 21:00:44, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>
>>>On May 31, 2002 at 20:35:38, Dann Corbit wrote:
>>>
>>>>On May 31, 2002 at 20:24:35, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On May 31, 2002 at 20:02:37, Dann Corbit wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On May 31, 2002 at 19:22:27, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On May 31, 2002 at 19:01:53, Dann Corbit wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Since people are so often confused about it, it seems a good idea to write a
>>>>>>>>FAQ.
>>>>>>>>Rolf's questions could be added, and a search through the CCC archives could
>>>>>>>>find some more.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Certainly the games against the old opponents is always a puzzle to newcomers
>>>>>>>>who do not understand why calibration against an opponent of precisely known
>>>>>>>>strength is of great value.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>No pun intended, but excuse me, you can't mean it this way! Are we caught in a
>>>>>>>new circle? How can the older program be precisely known in its strength?
>>>>>>>Of course it it isn't! Because it had the same status the new ones have today...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>And the all the answers from Bertil follow that same fallacious line. It's a
>>>>>>>pity!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Also, what is calibration in SSDF? Comparing the new unknown with the old
>>>>>>>unknown? No pun inded.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Before making such a FAQ let's please find some practical solutions for SSDF.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The older programs have been carefully calibrated by playing many hundreds of
>>>>>>games.  Hence, their strength in relation to each other and to the other members
>>>>>>of the pool is very precisely known.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The best possible test you can make is to play an unknown program against the
>>>>>>best known programs.  This will arrive at an accurate ELO score faster than any
>>>>>>other way.  Programs that are evenly matched are not as good as programs that
>>>>>>are somewhat mismatched.  Programs that are terribly mismatched are not as good
>>>>>>as programs that are somewhat mismatched.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If I have two programs of exactly equal ability, it will take a huge number of
>>>>>>games to get a good reading on their strength in relation to one another.  On
>>>>>>the other hand, if one program is 1000 ELO better than another, then one or two
>>>>>>fluke wins will drastically skew the score.  An ELO difference of 100 to 150 is
>>>>>>probably just about ideal.
>>>>>
>>>>>I don't follow that at all. Perhaps it's too difficult, but I fear that you are
>>>>>mixing things up. You're arguing as if you _knew_ already that the one program
>>>>>is 1000 points better. Therefore 2 games are ok for you. But how could you know
>>>>>this in SSDF? And also, why do you test at all, if it's that simple?
>>>>
>>>>No.  You have a group of programs of very well known strength.  The ones that
>>>>have played the most games are the ones where the strength is precisely known.
>>>
>>>I can't accept that.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Here is a little table:
>>>>
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 0 points is 0.5
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 100 points is 0.359935
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 200 points is 0.240253
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 300 points is 0.15098
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 400 points is 0.0909091
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 500 points is 0.0532402
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 600 points is 0.0306534
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 700 points is 0.0174721
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 800 points is 0.00990099
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 900 points is 0.00559197
>>>>Win expectency for a difference of 1000 points is 0.00315231
>>>>
>>>>Notice that for 1000 ELO difference the win expectency is only .3%.
>>>
>>>I see. So, that is the Elo calculation of Elo for human chess, right? What is
>>>giving you the confidence that it works for computers the same way?
>>
>>What gives you the confidence that it works for humans.
>>
>>These numbers were not calculated based on statistics of humans games and I
>>believe that they are not correct also for humans.
>>
>>Uri
>
>Hello Uri.
>
>I keep noticing there is huge misconception about what ELO numbers are.
>So I will try to explain how rating system is defined/build.
>
>Rating system is based on ONE, single assumption: that distribution of ratings
>over big pool of players obeys normal distribution.
>
>Then we need to build a scale.
>That means we need to define '0' point on the scale and also unit of measuring
>(what '1 point' means).
>
>Lets say we define '0' equals 1740 ELO points. Meaning of this number is:
>average rating of all players in pool is 1740 in our scale. it is chosen
>arbitrarily and can be _any_ number.
>
>Then we define a unit, say 200 points in such a way, then 200 pts difference
>translates to probability of winning equal to 0.75. This is another arbitrary
>number, defining our scale. Discussing validity of it is about as sensible as
>discussing if 1 meter on earth equals 1 meter on moon.
>
>So by definition all those numbers from Danns post are valid, that is basis to
>calculate players ratings.
>
>-Andrew-

For human chess, Andrew!

Rolf Tueschen



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