Author: Robert Henry Durrett
Date: 19:25:50 06/16/02
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On June 16, 2002 at 20:57:01, stuart taylor wrote: >I believe a question as to whether to play N:g5 or Bg3 in this kind of position >is one of the most difficult desisions in a serious human game in which the >results of the game is critical. >Only someone of atleast master level can make a confident decision, after some >analysis in a tournament game. But the idea? I think ANYONE (of 1800 elo) would >think of. Is that not so? >S.Taylor I am/was USCF 1864 human amateur tournament chessplayer and the sac on g5 was the very first thing I looked at. I suspect that any experienced human amateur tournament player would notice that possibility right away. I also immediately noticed Qe7 and "suspected" that Black could defend the position. The sac looked too risky. Almost no analysis. Sometimes amateurs make their decision based on little more than that, but mostly on the basis of feelings and emotions. "Better to be safe than sorry" or "I am in the mood to attack" feelings may decide. The problem with chess amateurs like myself is that they, for whatever reason, either cannot or DO NOT perform the analyses properly and in sufficient depth to reach a definitive answer. Furthermore, many positions an amateur faces in tournament games are either too unfamiliar or too difficult for the amateur to reach a clear "best" move. In other words, for the human amateur, it may be essentially impossible to come up with a definitive answer in such situations. There is a lot of "take your best shot and hope for the best" in human amateur chess. I suspect these failings are not uncommon among human masters as well. But chess engines seem to be quite different from human amateur chessplayers. It seems doubtful that most of the [emotional, etc.] difficulties humans face are also a problem for chess engines. QUESTION: What happens in chess engines when there are two equally seemingly worthy moves available [in this case, one sacrificial and attacking and another relatively "safe" move]? Are all engines the same in the way they handle this kind of situation? Perhaps engines never "realize" that two choices are equally worthy at all. Engines don't think like humans and certainly don't "get excited." Also, there currently does not seem to be any way to enter tournament considerations into the computer. [Ex: "Must win to get prize money" versus "Draw is good enough to take first prize," or "I'm really tired and want to quit."] Bob D.
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