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Subject: Re: Additional rules for wmccc

Author: Keith Evans

Date: 20:37:03 06/21/02

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On June 21, 2002 at 23:16:53, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On June 21, 2002 at 21:21:48, Keith Evans wrote:
>
>>On June 21, 2002 at 14:13:17, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>
>>>On June 21, 2002 at 12:05:12, Jeroen Noomen wrote:
>>>
>>>>On June 21, 2002 at 11:45:40, Miguel A. Ballicora wrote:
>>>>
>>>>So you find it OK that any program that play under a specific GUI
>>>>can use ANY book that is available with that GUI? Without permission
>>>>of the author?
>>>>
>>>>You think that it is fair that such programs can have a big advantage
>>>>over others by simply copying and/or merging books together that are
>>>>not their property?
>>>>
>>>>Jeroen
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>No.  But neither to I find it fair that I might have to play against
>>>different programs using the _same_ book _with_ permission.  I believe
>>>in one author per program, _period_.  No shared books.  No shared code.
>>>Each person picks a team to associate with, and that is that...
>>
>>Just curious - do you consider Eugene's tablebase access code to be a special
>>case of shared code, or would you object to people sharing that?
>>
>>-Keith
>
>
>I consider it a "special case" that is OK.   Why?  Because the tables are
>finite and fixed in their content.  They contain perfect mate-in-N or draw
>scores for a pre-defined set of positions.  If I construct a valid set of
>tables and you construct a valid set, the content will be identical.  Since
>that is the case, I don't object to everyone using them.  They aren't
>"custom-made" to contain suggested lines of play, for example.  They would
>be exactly the same for everybody if they share, or if they "roll their own."
>
>I would object if someone had done the tables (Eugene, say) and then he only
>let a select few people use them in tournaments.  Because then he would be
>exerting influence on the tournament result by favoring those participants.  As
>it is, he favors _nobody_ since the commercial and amateur engines can all use
>the tables equally.
>
>That is my complaint about "shared books".  It is simply not a fair way to
>participate... based on the one-program/one-author type of rule the ICCA has
>always used...

I have another question regarding shared code. Let's say that Slater or someone
else makes progress with some sort of chess coprocessor. Maybe a Hsu style chip
or a bitboard accelerator for example. And that same person uses it to
accelerate an existing chess program such as Crafty - what would your feelings
be about this?

I would think that something like a bitboard processor used to accelerate Crafty
would present a problem because it would really not change the nature of Crafty,
it would be like running it on a faster CPU. So that person would be best off
cooperating with you and jointly entering an accelerated Crafty. But how about
something along the lines of a Deep Blue chip which would include it's own
unique move ordering, evaluation,... If the creator of such a chip used the
Crafty source as the basis for a chess program and Crafty perhaps even searched
the first n plies in software, would you allow it to compete in a tournament
with Crafty? Or would you try to encourage the creators of such a beast to do it
completely from scratch? Maybe this would have to be decided on a case by case
basis.

Regards,
Keith



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