Author: David Dory
Date: 19:59:09 07/02/02
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On July 02, 2002 at 20:42:16, Russell Reagan wrote: >Which computer chess tournaments have hardware limitations and which are >"anything goes"? > >To me, a tournament between computers where "anything goes" is meaningless. If >it is a computer vs. human, then that is something entirely different I think. >What does taking a super computer to a tournament and winning against (possibly >superior) engines running on slower hardware prove? To me it doesn't prove >anything other than you had the money to win a tournament. To me that doesn't >imply that any engine was better than another if it's anything goes. IBM could >build another super computer and run an alpha-beta search with piece-square >table evaluation and win the "world championship", and it hasn't proved that it >was the best engine. > >Is anyone else turned off my a competition between computers where it's open >hardware? I don't think it proves a thing as far as which engine is better. I >guess it depends which aspect you are interestd in. If you're interested in >hardware, then you probably like the open hardware competitions. If you're >interested in AI in computer chess, then you're probably more likely to enjoy an >equal hardware competition. To me a competition that can be bought doesn't mean >anything. It might as well just be a bidding process to see who is the next >"champion". > >Any thoughts? > >Russell Certainly the "open" hardware competitions are not meaningless! They really encourage a lot of innovation and persuasion, to say nothing of code changes! After all, Vincent didn't BUY that supercomputer, or lease it. He had to persuade several suits that this would be good advertising for them! Is it fair to have such a beastie go up against a little micro? No, but sometimes the micro still wins, and that is extra glorious for them! If you think of the "open" hardware contests as more of a show (of what can be done, and what still can't be done), set in the format of a competition, you'll be able to enjoy them much more. It's sorta like the circus came to town, but you don't have to look at any animals stuck in little tiny cages. It's great exposure for computer chess, and a wonderful time for all the audience, too. The SSDF is fine for engine to engine matches (although they're not all that fair, either), but this is much more exciting than watching a regular engine to engine microcomputer match. David
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