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Subject: Re: North American Open 2003.

Author: Uri Blass

Date: 12:29:46 07/17/02

Go up one level in this thread


On July 17, 2002 at 13:45:52, Dann Corbit wrote:

>On July 17, 2002 at 07:11:20, Sune Fischer wrote:
>
>>On July 17, 2002 at 06:27:20, Dann Corbit wrote:
>>
>>>On July 17, 2002 at 05:56:52, Nicolas GUIBERT wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>After reading the posts of others, I think that one thing should be made clear.
>>>>>I think you should decide what kind of tournament this is going to be, then
>>>>>develop the rest of it around it. For example, if it was going to be a "world
>>>>>championship", then (IMO) the goal is to determine the best engine in the world.
>>>>>If that is your goal, I would expect longer time controls...
>>>>
>>>>NO NO NO
>>>>
>>>>If you want to try and determine the best engine, do not play at longer time
>>>>controls !!!!!!
>>>>
>>>>BUT... Do play a lot more games with shorter time controls.
>>>>
>>>>Then you will get a more reliable result !
>>>>
>>>>I have never understood why computer chess competitions are so slow. For human
>>>>players, this is understandable. For computers, it is just nonsense. I believe
>>>>that this has to do with history. The first competitions had to be played slowly
>>>>because the computers were terribly bad at Chess (low depths)... But that was 20
>>>>years ago ! Computer science evolved quite a bit since then.
>>>>
>>>>Do you like playing random tournaments or do you really want to get an accurate
>>>>picture of the computer chess landscape ?
>>>
>>>Absolutely.  The biggest problem (as I see it) is the quality of the games with
>>>the longer time controls.  After all, we won't see any brilliancies like these
>>>at G/90 or slower on fast hardware:
>>>
>>>The true beauteous wonder that is "lightning chess" makes me pine for the days
>>>when all games will be run at G/1 minute or faster.
>>
>>It's not that big of a problem IMO, you get a lot of games with G/5, so even if
>>2 of 40 are flukes it won't matter, if you get 20 of 40 flukes then chances are
>>they spread evenly between the two contenders, so again it won't matter.
>>If you instead play two G/120 games, and one of them is a fluke, it matters a
>>lot.
>>
>>In other words: Say I give you two hours, you need to figure out if an
>>improvement you have made to your engine is really an improvement.
>>Now do you play 1 or 2 slow games against a third opponent, or do you prefer 20
>>blitz games?
>>I would _always_ pick the blitz gauntlet, for better statistics (more games +
>>more opponents).
>>
>>I agree it is better (more interesting) to play 100 slow games than 100 fast
>>games, but that is never the choice we have to make :)
>
>Here is a rating list of very quick paced games.  You can find the actual games
>here:
>ftp://cap.connx.com/pub/The%20Gauntlet/calibration/quick/
>No set of contests with less than 20 games was included, to reduce the noise.
>
>If you think that the randomness evens out, think again.  This is clearly wrong,
>as a glance will tell you:
>
>
>    Program                  Elo    +   -   Games   Score   Av.Op.  Draws
>
>  1 Delfi 1.01             : 2799   88 502    20    95.0 %   2287    0.0 %
>  2 LGoliath               : 2757   71 332    22    95.5 %   2228    9.1 %
>  3 Comet B.37             : 2724  113 370    20    92.5 %   2287    5.0 %
>  4 Sjeng73                : 2672   38 187   122    89.8 %   2295    2.5 %
>  5 MAD                    : 2664  111 391    21    90.5 %   2273    0.0 %
>  6 Arasanx-54             : 2649   25 129   287    88.5 %   2294    1.4 %
>  7 AnMon                  : 2649   40 121   129    83.3 %   2369    8.5 %
>  8 Gully2                 : 2629  107 391    22    90.9 %   2229    0.0 %
>  9 Crafty-18.2            : 2625  111 300    21    90.5 %   2234    9.5 %
> 10 Quark v1.46alpha       : 2624   39 172   123    87.8 %   2281    1.6 %
> 11 Morphy                 : 2623  102 320    24    89.6 %   2249    4.2 %
> 12 Faile                  : 2598  101 273    25    88.0 %   2252    8.0 %
> 13 Comet B.36             : 2594   28 114   247    84.6 %   2298    0.8 %
> 14 Ghost                  : 2577  102 282    25    86.0 %   2262    4.0 %
> 15 Gaviota                : 2573  113 317    21    88.1 %   2226    4.8 %
> 16 WildCat                : 2552  118 315    20    87.5 %   2214    5.0 %
> 17 Knightx                : 2547  111 330    22    86.4 %   2227    0.0 %
> 18 Sjeng 10 CCT           : 2546   41 136   124    82.3 %   2280    1.6 %
> 19 Yace 0.99.50           : 2545   33 109   189    81.7 %   2285    2.6 %
> 20 TSCP-152               : 2542   44 110   115    80.4 %   2296   11.3 %
> 21 Bestia                 : 2538  115 329    21    85.7 %   2227    0.0 %
> 22 ExChess4               : 2537  106 281    24    85.4 %   2230    4.2 %
> 23 Bringer-18             : 2532   26  81   306    79.2 %   2299    2.3 %
> 24 TSCP-172               : 2529   44 125   115    79.6 %   2293    2.6 %
> 25 Fortress               : 2527  120 329    20    85.0 %   2226    0.0 %
> 26 LG2000V3               : 2519   28  77   281    77.0 %   2308    2.5 %
> 27 OliThink               : 2515  120 265    20    85.0 %   2214   10.0 %
> 28 GNU Chess v5.02        : 2513   27  76   305    77.5 %   2298    2.3 %
> 29 Dragon-311             : 2511   28  81   286    77.4 %   2296    0.3 %
> 30 Averno-30              : 2508   35  96   189    77.2 %   2295    1.1 %
> 31 GNUChess4              : 2507  118 278    21    83.3 %   2227    4.8 %
> 32 LordKingV2_9           : 2505  120 240    21    81.0 %   2254    9.5 %
> 33 Beowulf                : 2504  126 239    20    80.0 %   2263   10.0 %
> 34 Phalanx-xxii           : 2492   46 112   115    76.5 %   2287    3.5 %
> 35 Bringer                : 2491  121 220    22    77.3 %   2279    9.1 %
> 36 Nejmet                 : 2482  126 288    20    80.0 %   2242    0.0 %
> 37 TSCP                   : 2468   95 276    27    88.9 %   2107    7.4 %
> 38 Ufim143                : 2467   48 102   115    72.6 %   2298    2.6 %
> 39 Morphy-322             : 2459   43  85   148    70.6 %   2307    3.4 %
> 40 Gully213p16            : 2459   30  62   293    71.0 %   2303    3.4 %
> 41 ArasanX                : 2451  118 228    23    76.1 %   2250    4.3 %
> 42 LDBlanche              : 2449  126 234    22    72.7 %   2279    0.0 %
> 43 ExChess-402            : 2441   31  61   284    69.5 %   2297    2.5 %
> 44 Holmes                 : 2440  128 248    20    77.5 %   2225    5.0 %
> 45 Yace-020               : 2436   48  88   123    68.7 %   2300    4.1 %
> 46 Averno-32              : 2429   32  57   285    67.4 %   2303    3.5 %
> 47 Bestia-07              : 2427   33  58   271    67.0 %   2304    3.3 %
> 48 Pepito v1.21           : 2414   48  90   124    68.5 %   2279    1.6 %
> 49 King of Kings 1.95     : 2410   64 101    79    65.8 %   2296    5.1 %
> 50 ZChess-222             : 2409   31  52   302    67.9 %   2279    9.9 %
> 51 chezzz                 : 2406  126 189    23    69.6 %   2263    8.7 %
> 52 WBQueen-214            : 2406   61 102    83    66.9 %   2284    3.6 %
> 53 DrChess                : 2404  129 209    22    70.5 %   2253    4.5 %
> 54 WildCat-257            : 2402   53  80   116    63.8 %   2303    5.2 %
> 55 LDBlanche-20c          : 2400   33  53   290    63.3 %   2305    1.7 %
> 56 DrChess-20             : 2394   34  53   284    63.4 %   2299    2.8 %
> 57 ColChessp              : 2393  135 157    21    69.0 %   2254   23.8 %
> 58 chezzz-088             : 2391   34  51   283    63.4 %   2296    6.0 %
> 59 AnMon-509              : 2390   36  53   262    61.3 %   2310    1.1 %
> 60 ExChess-311            : 2390   34  51   284    62.9 %   2298    3.9 %
> 61 Ghost-13               : 2388   34  51   295    62.0 %   2303    0.7 %
> 62 AnMon-510              : 2387   35  53   268    61.6 %   2305    0.7 %
> 63 FranWB                 : 2385  135 193    22    65.9 %   2271    4.5 %
> 64 Ant                    : 2381  126 234    22    72.7 %   2211    0.0 %
> 65 Mint v2.3              : 2374   34  46   306    60.1 %   2302    4.6 %
> 66 OliThink-305c          : 2368   55  80   118    61.0 %   2290    0.0 %
> 67 Freyr                  : 2362  132 199    23    65.2 %   2253    0.0 %
> 68 ZChess-120             : 2359   33  45   312    60.9 %   2282    6.4 %
> 69 WinCraft               : 2357   60  80   102    59.8 %   2288    3.9 %
> 70 Gaviota-022            : 2355   36  46   286    57.5 %   2303    3.1 %
> 71 Freyr-1067             : 2354   37  48   280    57.9 %   2299    1.4 %
> 72 Beowulf-16b            : 2354   30  38   433    57.3 %   2303    2.3 %
> 73 Noonian-30             : 2351   57  71   120    58.3 %   2293    5.0 %
> 74 LordKing-29            : 2347   37  44   288    55.9 %   2306    3.5 %
> 75 DChess-102             : 2343   38  45   281    56.0 %   2300    3.2 %
> 76 Esc                    : 2342  135 193    22    65.9 %   2228    4.5 %
> 77 LordKing-29D           : 2341   38  43   288    55.2 %   2305    4.9 %
> 78 LarsenVB               : 2335  139 165    23    60.9 %   2258    8.7 %
> 79 Raffaela-005           : 2334   58  71   118    56.8 %   2287    3.4 %
> 80 Green Light Chess v2.13: 2334   40  46   259    54.8 %   2300    3.1 %
> 81 LambChop-710           : 2331  153 198    20    60.0 %   2261    0.0 %
> 82 Esc-028                : 2326   39  44   278    54.1 %   2297    2.5 %
> 83 Amyan-111              : 2324   39  39   298    52.3 %   2308    6.7 %
> 84 Gerbil-01              : 2323   40  42   274    53.3 %   2300    5.1 %
> 85 Noonian                : 2322  142 160    22    61.4 %   2242   13.6 %
> 86 King of Kings 1.96     : 2320   50  49   194    50.8 %   2315    4.6 %
> 87 Aldebaran 0.7.0        : 2320   33  30   439    50.1 %   2319    9.1 %
> 88 The Crazy Bishop, 46.01: 2315   78  92    68    57.4 %   2264    5.9 %
> 89 Nejmet-260             : 2313   62  69   116    53.9 %   2286    0.9 %
> 90 Storm-006              : 2311   62  67   118    52.5 %   2294    1.7 %
> 91 DChess                 : 2311  139 174    24    58.3 %   2253    0.0 %
> 92 Faile-14               : 2306   41  40   280    51.6 %   2295    6.8 %
> 93 Amyan-1423             : 2297   44  43   245    48.4 %   2308    4.5 %
> 94 SSEchess-2045          : 2292   61  64   120    49.6 %   2295    5.8 %
> 95 Gerbil                 : 2283  150 159    23    54.3 %   2253    4.3 %
> 96 EnginMax               : 2281  153 184    21    57.1 %   2231    0.0 %
> 97 Ant-606                : 2280   43  39   291    46.9 %   2301    1.0 %
> 98 31337-30               : 2273   29  27   569    46.0 %   2301    7.9 %
> 99 TCBishop-0045          : 2273   61  64   115    48.7 %   2282    8.7 %
>100 Bace                   : 2268   55  34   260    33.7 %   2386    8.1 %
>101 Holmes-040             : 2258   53  45   204    44.6 %   2295    2.0 %
>102 Bace-45                : 2256   57  52   156    44.6 %   2294    7.1 %
>103 Cilian                 : 2254  141 141    20    50.0 %   2254   30.0 %
>104 Chessterfield          : 2249  153 153    21    50.0 %   2249   14.3 %
>105 LarsenVB-407           : 2244   45  35   291    40.9 %   2308    6.2 %
>106 Amy                    : 2242   42  22   551    31.2 %   2379    6.2 %
>107 Amyan                  : 2241   66  33   240    28.7 %   2399    6.7 %
>108 Mustang-172            : 2240   68  56   121    41.7 %   2298    7.4 %
>109 Gromit3                : 2230   44  34   302    40.2 %   2299    8.3 %
>110 Betsy                  : 2226  172 172    20    50.0 %   2226    0.0 %
>111 SSEchess-202           : 2226   69  57   116    40.5 %   2293   10.3 %
>112 EnginMax-260           : 2222   53  35   272    38.4 %   2303    0.4 %
>113 Chessterfield-15a      : 2215   49  34   289    37.5 %   2304    6.6 %
>114 Cilian-413             : 2212   42  34   279    37.3 %   2303   19.4 %
>115 MAD-005                : 2209   51  33   285    36.5 %   2305    5.6 %
>116 Blikskottel 0.5        : 2199  192 149    20    37.5 %   2287    5.0 %
>117 Gromit2                : 2196   53  32   304    35.4 %   2300    1.6 %
>118 FranWB-090             : 2191   53  32   287    34.3 %   2303    5.9 %
>119 FRANWB-081             : 2189   54  32   283    33.4 %   2309    6.0 %
>120 LarsenVB-313           : 2182   53  32   285    32.6 %   2308    8.4 %
>121 Ant-416                : 2165   60  31   283    30.9 %   2304    3.2 %
>122 MSCP                   : 2157  160 142    22    38.6 %   2238   13.6 %
>123 Fortress-162           : 2153   62  30   284    29.6 %   2303    3.5 %
>124 31337                  : 2152   72  22   417    18.7 %   2407    4.8 %
>125 NeroWB                 : 2137  168 167    20    47.5 %   2155    5.0 %
>126 Pierre                 : 2131  182 124    25    34.0 %   2246    4.0 %
>127 StAndersen             : 2126  182 124    25    34.0 %   2241    4.0 %
>128 Grizzly                : 2125  192 142    21    35.7 %   2227    4.8 %
>129 TCBishop-4601          : 2123  146  69    59    27.1 %   2294    0.0 %
>130 Golem01                : 2119   68  28   298    25.8 %   2302    3.4 %
>131 Ozwald-043             : 2106  110  44   125    24.4 %   2303    0.8 %
>132 NeroWB-5               : 2096  115  44   122    23.4 %   2303    0.8 %
>133 Knightx-154            : 2085   83  27   292    21.4 %   2311    0.3 %
>134 Amy-07                 : 2079   68  23   400    20.9 %   2310    4.8 %
>135 InmiChess3             : 2033   95  25   305    17.5 %   2302    0.3 %
>136 Chad's Chess V015      : 2031  107  31   214    18.0 %   2294    1.4 %
>137 Zephyr-061             : 2027  105  32   203    18.7 %   2282    2.0 %
>138 Tamerlane-01           : 1998  153  41   119    15.5 %   2292    0.8 %
>139 ChadChess-015          : 1994  203  54    70    13.6 %   2315    1.4 %
>140 Noonian-29             : 1975  159  40   121    14.0 %   2290    1.7 %
>141 Betsy-526              : 1973  127  26   258    13.2 %   2300    0.0 %
>142 VCTAO44                : 1969  164  41   116    14.7 %   2275    0.0 %
>143 GNUChess-414           : 1966  126  25   281    12.5 %   2305    0.7 %
>144 Grizzly-125            : 1964  123  25   276    12.3 %   2305    2.2 %
>145 Rikus                  : 1957  330 111    22    13.6 %   2278    0.0 %
>146 MSCP-011               : 1857  241  37   122     7.4 %   2297    0.0 %
>147 aldebaran              : 1836    0   0   100     0.0 %   2436    0.0 %
>148 Aldebaran-070          : 1720    0   0    39     0.0 %   2320    0.0 %
>149 Faile-06               : 1720    0   0   133     0.0 %   2320    0.0 %
>
>The speed of the game is directly proportional to the garbage introduced.
>The games I posted were but a tiny sampling of the nonesense that is erupted
>when you shrink the clock.
>
>IMO-YMMV

The nonsense is mainly not because of the fact that you shrinked the clock but
because of the fact that some program suck at very fast time control because
they were not designed to play it(for example a program may count time in
seconds and play immediately in 15 seconds per game).

It does not contradict the fact that you can use time control of 15 second per
game to test changes in the program if you expect them to help at all time
controls and you have no bugs that prevent the program to search even to depth 1
at 15 seconds per game.

Uri



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