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Subject: Re: Ply level vs Rating

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 10:01:04 08/14/98

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On August 14, 1998 at 07:53:51, Tom Kerrigan wrote:

>Sounds logical, but I recall a graph in "Chess Skill in Man and Machine" (one of
>the few interesting/useful things in the book...) that showed 1 ply = 200 rating
>points, up through Deep Thought.
>
>Of course, using this rule of thumb to compare two programs in the same "era" is
>fairly pointless, but I think that over long periods of time, the rule of thumb
>may still hold true.
>
>-Tom
>


I think this might be "broken" today.  IE in 1977 or so, when that was
written, a ply cost us about a factor of 5.5, because there was no null-move
search nor selective stuff other than a few search extensions.  Today we use
null-move R=2 to drive the branching down to 2-2.5, which means a ply today
is really "less effort" than a ply 15 years ago.  And, as a result, is
probably < 200.  I'd guess closer to 100 rating points per ply, perhaps, maybe
less, since the most recent estimates show 70 elo for a doubling of speed,
which is nearly another ply today...




>On August 13, 1998 at 18:24:21, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On August 13, 1998 at 17:59:03, Jeff Anderson wrote:
>>
>>>I do not think that today a graph like that would be relevant.  Some programs
>>>sacrafice plies for a much more thorough evaluation.  Other programs sacrafice a
>>> thorough evaluation for speed.  If you had a chart like this, a program that
>>>searched slow would but evaluated well would do very well on a chart like that,
>>>while a fast program that didn't have as complex evaluation would do poor.  But
>>>if you actually had a match between these two programs they two extremes would
>>>probably even out.
>>>
>>
>>
>>two often-used measures, NPS and depth, are really only good for comparing
>>A to A, ie the same program at a faster NPS or deeper depth.  I believe that
>>programs play better as they go faster, if the speed is gotten by either
>>faster hardware or more efficient programming, rather than stripping something
>>out or taking a "shortcut."
>>
>>I'd suspect that *everybody* agrees, because if you notice at every event where
>>a computer plays another computer or a strong human, the computer operator makes
>>every possible effort to get the fastest machine possible.
>>
>>But you can't compare NPS between two different programs and conclude anything
>>about their "strength" based only on NPS.  Ditto for "depth" because everyone
>>has a different "meaning" for depth=10 plies, for example...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On August 13, 1998 at 06:12:37, Leon Stancliff wrote:
>>>
>>>>  Can anyone tell me?
>>>>
>>>>  A few years ago I saw a graph of ply level in the middle game versus
>>>>anticipated rating. Has anyone attempted to do this same thing recently? We have
>>>>estimates of the approximate rating increase per ply, and approximate rating
>>>>increase with doubling of speed.
>>>>
>>>>  Obviously selectivity, opening book and hashtables make a difference. But I
>>>>feel certain someone has investigated the question I have proposed. What ply
>>>>level was DeepBlue reaching in the Kasparov match? What ply level was Rebel 10
>>>>reaching in the longer games of the Anand match?
>>>>
>>>>Leon Stancliff



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