Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 03:57:02 08/16/98
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On August 16, 1998 at 06:49:31, Guillem Barnolas wrote: >On August 15, 1998 at 18:56:08, Robert Hyatt wrote: > >>On August 15, 1998 at 09:20:55, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >> >>>I know of some cases where killer books have been used, but after talking with >>>dozens of other chess programmers, I'm convinced it isn't a serious problem. >>>Most people aren't out to get other people at these tournaments. They just want >>>to do well and have fun. >>> >>>-Tom >> >>I don't agree here for several reasons. >> >>1. Ed doesn't compete any longer, because of frustration with having to >>"re-tool" the book to avoid getting "cooked" each year. > >This seems very awfull to me, I mean, it should be a question of computer >programming ability, chess playing, etc.. and not about who makes the best >opening book or who can "cook" the other sooner... I would like to think that >this is not an extended practice, but... We all know what happens when there is >money in between... Greetings, Guillem. For my first 20 years of chess tournaments (computer chess) there were *no* prizes of any kind, other than the usual trophies. "cooking" was still wide- spread. Now, for the commercial programmers, there are huge financial incentives to do well at a computer chess event. So cooking happens. For the amateurs, there is significant "self-pressure" to do as well as possible, and one way to do this is to find a busted book line and attack it if possible. It is far easier to do this than to improve the engine dramatically in a short period of time... It boils down to 'effort' and 'return for effort'. Cooking a book takes less time and offers potentially greater returns.
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