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Subject: Re: Why "positional" test positions are physically impossible! WM Test

Author: Marc van Hal

Date: 13:32:58 12/03/02

Go up one level in this thread


On December 03, 2002 at 15:52:33, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On December 03, 2002 at 13:41:24, Uri Blass wrote:
>
>>On December 03, 2002 at 12:54:24, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>
>>>Until now nobody out of the programmer group had ever spoken about that evident
>>>truth. SMK says that these tests can't show the strength of play or as it was
>>>claimed for this test, the "ability to analyse". SMK also explained (for the
>>>first time in that direct speech) how he and every programmer could fake the
>>>results of such tests. He then speaks about the question if it could be
>>>discovered, as it was by T. Mally in case of Ed Schröder, and he saud that of
>>>course he could do it so that nobody could find out. In fact he had written such
>>>a "tool", but in the end he decided to let it out of the commercial product.
>>>
>>>But all this gives me the opportunity to talk about the reasons why such a
>>>testing with even these top class positions is nonsense. And why it has nothing
>>>to do, well, almost nothing, with _real_ strength.
>>>
>>>I think I can show you why in special for those allegedly positional positions
>>>the test is nonsense and that he's measuring something else, but not analysing
>>>power of the engine.
>>>
>>>I will keep it very short so that you can do your own research.
>>>
>>>(Just to mention that I asked for that problem already two years ago as
>>>'Schachfan' in CSS forum, but then it went about a tactical mate position).
>>>
>>>Look, if you have a positional game of chess, where do you choose the point for
>>>a test? Of course, in this WM-Test of Gurevich et al you take the position when
>>>exactly a certain by the experts well commented and mostly beautiful move has
>>>been made. Because there the commentators said: only with this move he could
>>>conservate the slight advantage.But the truth is that often the engines see - in
>>>their actually possible realm - two solutions very closely together. And in
>>>general it could be said that for positional positions without tactics the evals
>>>are not very impressive at all. So, how could you calculate it in your results?
>>>Would you really take a difference of 0.01 points as decisive? Is that relevant?
>>>
>>>But the main problem of such test positions is this.
>>>
>>>The point of that "nice move" (that caught th attention of the commentators) is
>>>by no means the most important moment for the decision making. Let me explain
>>>the irony. The usual commentators are masters themselves. Well, and therefore
>>>they take certain decisions as completely normal, because they are easy and
>>>trivial for _them_, but not so for the amateurs. Or the machines so to speak.
>>>But now go with me bachwards a few moves. How optimistic you are that we could
>>>then expect that a machine would be better prepared to make the right decision
>>>in such _positional_ games? And that is exactly the point for these test
>>>positions. _Realistically_ we had to test the machines in positions, where only
>>>experienced humans know how to play to be later in the position to make some
>>>"decisive" moves, moves then commented by our experts. Only the early positions
>>>would allow a verdict if our actual machines could play posiional chess. We know
>>>already the answer. They can't for the moment.
>>>
>>>But therefore such tests with such a great pretension are a fake, a hoax in
>>>themselves. And Stefan MK explained it with the possible distinction. In reality
>>>M. Gurevich is making a question of life or death out of it. But earlier
>>>somewhere I already mentioned that it's ridiculous to claim the honor for a so
>>>called, guess that, I translate, World Champion Test. These positions are simply
>>>taken from Wch matches. What a thrill! But it's known for ages that the chess of
>>>these matches is not always the best possible. Because it's mainly a
>>>psychological fight. And fortunately Gurevich didn't claim that he were testing
>>>psychology. But just now it was published that one position wasn't from Wch
>>>chess at all. A game between Anand and Shirov. And to make the scandal even
>>>greater. The authors used a false position. Instead the K  stood on c7, they put
>>>him on d7. But with Kc7 we have two solutions. The searched Ng5 and now the odd
>>>Bg5 too. Christ! A whole life work of a few hours of choosing some positions out
>>>of Wch games is in danger to lose all reputation. Doctor doctor, gimmi the
>>>news...!
>>>
>>>Rolf Tueschen
>>>
>>>On December 03, 2002 at 09:26:42, Eduard Nemeth wrote:
>>>
>>>>Very interesting post from SMK in CSS Forum (only german).
>>>>
>>>>Please read it, i thing that a translation is interesting for You!
>>>>
>>>>Read here:
>>>>
>>>>http://f23.parsimony.net/forum50826/messages/54995.htm
>>
>>positional test suites are not impossible.
>>
>>I think that the known test suites are not good for that purpose and I also
>>believe that it is not easy to build them so I prefer tactical test suites.
>>I believe that there is a lot of room for improvement in tactics.
>>
>>positional test suites should not be always positions that are hard for humans
>>and they may include also positions that are easy for humans but hard for part
>>of the computers.
>>
>>
>>A possible way to build them may be to analyze a lot of games of computers from
>>the ssdf games and find the positional mistakes that were done by the programs
>>and the target can be to avoid the mistakes.
>
>
>
>you miss the point.  For a tactical position, it is easy to show that the
>winning tactical
>idea is correct and winning beyond a doubt.  For a positional test position, the
>program
>can make the right move for the right reason, or it might make it for the wrong
>reason,
>but both get the same score.  About the only way to do this is to create
>positions where
>there are attractive (but wrong) moves that could be played, and see if the
>program plays
>them.  If it plays a bad move, it clearly doesn't understand the issue.  If it
>plays the right
>move, you only know that it doesn't appear to not understand things, but it also
>could
>just be lucky.
>
>>
>>The main problem is to agree about the positional mistakes.
>>
>>There are a lot of cases when computers can translate positional advantage that
>>they do not understand to positional advantage that they understand so if most
>>of the programs agree after a long search that the move is correct then it is
>>going to be an evidence that the move is correct.
>>
>>You can still define the move as positional move because the tactic that
>>computers see after a long search is not tactics of winning material but winning
>>better pawn structure or better mobility.
>
>But a program without mobility analysis can still make the right move for the
>wrong
>reason so the test will be worthless...
>
>
>>
>>Uri

There are manny positinal sacrefices a program will not play.
Because manny times the program doesn't know how to contineu after having played
2 more moves after that.
And still giving it a bad evaluation.
while 4/5 more moves later is shows a beter evaluation.
It might be intresting to find out why the program didn't see the good
evaluation before.
Marc



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