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Subject: Re: Null Move Pruning and Draw Detection

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 06:25:36 01/15/03

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On January 15, 2003 at 06:12:23, David Rasmussen wrote:

>Since null moves are illegal in the real game, it is not obvious how it affects
>or should affect repetitions and the fifty move rule.
>What I do now in Chezzz is just pretty much ignore the relation between these
>concepts and formulate them as if they were formulated in isolation.
>What is the correct way to deal with these things?
>For instance:

1.  Update your hash signature to reflect the fact that a null-move has been
played.  Now the hash signatures will be different and you won't be matching
with signatures _before_ the null-move and screwing things up.

>
>1. What to do with the fifty moves rule counter when doing a null move?

I don't do a thing in this case...

>2. When doing a null move, we obtain a new position, one that can never be
>   on the board immedeately after the currect position in a real game, but
>   it is treated as a "normal" position. What if a "repetition" is found of
>   two of these "imaginary" positions in the current line? We would return a
>   draw (that is what I do, since I treat these positions as all others, as do
>   most programs I've seen, Crafty for instance).


That is reasonable.  If you get a two-fold repetition below a null-move, why
would you _not_
consider that a draw?

>
>I understand the need for draw detection and I understand the benefits of null
>move pruning, but I think they affect eachother in an unclear way. What do
>others do, and is there a way that is *correct*, and why?
>
>/David



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