Author: Bruce Moreland
Date: 12:28:12 10/06/98
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On October 06, 1998 at 00:33:05, odell hall wrote: >This doubt was originally fueled by an article i read in computer chess >reports back in 1994, Where someone Stated that computers are not real Masters >in the True sense of the word.(Whatever that means!). Also a couple of months >ago I asked our states strongest player(2317) If he thought that computer >programs are playing Master Level Chess. The Master stated that no they are >not!! According to the Master Computer programs play a completley different >type of Chess that is different than what humans play. In Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan" there is a quote that is pertinent to this, in my opinion. I can't find the book, and it has been probably fifteen years since I read it, but hopefully I can do Vonnegut justice. There are two characters. One of them is a man of tremendous intelligence and other personal qualities, who has had an unfortunate accident that has made him non-corporeal, although it's also further increased his capabilities in other areas. The other is a fellow of more normal attributes. This guy finds himself in the presence of this non-corporeal superior entity and feels intimidated and outclassed. The ethereal being tells the normal guy, "It is important at this stage in our relationship that you feel in at least some way superior to me. Consider this. You can reproduce and I cannot." I see the same sort of intimidation at work when humans play computers, and the same need to feel somehow superior, a need to diminish the accomplishments of the computer by finding any peripheral weakness in their play, or even in their style of play (which is not the same thing). It used to be that you could just laugh at the computers. They didn't see anything, and you could just run right over them. If by some miracle you didn't roll them k-side during the middlegame (or opening), you could trade into a material-down ending, make a passed pawn, and walk it down the board unmolested. Times have changed. Now, the computer kicks your butt. It's gotten so strong that it's no fun to play against it. Its style is efficient and lethal, any tactical mistake is punished instantly, permanently, and contemptuously, and you feel like you are getting away with something because the thing even deigns to play someone as weak as you. But all is not lost, yet. There are certainly positions where the computers would be clueless, while a class A player or an Expert would be able to evaluate the situation in a few moments and have a good laugh. These are the positions where the normal humans can feel superior to the computers. Enjoy this sanctuary, it is getting smaller and harder to find. bruce
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