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Subject: Re: Junior 5 engine - is speed all?

Author: Dave Gomboc

Date: 19:44:01 10/17/98

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If you're trying to decide between Junior 5 and Rebel 10, you will have a tough
time doing it by strength.

I suggest you find out about the features each program has, decide which you
want more, and go for that one.

Rebel's home page is at www.rebel.nl.  There's a lot of information there about
Rebel and other products from Ed's company.  You can check out www.chessbase.com
to find some information on Junior (and also other products).  I am not sure if
the developers of Junior have their own web site, but one of them is a moderator
here, so he can feel free to mention it if there is one. :-)

Dave Gomboc


On October 17, 1998 at 15:00:57, Eran wrote:

>On October 17, 1998 at 13:59:08, Dirk Frickenschmidt wrote:
>
>>On October 17, 1998 at 04:57:00, Alessio Iacovoni wrote:
>>
>>Hi Alessio,
>>
>>as Christophe Theron rightly claimed, it is not too decisive *how* a program
>>reaches its playing strength, although fast searchers with strong tactics like
>>Fritz5 or Junior5 are always convenient for a first tactical check when
>>analyzing games.
>>
>>The thing I wonder about is your impression that Junior5 plays weak positionally
>>while being fast: you know the old picture of the "stupid bean counters", which
>>is still used by some.
>>
>>Now I did a lot of testing with Junior5 on a 200MMX, and I got just the opposite
>>impression of what you got:
>>while admittedly blundering just like any program I know from time to time (this
>>definitely includes the so-called knowledge programs as well, and not only for
>>tactical reasons but also for occasional weak positional play), I was *very*
>>impressed by the versatile overall positional competence of Junior in all kinds
>>of positions from opening to endgame.
>>
>>Perhaps you can post some of the weak moves you saw to make your point more
>>concrete. Amir and Shay especially and anybody else using Junior will probably
>>be interested.
>>
>>I am too: its always nice to know more about an interesting program.
>>
>>Regards
>>from Dirk
>>
>>
>>>Gambisoft posts:
>>>
>>>"Customers report unisono that JUNIOR 5 runs at top speed. We can
>>>confirm this. With 350 MHz the search depth starts double digit most
>>>of the time!"
>>>
>>>Results of the engine seem to support the claim that it is a very strong engine.
>>>However, when running it against Fritz 5 and especially Hiarcs on Junior
>>>platform I've got the impression that, fast as it may be, it is not intelligent
>>>enough... sometimes it seems to make moves that not even a patzer would make.
>>>
>>>It may go 2 or 3 plies ahead of Crafty or Fritz.. but at the detriment of
>>>position and basic chess rules.
>
>Dirk,
>
>Some recent posts here in the CCC about Junior5's strength did confuse me a
>little bit.  since I am neither a chess programmer nor an expert in chess
>programming, I don't know what the phrase "stupid bean counters" means. Please
>explain it to me.
>
>I have been hesitating for more than a week about whether to buy Junior5 or
>Rebel10 due to my limited budget.  Therefore, since I read the recent posts
>about Junior5 and I favor slow games, I cannot know for sure which chess
>program, Junior5 or Rebel10, is truly stronger and better for my playing style.
>
>I will appreciate that if you please explain clearly to me in plain English
>about whether Junior5 is stronger and better than Rebel10 for any player who
>likes to play slow games such as 40/120 ones.
>
>I look forward to reading from your repost in the CCC here.
>
>Thank you,
>Eran



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