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Subject: Re: Writing a meta-language to describe eval function

Author: Andrei Fortuna

Date: 11:25:13 07/02/03

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On July 02, 2003 at 14:07:36, Matthew White wrote:

>For example, I once heard a lecture stating that in the opening, a pawn is worth
>three tempi, meaning that if you can get a three developing move advantage on
>your opponent, then a gambit is generally okay. It would seem, then, that in an
>eval, a program could assign a value of 0 for a minus one pawn, plus three tempi
>situation (absent any other contributing factors). However, if you only have a
>two tempi and you give the opponent a pawn, does that mean you are -0.33? I
>don't think that the rule is so hard-and fast... A one tempo advantage is VERY
>different than a three tempo advantage. An exchange can often be used to regain
>one tempo, but regaining three tempi requires considerably more work. So is it
>fair to say that each tempo is worth the same amount? I don't think so. Just
>something to think about, I hope that all made sense.

I don't think tempi have much use in an eval function.  IMHO they look a bit
artificial and anyway if you are ahead 1-2-3 tempi then your program will have
to find a way to transform those tempi into another type of advantage in a
number of plies.

Andrei



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