Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 08:50:17 08/18/03
Go up one level in this thread
On August 17, 2003 at 17:44:53, William Penn wrote: >On August 17, 2003 at 13:37:20, Peter Skinner wrote: > >>Since my last inquiry of the importance of tablebases I have run various engines >>on FICS over the last month, playing over 1100 games. >> >>In very few instances using tablebases did not change the outcome of a game ie. >>a loss into a draw, a loss into a won game. In almost 96% of the games, the >>outcome was pretty much decided by the time the 5 man tablebases were used. >> >>On FICS of course the time controls were of a fast nature, usually 5 3 blitz, or >>30 10 "standard" time controls. >> >>The engines that I used in the test were Ruffian 1.0.5, Crafty 19.03, Chess >>Tiger 15.0, and Junior 8. >> >>Out of all of these, Crafty seemed to do the best whether it had the tablebases >>or not. Ruffian scored slightly under Crafty. Chess Tiger and Junior had very >>mixed results. >> >>Now while the tablebases due in fact let the chess program gain the instant >>moves needed in a fast time, I have found that without the access, the engine >>usually comes up with the same move in 96% of the time. It also allows the >>program to move instantly when it is searching the tablebases, thus in a short >>time control this can be of service. >> >>I have read many tests where others are doing the same as I am, and I have come >>to the conclusion that while tablebases certainly _can_ be benefitial, they for >>the most part are not 100% required. >> >>If anyone would like the games, I would be happy to email them. >> >>Peter. > >I believe you're correct. Statistically the tablebases don't add a lot to the >strength as measured by Elo ratings, perhaps 50 Elo points or so (just >guessing). Also the chess engines/GUIs slow down a lot when tablebase access is >required because that's a physical process - accessing the hard drive. I've >found that they can drop to 1/4th of normal speed, perhaps more, when doing a >lot of tablebase access in simple endgames. Of course if you're researching an >endgame, perhaps you'll want to give the engine(s) & tablebases a chance. >WP > >[P.S. Is anyone else having a problem with this composition box on CCC? The last >couple of times it is hiding part of my text as I type. Something's wrong with >the word wrap. I've used the same computer for the last week with several prior >posts, and didn't notice it, so it seems to have started in the last 1-2 days.] I would guess that tablebase files add less than 10 ELO to an already strong chess engine. Every study I have seen shows no statistically detectable difference in strength.
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