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Subject: Re: Deep Blue and the

Author: Quenton Fyfe

Date: 07:58:29 11/12/98

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>>When people from IBM tried to answer him
>>"We have no way to know what *exactly* happened in multi-CPU
>>environment under a real-time conditions", he answered "I don't
>>beleive you. If you'd want to do so, I'm absolutely sure you'll
>>find a way to do that". He could consult *any* specialist in a
>>concurrent programming (IMHO any CS student will be enough) before
>>doing that statement.

Re the above (posted by Bob unless I've got my quotes in a muddle).  I'm a
computer pro, (and ex CS student), and I'd like to have a better understanding
of this issue.

I've always worked on the assumption that computers are deterministic, and will
give you the same answer time after time, unless there's a hardware fault.  This
seems to hold true in practice, even on multi-processor servers and the like.

Can you explain to me why this isn't true for a machine like Deep Blue ?
Is it a theoretical thing caused by small timing anomalies, or could it actually
choose a different move in practice ?
Approx what % of the time would it choose a different move ?
Does it affect Crafty SMP ?

Let's be clear here: I *believe* you implicitly - I just want to *understand*

Thanks

Quenton Fyfe



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