Author: Mike S.
Date: 20:15:54 11/25/03
Go up one level in this thread
On November 25, 2003 at 09:29:06, Mig Greengard wrote: >(...) For now I'm interested in the >theoretical argument in favor of books, since they continue to be used >enthusiastically. Are they just a necessary evil? Or does everyone think they >can use it to their advantage? Is there no movement to abolish them or limit >them? In addition to my other posting, I can add (more generally), that we have to distinguish between (a) a few Championship games, and (b) the everyday needs of chess program users, and of engine fans (who produce thousands of games :-)) In (a), it's a sport being performed with maximum efforts in all components: Hardware, Opening experts, opponent-specific preparation maybe, etc. For (b), large books are offered not only to be used by the engine, but also by the user himself as a kind of software opening encyclopedia (therefore the larger, the better). The engine fans handle that very differently. Some prefer use the engine books, other use various sets of predefined variants, etc. In the F4 options of Fritz, there is a *book depth option* included already. So, in everyday life so to speak, everybody can set it just as desired. As mentioned before, I would agree to a good neutral theory book to be used at such "official" tournaments by all engines. - But it's very unlikely that all the competitors or ICGA members would ever agree over such an idea, and I think nobody really has the power to dictate that. I absolutely agree that book wins at such an event are unsatisfying from the engine fan's and user's viewpoint. Opening Books are more a tool, at least for me - but for the software teams, books are simply a part of the competition just like the engine. I'd certainly never buy a program just because it has a superior book, when the engine isn't among the top engines. - But actually, the programs with the best opening books include engines which are among the strongest at the same time anyway, like Shredder, Fritz, Tiger... So, that discussion would be very artificial IOW useless. Another thing would be, when books directly decide about crucial points and by that, who becomes World Champion... but even when a book win happens, nobody can be sure that the program wouldn't have won from an equal opening variant as well. Regards, Mike Scheidl
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.