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Subject: Re: To Martin Fierz, Michael Drexel and Dann Corbit

Author: Tord Romstad

Date: 10:33:20 01/14/04

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On January 14, 2004 at 04:12:43, martin fierz wrote:

>On January 13, 2004 at 09:36:27, Tord Romstad wrote:
>
>>It is easier to improve a very weak engine than a moderately strong one,
>>of course.  I'm afraid Gothmog will never get much stronger than it is
>>today.  The problem is that, unlike you, I am neither a strong chess
>>player nor a good programmer.
>
>hehe, being a strong chess player actually seems to be detrimental for your
>chess engine :-)

Do you really think so?  To me it feels like a handicap to have a
limited understanding of the game.  Right now I am re-reading Smyslov
and Levenfish's book about rook endgames, with the hope that I will
learn something that can help me improve Gothmog's miserable endgame
skills.

>and about the programmer: how would you know who of us is the better
>programmer??

I don't know much about your programming skills, but if you read my
sentence carefully, you will see that it is sufficient that you are
a strong chess player *or* a good programmer for the statement to be
true.  :-)

>yesterday's result suggests it's you: gothmog 0.4.5 - muse 0.878
>29-11 (blitz 1'+5'', nunn2-match).

You know as well as I do that this result does not really suggest anything
about our relative programming skills.  The only conclusion we can make
is that my engine is probably stronger than yours at blitz time controls
with increment.  :-)

>[snip]
>
>>Another "problem" is that I will probably have much less time for chess
>>programming this spring, because all the injuries which haunted me
>>during the last year finally seems to have healed and I can start
>>training again (I still have a tiny hope to qualify for the 400 meters
>>in the Norwegian track and field championships next summer).
>
>a word of advice from an old man to a young man (yes, the dividing line *is*
>30): don't do it. i ruined my body with too much sports (not that it was much,
>but it was too much already), and now i can practically do nothing at all any
>more. if you had lots of injuries last year, then your body was trying to tell
>you something...

Thanks for the advice.  But in fact I don't think I have that much to worry
about.  Most of the injuries were of the acute type which shouldn't cause
any trouble once they are heales (like when I broke my wrist last autumn).

Tord



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