Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: 'Red alert' for humans - but how about chess engines?

Author: Soren Riis

Date: 06:19:08 12/05/98

Go up one level in this thread



>On December 02, 1998 at 11:35:12, Robert Ericsson wrote:
>
>>This a missing post that seems to have disappeared since yesterday...
>>
>>/Robert Ericsson
>>---------------------------------------
>>I had the following position in a correspondence chess game some three
>>years ago.
>>
>>5b1r/3bkp2/3ppp2/p6P/4PP2/1PNB4/1KP5/7R b - -
>>
>>White's last move was 1. Kb1-b2 (1. f5 is better) and after 1. - f5!
>>2. exf5 Bg7 3. fxe6 fxe6 4. Be2 Rc8 5. Rh3 Rxc3! 6. Rxc3 Bd4!
>>black won easily within 10-15 more moves.
>>
>>I have tested this position on both Hiarcs 6 and Rebel 9 and they seem to
>>understand nothing about this position. They don't find 1. - f5 because
>>they obviously don't see the deadly pin long the diagonal. And even after
>>6. - Bd4 it will take a long time for them to realize that white is actually
>>lost.
>>
>>My questions are: when (at which PLY) do chess engines realize that:
>>a) 1. Kb2-b2 is bad due to the reply 1. - f5!
>>b) white is lost after 6. - Bd4
>>
>>Robert Ericsson
>>----------------------------------------
>
>Whoaw, this is one of the most computer hostile positions I have seen for
>a long time!! Are there any programs (including weaker experimental programs
>which might have been designed to make this kind of positional sacrifises) which
>can solve the above problem?
>
>Soren Riis

I now realize most chess programes eventually will find 1-f5! but of course not
because they see the exchange sac 5-Rxc3!!!!! I would be DEEPLY IMPRESSED
by any computer who can find the 5-Rxc3 idea. Such a move is (to quote Kasparov
on his comments on moves like Be4 in game two against deepblue) a sign of real
inteligence. For us humans it is a very easy move, but for computers it
seems to be very difficult because it involves reasoning on a kind of
metalevel. Even a rather weak human chess player will probably reason
like this:  "White can never get out of the pin and the black king can walk
freely around on the dark squares and eventyally after having picked up all
white pawns black can bring his king to d2 (by help of his bishop) and then
eventually pick up the rook on c3".

Does any of you have any ideas how to impliment procedures which can find
a move like 5-Rxc3? Of course such a procedure might lower the programs
general playing strength but I think it is important to try to write
programs which are good at detecting "unusual" situations where an "unusual"
(for a computer!) approach is required.

Soren Riis




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.