Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 21:09:48 04/11/04
Go up one level in this thread
On April 11, 2004 at 13:52:59, Tom Likens wrote:
>On April 10, 2004 at 21:53:17, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On April 10, 2004 at 15:55:17, Tom Likens wrote:
>>>
>>>I'm not sure where I come down on the bitboards vs. non-bitboard
>>>architectures. My engine is a bitboard engine, but that doesn't
>>>necessarily mean that the next one will be bitboard based.
>>>
>>>I don't believe though, that because no bitboarder has topped the
>>>SSDF list that this really constitutes any kind of proof. My strong
>>>suspicion is that if all the top commercial programmers converted
>>>over to bitboards tomorrow (yourself included) that *eventually*
>>>their new engines would again rise to the top of the SSDF. I'm
>>>beginning to suspect that creating a strong (i.e. world-class) engine
>>>involves a helluva lot more than just the basic data representation,
>>>but instead involves...
>>>
>>>1. 24/7 dedication
>>>2. A *real* way to measure progress
>>>3. A selective search strategy that works 99.99999% of the time
>>>4. Attention to about 2^64 minor details
>>>5. A failed marriage (okay, maybe this is extreme but you see the point)
>>>
>>>regards,
>>>--tom
>>
>>
>>
>>Number 5 (or something close) was the reason why Tiger has made such a progress
>>between 1997 and 1999. :)
>>
>>Number 2, seriously, is worth spending several months on it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Christophe
>
>This has been my main focus over the past few weeks. It's become readily
>apparent to me that the improvement slope from here on up is much steeper
>and I rather not waste my time implementing features that I can't properly
>test.
>
>regards,
>--tom
That's the secret of real professional chess programmers.
When you have a good testing methodology, you do not need to be a genius
anymore. I mean you do not have to rely on your genius anymore. You just try any
strange idea and see if it works or not. All you need then is a lot of time (try
dedicating 5 computers or more to the task, and let them run 24/24) and some
cocai... I mean cafeine. :)
Christophe
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