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Subject: Re: finding when a move is obvious.

Author: José Carlos

Date: 03:15:26 04/14/04

Go up one level in this thread


On April 14, 2004 at 06:02:23, Peter Fendrich wrote:

>On April 14, 2004 at 05:14:39, José Carlos wrote:
>
>>On April 14, 2004 at 03:32:17, Peter Fendrich wrote:
>>
>>>On April 14, 2004 at 02:21:41, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>>
>>>>On April 14, 2004 at 00:26:34, Eric Oldre wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>After you find the 1st "good" move don't you narrow the alpha beta window so
>>>>>that you don't know how much worse the 2nd move is, only that it is not as good
>>>>>as alpha?
>>>>>
>>>>>Or do you not narrow the window at the root node? that seems like it would
>>>>>greatly expand your search tree.
>>>>>
>>>>>or am i missing something else?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>On April 14, 2004 at 00:09:24, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Simple idea:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>a move is "easy" and can be made after using less than the planned time limit if
>>>>>>and only if
>>>>>>
>>>>>>1.  estimated score for first root move is way higher than the second move.  IE
>>>>>>say 2.00 better.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>2.  This is a recapture.  IE opponent just captured a piece of ours and we are
>>>>>>recapturing on the same square.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Other types of "easy" moves have higher risk to stop the search early...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>>>Eric Oldre (new chess programmer)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I think that by "estimated score", Bob means the score returned by a SEE (Static
>>>>Exchange Evaluator), not by a real search.
>>>
>>>I shouldn't tell what Bob means but I doubt this is right...
>>>I wouldn't rely on a SEE for such decisions when the first few iterations will
>>>give you a much more reliable score quite fast and you could use the score for
>>>previous move in the game as a staring point.
>>>If the score fulfills the conditions mentioned by Bob from the first iteration
>>>and up to lets say 1/2 the total time alotted for that move then stop and make
>>>the move. (Given that the time allocated for a move is just a function of
>>>remaining time and number of moves left)
>>>/Peter
>>
>>  Hi Peter. Remember that you need an open window to compare score. As most
>>programs use null windows for non pv nodes, you can't use the scores of the
>>first iterations, unles you want to avoid PVS until iteration n.
>>  I use a QSearch with (-inf,+inf) window for all nodes at the root before
>>starting iterative deepening. If I find a "singular" move there (meaning clearly
>>better than all others) and this is the move stored in the hash table for the
>>root position, I flag it as "probably easy move". Then I start iterative
>>deepening. If, at some point, a non pv move fails high at the root, I remove the
>>flag. Otherwise, after 1/10 of the allocated time, when I finish searching the
>>current iteration at the root, I check if the PV move is equal to the "probably
>>easy move". If so, I make that move.
>>
>>  José C.
>
>I'm not sure I understand. Maybe we mean the same thing. Here is my procedure:
>I wan't the first move, at least, in each iteration to give a reliable score
>within [alpha,beta]. That means a wider window for the first move in each
>iteration but in iteration 1 I use [-inf, +inf] for all moves.


  I think we do the same here.


>Each iteration (except iteration=1) starts with the best move searched with
>alpha=score-MARGIN and beta=score+MARGIN. Hopefully the search is within
>alpha/beta otherwise re-search with a wider window is required.
>
>So I have the best move and it's score from the first iteration up till now and
>can make decisions about "easy" moves.
>
>/Peter


  Ok, then I think I misunderstood you. I though you wanted to compare pv move
score with all the other moves score for n iterations, but if I understand you,
you compare it in iteration 1 and make sure it continues to be the best move for
n iterarions. Pretty much what I do.

  José C.



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