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Subject: Re: Thinker 4.6b third after 1st round!

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 17:06:37 05/31/04

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On May 31, 2004 at 19:01:35, José Carlos wrote:

>On May 31, 2004 at 18:33:30, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On May 31, 2004 at 18:29:09, Matthias Gemuh wrote:
>>
>>>On May 31, 2004 at 15:08:51, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>
>>>>On May 31, 2004 at 13:41:39, Miroslav Nikolic wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Hardware: PIII 800MHz, 256Mb RAM
>>>>>OS: Windows Xp
>>>>>GUI: Chessprogram8 (Fritz 8)
>>>>>Tournament: 10x8x40min, round robin, 8 rounds
>>>>>Time control: 40'/40, 40'/40 + 40' (rest)
>>>>>Hash: 32 MB
>>>>>Ponder: off
>>>>>Resign: on
>>>>>Tablebase: Nalimov 4-pieces
>>>>>TB Cache : 6 MB
>>>>>Book used: DeepFritz7.ctg for Deep Fritz, H8 for Hiarcs, Select.ctg (by me)
>>>>>for others
>>>>>Book learning: off
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Just a question:  Why would you want to turn off a part of a chess program that
>>>>is not easy to develop in the first place?  IE book learning is a part of many
>>>>engines.  Turning it off makes no sense to me... any more than turning off
>>>>passed pawn evaluation or selective search capabilities...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Strange logic !
>>>How can one compare book learning with passed pawn evaluation or selective
>>>search ?
>>
>>Very simple.
>>
>>1.  I added passed pawn logic to address weaknesses that needed help, in
>>Crafty's particular playing style.
>>
>>2.  I _specifically_ designed the opening book around book learning.  I have
>>_no_ hand-tailored lines, my book is made by sucking in reams of PGN data and
>>then relying on learning to discover which lines are bad or unplayable.
>>
>>Is this hard to understand?  If I had a hand-customized book, I wouldn't care,
>>but I don't, and turning off the learning facility simply makes _zero_ sense...
>>
>>>To make sure that the outcome of a tournament does not depend on order
>>>of opponents, book learning has to be switched off.
>>
>>
>>That's nonsense.  Does a human have to do a "brain purge" between opponents?
>>
>>
>>
>>>This cannot be said of passed pawn evaluation or selective search.
>>>IE to learn against A and use that knowledge to kill B leads to a different
>>>outcome than to learn against B and use that knowledge to kill A !
>>>What has this got to do with passed pawn evaluation or selective search ?
>>
>>
>>
>>See above.  I think it is simply time to disable this feature completely so it
>>is always on as it should be...  I only have it for testing so that two versions
>>don't try to update the book at the same time and corrupt it.
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>/Matthias.
>
>  Some people seem to think that the book is something different from the
>engine. They speak of the engine like "the part that analyzes", or something
>like that. They run unified book tournaments and disable book learning. The GUI
>makes the tablebase moves. All fine for me as long as they understand what the
>result will mean, ie the winner would be a very good partner for the chess
>player to analyze his games, not "the strongest program".
>  This idea can be taken even further: the GUI might also control the time to
>think, putting the engine in analyze mode and deciding when to spend more time
>and when to make the current move. A unified time management algorithm would
>mean another step towards the "analyzer tournament". This algorithm could be
>made public domain and implemented in every GUI.
>  I, myself, perfer to test the whole thing, the full program, and try to beat
>it with mine. Just a matter of taste, I guess...
>
>  José C.

I don't understand all this "fiddling".  IE oddball books.  ponder=on vs
ponder=off, endgame tables on, endgame tables off.  Learning on.  Learning off.
Etc.

I would have no objection if someone plays a long match, crafty vs program S,
then clears the learning data and plays a long match crafty vs program T.  But
not disabling learning completely.  Then I _know_ the book will cause a
problem...  Because it isn't hand-tuned whatsoever...





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