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Subject: Re: The Need for Fischer Random Chess !

Author: Jorge Pichard

Date: 05:41:23 06/05/04

Go up one level in this thread


On June 05, 2004 at 08:28:08, Sune Fischer wrote:

>On June 05, 2004 at 06:40:48, Tord Romstad wrote:
>
>>On June 04, 2004 at 18:39:13, Jorge Pichard wrote:
>>
>>>Since computer can hold and remember more Opening than any Human and they are at
>>>the level of the very best human players such as Kasparov, Anand and Kramnik'
>>>the need for Fischer Random Chess will become more popular in the next 5 years.
>>
>>I don't see why the computer's perfect memory would contribute to the popularity
>>of FRC.  Of course humans and computers have different skills.  The computer is
>>obviously superior at remembering concrete and exact information, and at
>>calculating
>>quickly.  The human is superior at pattern recognition and long-range planning.
>>There are some games where the computer's strengths are the more important
>>(like othello), some where the human's skills are more important (like go), and
>>some which are somewhere in between (like chess).  Why does the fact that
>>computer
>>players are competitive in chess make the game less attractive for humans?
>
>I agree, programs are weaker when playing without book but so are humans.
>
>>And by the way, I don't think FRC is any more difficult to play for computers
>>than
>>classical chess.  If some of the top programmers spent some time implementing
>>FRC, the top engines would be just as competitive there as in classical chess.
>
>I think so too.
>If the desire is to make a game where humans can still beat computers then FRC
>is not hard enough.
>That's not the idea with FRC however.
>
>>I personally find FRC to be one of the least interesting chess variants I have
>>ever
>>seen.  If you want to abandon classical chess, why not switch to some of the
>>many more complicated chess variants which really add something new to the
>>game?
>
>With FRC you don't really want a new game, you want the old familiar chess game,
>only without the need to spend countless hours memorizing long opening lines to
>become a good player.
>
>FRC can be played the standard chess pieces and it takes very little getting
>used to.
>I have tried other variants and I find it really hard to adjust to new pieces
>and picture how they move. You just don't "see it" like you do with normal
>pieces, without that it's impossible to calculate tactics so you have to invest
>a lot of time and basicly start from scratch in a whole new game.
>
>>There are lots of such variants, including Chess with Different Armies,
>>shogi, hexagonal chess and Gothic chess.  And unlike FRC, all of these chess
>>variants really *are* more difficult for computers than classical chess.
>
>FRC was never designed to be an anti-computer game :)
>
>>>Even a player such as former world champion Garry Kasparov who has incredible
>>>memorization capabilities, complained that he could not always remember his
>>>opening preparation. Therefore, it will become justifiable to match the very
>>>best human against the very vest FRC program.
>>
>>Neither Kasparov nor Kramnik would be very interested in such a match, I
>>think.  Leko would probably be willing to play, though.
>
>They go where the money go, for them it's business.
>
>>>Probably very soon Shredder and Hiarcs will also be available in FRC.
>>
>>Why do you think so?  There is currently no market demand for a professional
>>FRC engine.  Right now, there are several hundred engines which play classical
>>chess, and less than ten which play FRC.
>
>It's a small hack to most engines, so a better questions is "why not do it?".
>
>>I happen to be one of the few engine
>>authors which have written engines for both games.   Every week, I get about
>>50 e-mails from users with feedback about my classical chess engine.  I get
>>almost no feedback at all about the FRC engine.  Richard Pijl and Volker Anuss,
>>who have also written FRC engines, have been kind enough to play a few
>>games and send them to me, and you played a few games which you posted
>>here, but that's all I have received so far.  It took more than a week after the
>>release of my FRC engine before anybody could even confirm that it worked
>>(I couldn't test it, because I don't run Windows).
>>
>>The truth is that there is almost zero interest in FRC.  From a commercial
>>point of view, adding FRC support to Shredder or Hiarcs would be a complete
>>waste of time.
>
>Well so is adding SMP support, and unlike FRC that's not a small hack at all.
>:)

>-S.
>
>>Tord

   And I would be happy to pay an additional $15 for a version of Shredder and
Hiarcs that support FRC:-)

Jorge



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