Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: question about fixing the time management of movei

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 13:01:09 07/27/04

Go up one level in this thread


On July 27, 2004 at 15:25:50, Uri Blass wrote:

>On July 27, 2004 at 13:26:54, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On July 27, 2004 at 12:42:42, Uri Blass wrote:
>>
>>>On July 27, 2004 at 11:11:10, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>
>>>>On July 27, 2004 at 03:18:50, Sune Fischer wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On July 25, 2004 at 22:01:31, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Bad idea.  Start the next iteration even if you don't think you will have time
>>>>>>to finish it.  You might fail low.  Wouldn't that be nice to know?  :)
>>>>>
>>>>>This may or may not be a good idea.
>>>>>
>>>>>I think if it is a good idea, then you should always try and search the next
>>>>>iteration for a short time to see if you get a quick fail-low.
>>>>>
>>>>>On the other hand, if it is a bad idea it is better to save the time that will
>>>>>probably be wasted anyway.
>>>>>
>>>>>From what I can tell you propose to do a mixture, i.e. to use extra time if the
>>>>>time manager tells you to?
>>>>>
>>>>>I really doubt this is the best way, because it will be extremely random when
>>>>>you get to begin the next ply.
>>>>
>>>>No idea what that means.  I set a target time.  If I have not used that much
>>>>time, I keep searching.  Whether that means starting a new iteration or
>>>>continuing on the current iteration.
>>>>
>>>>When the target time is reached, I set a flag that says "do not search another
>>>>root move, but don't stop until either the current root move has been searched
>>>>or 2x the time limit has been used."  This does not apply if the root move being
>>>>searched is the first one in the list...
>>>
>>>Basically there are 2 cases to consider.
>>>case 1:you did not expect the opponent move correctly.
>>>case 2:You expected the opponent move correctly.
>>
>>I completely ignore this.  My only purpose for "pondering" is to save time so
>>that I have more later when I need it.
>
>I think that it is wrong to ignore it because the situation is not the same.
>
>suppose that you have 2 minutes to finish the game when the opponent played fast
>in previous moves and have 20 minutes to finish the game
>
>Suppose also that the opponent used 2 minutes for the last move.
>
>If you pondered the correct move you can use more than 2 minutes without losing
>on time(you count in that case also the time that you used in the opponent time
>otherwise you can never reply immediatly) and there may be cases when you want
>to do it(for example after a big fail low when you hope to find a better move).

I don't understand.  When I am "pondering" I have no "time limit" to deal with.
The time limit is set when my opponent actually moves and my clock starts.  I
will generally "move instantly" in such a case where I have a small time target
but used a lot of time waiting on my opponent...


>
>If you pondered wrong move then it is clear that you cannot use more than 2
>minutes without losing on time.

And I wouldn't.  I'd use my normal time allocation logic that considers time
left, moves left, etc...


>
>It means that the decision how much time to use from the time you started to
>search to the time that you play should be dependent on the question if you
>pondered the right move.
>
>Uri

Not for me.  I don't separate the two cases.  If I predict correctly, then at
the instant my opponent moves I notice I have already used more time than I
would have on a normal search so I exit and make the best move right now.  If I
predict incorrectly, I set the target time and do a normal search.  Pondering
may let me go deeper as my opponent can take more time for his search than I
budgeted for mine.  But all I will do is _save_ the ponder time for later,
assuming I am in no trouble here and now.




This page took 0.01 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.