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Subject: Re: Extended futility prunning not working

Author: Pallav Nawani

Date: 12:36:50 08/04/04

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On August 04, 2004 at 15:07:46, Tord Romstad wrote:

>On August 04, 2004 at 14:53:03, Pallav Nawani wrote:
>
>>Where pruning really shines is in endgame. I get 2-5 extra plies because of the
>>(heavy?) pruning I do, some times even more.
>>
>>Pruning hurts tactical strength a bit, especially for a simple program like
>>mine.
>
>Funny.  This is almost exactly the opposite of my experience.
>
>In the endgame, I haven't been able to find any kind of pruning which works
>(except plain recursive null-move pruning with a small reduction factor).  All
>the many pruning techniques I use in the middle game are ineffective in the
>endgame.  I might get a few plies extra if I switch on various kinds of
>pruning, but it introduces too many mistakes.  Heavy pruning in the endgame
>hurts in test suites as well as in games.
>
>I haven't found tactics to be a problem, though.  Heavy pruning greatly
>improves the tactical strength of my engine.
>
>Do you use the trick of avoiding most kinds of pruning when there has
>been an extension at one of the last few plies in the current line?
>
>Tord

I avoid all pruning when the current move/node has been extended, but I don't
worry about previous extensions. I also allow one or two moves on the  current
node before I start pruning. I implemented pruning _before_ I implemented NULL
move pruning, and my observations and based upon that.  Should have mentioned
this before :)

I prune everywhere, and indiscriminately at that :) probably that's what hurts
my engine's tactical strength. Only 240/300 on Wac in 5sec/position on a celeron
333 :( But there would be other things, I am sure.

What kind of pruning that you do improves tactical strength of your engine?

Regards,
Pallav









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