Author: Anthony Cozzie
Date: 13:33:46 02/23/05
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I'm not sure how to explain this, so I am just going to fumble around and hope I can get my point across without being an ass. I simply don't like operators at big tournaments. Having thought for a while, my problem is that an operator invests nothing compared to an author. Zappa contains roughly 13,000 lines of C++ code (not counting Eugene's stuff). If I plug that into COCOMO (months = 2.4*KLOC^1.05), I get a development time of 3 years. At standard US Goverment contracting rates (60K/yr, multiplier 2.5) that equates to $450,000. Any good chess engine will require a similar amount of time, and I'm sure the amount of time I have spent on Zappa is dwarfed by the amount Stefan works on Shredder. SOS, Diep, Fritz, Crafty, Shredder, Junior, Hydra: all of them are the product of YEARS of work. Even "amateur" engines like Gothmog or Amateur have a lot of man hours behind them. The same goes for opening book creators. Necchi, Arturo, Kure, Alterman, and Noomen have all worked on their books for years. So if Arturo & I show up at the WCCC this year or the next, the total value of our entry is probably pushing $1M, and this would be dwarfed by some of the other contestants. I say this not to brag about my accomplishments, but to show just how much work it is to compete at high levels in computer chess. It is just like any other sport; everyone knows that world class swimmers or tennis stars work on their game every day. The only difference is that instead of getting to the gym for squats and sprints we hang out at the computer lab improving our move ordering :) An operator shortcuts all that by the simple expedient of purchasing a program and opening book for 50$, which requires about 0.001% the effort of developing it from scratch. This has several effects. First, they simply aren't "in the club", and cannot reasonably expect to be. Secondly, they have none of the knowledge gained from the years of work, which makes conversing with them much less interesting. Third, people attach a lot of importance to things they spent a lot of time on. If I win a tournament with Zappa I feel good about my effort, if I win using a program I bought chessbase.com for 50$ I feel . . . not much. If I participate with Zappa and lose to someone who bought Shredder for 50$, it is only natural that I will resent that. This is why all the big computer chess tournaments have insisted on "authors only". In fact, only the events on the playchess server work differently. If you want to compete as an author, write a program. It isn't easy, but neither is it impossibly hard. It doesn't take more than a few months to get something that can play legal moves. Having written this essay, I realized that it really says almost nothing that isn't in the subject line :) anthony
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