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Subject: Re: When is a mate not a mate ? ..kqpkq

Author: Rafael Andrist

Date: 04:23:00 03/20/05

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On March 20, 2005 at 07:05:00, James T. Walker wrote:

>I assume you are right that the tablebases
>will lead you to a draw when a longer mate may lead to a win without violating
>the 50 move rule

Ok, then you understand my point. Giving a PV which optimizes DTM is no proof.

> but how do you find that mate?

In this case, there is no such mate. I just say that Mike Byrne did not proof
there is no such mate.

Using a special tablebase respecting the 50-move rule gives the answer. Such
tablebases have been generated mainly by Marc Bourzutschky and John Tamplin.
In this position, the DTZ-value is 71, so it is definitely a draw.
(DTZ = Depth To Zeroing move counter for an n-move rule)


>Maybe in computer vs computer games the 50 move rule should be ignored?

Of course this could be discussed. However I dislike different rules for humans
and computers. And especially in automated eng-eng tournaments the 50-move rule
makes sense, else some games could continue very long, for example in blocked
positions.

regards
Rafael B. Andrist



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