Author: David Mitchell
Date: 00:56:14 08/16/05
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On August 16, 2005 at 03:06:43, Majd Al-Ansari wrote: >Hi Bob, > >I have been following your implementation of new hardware with great interest. >I think it is great to push software to match the leading hardware. I was >wondering what you think of Hydra's way of using programmable cards as a >scalable way to increase hardware power. Is it more cost effective? Or do you >think that as more and more cores get added to CPU's that is a better >alternative. While I am not a programmer, I was especially interested about >Hydra's claim that adding "chess knowledge" does not reduce the programs speed. >I think with every engine you can get reach certain positionss where even the >best engine can play moves that even a 1800 player can do better. I have one >position in mind where Shredder 9 UCI will resign as black in an absolutely >drawn endgame (gives evaluation +9.8) and I am sure you have similar experiences >with certain positions. Ofcourse the programmers are aware of these things but >will not add this chess knowledge because it will reduce the strength of the >program in other areas. If Hydra's claim of being able to add chess knowledge >without reducing speed is true, then isn't that the way to go? Thanks > As an exciting chess experiment, Hydra ranks right at the top right now. If the numbers thrown around are vaguely accurate, however, it will not be a commercial success, or cost effective. As the CPU's continue to increase in speed and overall throughput with multi-cores, and come down in price, I don't see how a system like Hydra could compete with that, year after year. I'd love to see Hydra take on the WCCC top programs on 8 or 16 X opterons, and see how that would sort itself out. Very interesting! Unless Hydra's engineers find a way to really rev it up so much it can leave the current high-end "workstation" + software systems in the dust, I'm afraid Hydra will have no bed of roses in a few years, and what we're seeing is a unique and fascinating museum artifact in action. Dave
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