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Subject: Re: My miscellany of minor chess programming problems ?

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 20:30:52 08/27/05

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On August 27, 2005 at 15:36:15, rasjid chan wrote:

>On August 27, 2005 at 10:09:21, Jon Dart wrote:
>
>>> So this mean we don't need to keep pv[][] if we have hash tables (it is
>>> like double accounting).
>>
>>I think this is false, given you have a finite size hash table and must
>>eventually replace something. I have some experience: I used to retrieve pv from
>>the hash table but now use a pv array and back up the scores.
>>
>>--Jon
>
>They tell me so and I begin to doubt. Maybe as Dr Hyatt says, backup the pv.
>It may be best to be simple as I don't yet know how hashing twists and turns
>within.
>
>Rasjid

Just remember this.  While searching the PV, _after_ you search a move on the PV
path, you do a lot of other searching.  Any of which can overwrite the PV move
so that you get no move at that point, and a resulting short PV.  The "back up"
method has no significant cost associated with it, since it is not done very
often in a PVS-type search...

If you really don't care, the hash table approach works much of the time, and
does have zero overhead.  The array backup method has a finite but small
overhead.  I find that avoiding the short PVs helps in testing and debugging,
but in real games is irrelevant with respect to the game outcome...



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