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Subject: Farewell of chess programmers

Author: Fernando Villegas

Date: 16:14:18 09/14/05


Lot time ago I wrote a post about how chess sprogrammers, as many high-end
performers in any endavour, had a certain stock of ideas -important, basic
ideas, not talking of second rate ideas to improve the first ones- and that
after exhausting them, they went to retirement. In other cases, I said, the
problem was not lack of ideas but of will, stamina, desire to follow the path.
I was strongly refuted, I recall, by Chris Theron. "It was not the case", he
said.   Creative guys have always a bag full of ideas.
Well?
Since those post this happened:
a) Lang never more wrote a really new genius. He has dedicated his efforts to
merchandising and new platforms.
b) Schroeder sold his company and afeter giving a farewell gift to all of us,
Pro Deo, he retired.
c) Theron himself has disappear. Probably it's a matter of his new engagement as
a father, I hope it is just that.
d) Morsch does not hope to keep the edge and so he went -with my blessing in any
case- to the most soft field of "human-like" engines.
e) Wittington, father of Cstal, sold his business, bought a farm to take care of
cows and abandoned completely his criature to the voracious marketing hunger of
minimal companies offering his program piecemeal.
Exception made of Bob Hyatt, the exception that makes the rule, the stampede of
programmers is continue and unstoppable.
Ny question is: who will be the next?
Think that now, besides age and boredom, we have another factor pushing
retirement: sharp drop of profit.

Fernando, gerontologyst



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