Author: ludicrous
Date: 03:52:59 12/12/05
Three have come already... The first horseman was a surprising engine called Ruffian. It surprised the whole computer chess community with its 'darkhorse' appeal. It came out of nowhere, and won event after event. In gauntlet matches it performed good. There was an uproar. The commercials trembled. "Can this upstart really threathen our superiority?", asked Fritz and Shredder. Sadly for the first horseman, the commercials seemed too strong even for the commercial Ruffian. The fad faded, and the masses turned their gaze toward Fritz et al again. There was quite a wait when an even more surprising contender came in. Enter Fruit, the fabulous, the second horseman. Based on a code so simple and clear, its strength and performances were quite unbelievable. With each upgrade of the engine, an enormous increase in playing strength was observed. This horseman was a very powerful entry indeed, as its commercial version demolished several well-known commercials it succession. Mighty Fritz said: "This cannot be.", and so with the latest reincarnation of Frans Morsch's brainchild, came the counter-attack of the commercials. Fritz 9 seemed to stand toe-to-toe with Fruit's strongest version, if not stronger. These two mighty contenders were still staging a very bloody battle, when along came the third horseman. Enter Rybka, an engine from an alternate universe. Its arrival was sudden, and so the whole computer chess world was caught in a lather. Like fresh apples ready for picking, Rybka picked up one victory after another, and caught Fritz and Fruit in a state of shock. Rybka is a revolution. Its existence can be likened to a grand milestone in any other respectible field. So far, the beta version of Rybka seemed capable of defeating all. It did not just defeat them, it ate them alive. Fantastic scores like 20-0-0, or 30-0-10 against some of yesteryear's toughest engines are commonplace. Rybka seems to be living up to the almost forgotten ideals Chess System Tal once trodded on...ideals like "maximum knowledge is the way to go". The whole community is waiting for the release of the commercial Rybka, but just how much can be improved from an engine of this calibre? We would have to wait and see. There will be a fourth horseman, I'm sure. When it will arrive in the scene, no one knows. But looking at the time taken for each horseman to arrive after the last one, it seems the time progressively gets shorter. Although it seems this way, I do not think a new powerhouse will arrive at the scene anytime soon. What happens after the four horsemen has come? It will be the omega of computer chess. A period of no surprises. The computer beasts will be predicted to win almost 99.99 % against all humans, and maybe even 99% of the top 100 GM's in the world. Is this good? Is this bad? That is for the us to decide for ourselves. Ludicrous
This page took 0.01 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.