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Subject: Re: chess programmes and the wall

Author: KarinsDad

Date: 09:15:35 04/14/99

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On April 14, 1999 at 11:42:31, Keith Kitson wrote:

>It occurs to me that our abilities to build tactical awareness into programs has
>been quite successful.  Our major aim now should be to build in better strategic
>elements.  Better planning and long term follow through of a plan.  I know
>strong chess players, see patterns, and look at the board dynamically.  If we
>can build this sort of awareness into the programs, without detrimentally
>affecting the tactical side then I see some strides forward being made.  How
>long it will take to achieve this I find it difficult to predict.  One of the
>itme that i find unusual, is that for some programs that use Hash Tables they
>clear the hash tables down after every move.  That is not the way a human
>players memory works.  They define a plan, perhaps with some alternatives, then
>they use they use the plan over the course of the game.  They don't start again
>from scratch to build a plan with each ply (or half move) that is made.  I
>reckon some strides forward could be made here in time savings, to allow deeper
>lines of thought within the given time controls.  there again the deeper the
>program calculates the less the accuracy of the line due to search curtailment
>criteria.  I shall watch with interest over the next few years to see how things
>develop.
>
>Kkitson

I couldn't have said it much better. The software I am working on has many of
the elements that you describe. How well it will work is yet to be determined.

However, one other vast area of improvement that I foresee is the endgame.
Having tablebases is fine, however, a tablebase is no different than a typical
player's slight endgame knowledge (the tablebase is just normally more
complete). Once programs really understand endgame concepts, I think that their
level of play will improve dramatically.

KarinsDad :)



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