Author: James Swafford
Date: 13:12:05 06/10/99
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On June 10, 1999 at 09:53:13, Timothy J. Frohlick wrote: >As I sit watching the dust particles randomly move along a shaft of light >entering my bedroom I make the association with chess. Particles moving close >to me represent the opening and those further away the mid game and end game. >The fan above my head rotates at a set speed but moves the pieces of dust in a >random manner. I would think that the particles represent the possibilities of the game, not game stages. What path did that particle take to get there? Where is it going next? Difficult to tell, heh? > >Is computer chess a random process? Can we solve a chaotic entity? Clouds form >over my head in a random but semi-predictable fashion. A bumblebee chooses >which flower to land on at random as I choose which flowers to smell at random >(the ones with no bees on them). Grapevines branch at random as do their leaf >veins but we know it is a grapevine. > >We choose chess openings at random or according to our fancies or fantasies. As >the rain falling from the sky so it is with the chessmen. From 32 pieces down >to two equal but opposite pieces like night and day--that is the perfect game of >chess. Computer chess is not a random process. Chess is. We are trying to bring order to chaos, to solve the unpredictable with a well established set of paradigms that may or may not work. So may people use chess playing programs to learn how to play chess, but all they are learning is our interpretation of chess. Will _we_ ever know the true nature of this beast? I hope not.... Thanks for the thoughts, Tim. You've brightened my day. :-) -- James > >Tim Frohlick, Natural Philosopher and chess player
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