Author: Bruce Moreland
Date: 16:28:07 10/26/99
Go up one level in this thread
On October 26, 1999 at 12:54:02, Amir Ban wrote: >I got noplayed by crafty last week. I think it was playing more than 4 games in >a row rather than disconnecting. At the time crafty's rating was 3146, so it >seems it's rating jump is a result of noplaying ban. Crafty & clones typically >gain around 200-300 points when they don't play other computers. I didn't >realize crafty's noplay list is so long, but looking at it it effectively >doesn't play top computers any more (ferret is hardly around these days). > >I know about crafty's rules for not disconnecting (suspicion of cheating, what >else ?), and not playing more than 4 games in a row against a computer (mustn't >keep those humans waiting. Mind you it may be hours between games, it's your >business to keep track of who crafty plays). I find both, in the context of >games between two competitors for top blitz position to be unsportsmanlike and >rude, but so be it. > >I don't have a noplay list, by the way, but if I did, I think crafty would have >a place on it. Here is a sample of bad behavior: > >- On a previous occasion I was noplayed by crafty after winning three games in a >row, and on the way to win a 4th one, when I had to disconnect. When trying to >complete this game I found I was noplayed. I messaged Bob about this, quoting >the documented ICC rule that censoring someone you have an adjourned game with >is abuse. I was answered (rudely) that that's just how the program behaves and >it's my fault. I complained to the ICC admins on that occasion. > >- Crafty's connection is often poor, and it has big lags, of up to minutes per >move. If this happens, don't disconnect ! That's cheating. Crafty sometimes >disconnects due to connection problems, but that's not cheating. > >- Crafty will not accept a draw offer ever, even not when it has insufficient >material to win. > >- On one occasion, when the opponent had insufficient material (bishop vs. pawn, >I think), not only did it refuse to draw, but with several minutes on its clock, >it did not make a move and let time run out (ICC declared this a draw of >course). The opponent cannot just walk away because crafty has a pawn. I think >this is the worst form of abuse I've seen on ICC. Some of the automatic computers, mine include, do nasty things, and that's one good reason not to implement automatic abuse detection. I think that if Bob wants to prevent death-matches by computers and wimpy humans, he should implement some sort of challenge prioritization scheme. I think you and Bob have some pretty obvious bad blood, which clearly colors this discussion. You know that Bob didn't deliberately program Crafty to torment you. >In regard to the question of what Crafty's ICC rating reflects: It says >something, but not much. The current version (17.0 ?) is pretty competent, I >think, but it doesn't feel much better than 16.6, which was rated hundreds of >points lower. There were intermediate versions that had ICC ratings above 3200 >that were definitely soft and were consistently creamed by Junior. Crafty's >rating is more heavily influenced by whether competition like Ferret and Ban are >around. Crafty's rating can go way up in a short period of time due to its popularity with high-rated players. I don't think the rating spikes mean anything other than that. He has a better chance of hitting a peak if he starts out with a big rating, but I don't think that my own program's matches with Crafty have had so much effect on its rating that it will always start out lower rated when a suicidal GM comes along. My program has played against Crafty a lot, but I don't typically over-graze. Can you run automatic? It's a heck of a lot easier than sitting there typing in moves. bruce
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