Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 19:58:30 12/30/99
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On December 30, 1999 at 22:27:43, hgkjhg wrote: [snip] > >may be programs shouldn't rely on their books so much. They should use only >solid lines and if they're truly the best, the results will show that. By the >way, fritz is the best against humans, definitely. You are really onto something here [I think]. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details. I think the two biggest problems with chess programs is: 1. Bad opening lines. 2. Early endgame. Solve those two and you will have a world-beater. The problem is that with millions of potential opening positions, how do I know if one is good or bad? Also, there are two kinds of bugs in opening books. The first bug is a true bug. It is an undiscovered tactical shot. There are a frightening number of these, even in carefully analyzed books. Humans are constanly debugging the lines of play and discovering problems in them and improvements, etc. That's how we got all these wonderful opening strategies. However, just because a GM played it ten times and it wins 60% of the time does not mean it won't have serious tactical flaws. This sort of flaw can be overcome (eventually) by a project like C.A.P. The second bug is due purely to the fact that we are talking about computers. Suppose that there is a brilliant sacrifice or positional move that leads to wins. Now, we can write that move in an opening book and *know* that it wins and for good reason. *HOWEVER* the computer does not know the _plan_ behind the move. In order to capitalize on that move, the computer must follow the sequence of moves that leads to a benefit. But since it does not know *why* the move was made or the plan behind it, the following moves are aimless and the sacrifice or positional move is wasted. The only way to fix this is to write better chess algorithms or possibly to deepen the lines all the way to the benefit (a lot easier said than done).
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