Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 06:36:09 01/04/00
Go up one level in this thread
On January 04, 2000 at 05:45:08, Graham Laight wrote: >I agree with Bob in one way, but disagree in another. > >With the old chess computers (which I used to be able to beat!), it was clear >(to me) that they didn't properly understand some positions. Even allowing them >huge amounts of time didn't enable them to come up with a good move. > >Even so, it was always clear that their chess would substantially improve in >general given extra thinking time. > >Where I disagree profoundly, however, is in overlooking another vitally >important factor: faster computers make better software possible. That isn't part of the equation, however. I happen to agree with you that when I see faster hardware, I think two things: (1) how much deeper/faster will I search? (2) can I trade some of that speed to add some more knowledge that seems to be important? But in this case, we are talking _solely_ about increasing the processor speed with no regard to changing the program in any way. And here I believe it will produce a bigger "Elo difference" between two programs if you simply double the speed of one cpu, than it will if you play the fast and slow computers against the same group of human players. > >As clock speeds improve, programmers can substantially improve things like >position evaluation and search selection. While on slow hardware, light >evaluation and search selection might work best, on fast hardware, this might >not necessarily be true. > >If you take into account the fact that improved hardware leads to the ability to >improve software, then I would have thought that the proposition that a doubling >of speed would lead to a 60 point improvement on the human Elo scale would be >emminently reasonable. > >Clearly, this is has not been proved - but then again, it hasn't been disproved >either. > >-g
This page took 0 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.