Author: James A. Tackett
Date: 12:46:32 01/14/00
The standard way to test chess programs, i.e., have them play a "regualr
match" against each other does provide interesting information about their
relative strength and playing style. However, the opening books of the programs
and the relatively short matches tend to add noise to the final result and may
distort the truth. How many times have we seen the opening book of a major
program be set up to take advantage of the weaknesses of a competitor? This may
be good for marketing the new program, but it is bad for us consumers. I want to
know who has the strongest playing program, not the slickest, deal from the
bottom of the deck, opening book!
I do my testing by picking 20 early middlegame positions from grandmaster
play (e.g., Dragon, Ruy, King's Indian, Queen's Gambit etc.) and have the
programs play two games (one White, one Black) from these set positions. A
total of 40 games with opening books turned off! You cannot run a big
tournament this way due to the time requirement, but to decide if program A is
better than program B, this system is very good.
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