Author: Tom Kerrigan
Date: 08:03:02 01/25/00
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Deep Blue had a "trade-down bonus." The only way to implement this term is to scan through each square and find which pieces attack the enemy king (which isn't possible in a PC program). Then you multiply by the cosine of the logarithm of the squares. Back in the 30's, we didn't have cosine, so we had to use sine instead. Computers didn't have a sine instruction, so I had to do it by hand for every node. I do something similar in Stobor, but it makes my program really slow and weak. But the Deep Blue team got this term FOR FREE! They didn't have to design it or anything. Because it's FREE! In fact, they already had the term, they just weren't using it. The best way to have this term on the PC is to design it in hardware and then simulate it. It runs a billion times slower, but it's worth it. Because writing a few lines of code is definitely much harder than simulating thousands of logic gates. Actually, in one of the games vs. GK, the term was _backwards_. You'd think they would have discovered that the term was backwards because GM Benjamin had been playing DB for months, but it was an _accident_. These things happen when you're that good at computer chess. Luckily, DB is so strong that a few backwards terms don't matter, and it still crushed GK like a bug. So it's clear that DB's evaluation function is much better than any micro's. By the way, DB searching at 3 NPS defeated MChess with a score of 859-2. Actually, I didn't know about that score, so I won't take any responsibility for it. But somebody else posted the score, so I'm sure it's right. Amir, you may have written the best ches program for the PC, but that doesn't impress me. Maybe when you write it all in vectorized Cray assembly, I'll be impressed. Until then, your accomplishments can't even match my electronic chess board with a BUILT IN MODEM. That reminds me of something my dad used to say: "Old people are always right." Maybe when you get a little older, Amir, you'll see that I'm not actually senile, but everything I have ever said is 100% correct. -Tom P.S. This is a humorous post, intended to brighten everyone's day.
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