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Subject: Important deficiency of Xiangqi

Author: Vincent Diepeveen

Date: 17:47:14 07/30/02

Go up one level in this thread


On July 30, 2002 at 20:39:40, Vincent Diepeveen wrote:

I forgot to add that you guys even forgot to include a stalemate rule!

>On July 30, 2002 at 15:52:18, Ren Wu wrote:
>
>A story regarding playing strength says really *nothing*.
>DIEP was the only active playing chess program on icc that topped
>all bullet rating lists. Crafty already couldn't play any human more
>so strong it was at bullet.
>
>It all says nothing. How much work you put in a game says nothing whether
>the strongest program beats strong players.
>
>Let me give you 2 examples:
>  - chess 40 moves average branching factor, strongest programs definitely
>    GM strength but real soon programs were at a decent level.
>  - international checkers, branching factor 10 or something (don't
>    blame me when it's 9 or 12). Of course with the help of a strong draughts
>    player i make a draughts program and directly get second. No Truus is
>    not actively playing anymore here. Napoleon destroys truus at tests
>    here at home.
>
>When i show up, i completely outsearch opponents, even havin gmore knowledge
>in evaluation (of course not so well tuned, which is the only major problem,
>as we lack time to tune it all). In endgame i sometimes outsearched opponents
>by 20 ply.
>
>It took 4 years without modifying a byte to the search of napoleon before
>the strongest programs, with help of some EGTBs, came close to that
>search depth.
>
>Nevertheless, some work real hard on their programs, and not a single
>draughts program, despite finding tactical shots of world champions in
>litterary microseconds, is capable of beating real strong draughts players.
>
>There have been of course very little official matches, but if i see
>Marcel Monteba and several others easily draw or win from the thing, i
>definitely know that chessprograms are STRONGER than draughts programs.
>
>This is real weird.
>
>Of course a big explanation lies in the fact that with a few weeks of
>programming and a analytical strong draughts player to the right of me
>i am directly in the 'world top' if there is a world top anyway here.
>
>But the obvious thing is of course that the game is much harder to play
>than a general chess game, simply because in chess the CENTER is so
>hard.
>
>However mating the king is pretty hard.
>
>In Chinese Chess mating the king is pretty easy compared to chess.
>
>Try to mate a king in chess with just a rook and a knight without help
>from your own king!
>
>In Chinese chess this should be no problem!
>
>The game starts in complete chaos there. So that's great for programs.
>The more chaos the better. Of course both chess and chinese chess face
>extensive openingsbooks. In fact nowadays the DIEP book is 750000 positions,
>all given in by hand by arturo ochoa. Automatic PGN collections DO NOT
>WORK anymore already for a few years in chess! If you show up at a world
>championship with an automatic generated and/or tuned book, then you
>are history! You need extensive manual labour here!
>
>Saying the best players lose from a program is obviously no good commercial
>for the strength of the professional players in that game, but even if
>the first statement is true here, it is completely independant from how
>much effort has been put in a game.
>
>Branching factor of chess is worse than draughts. In fact any draughts program
>is searching tactical far beyond the capabilities of any human. Yet human
>beats the programs easily. Only those who try a tactical game against it,
>they of course get annihilated.
>
>The center is not so important in draughts. It is important in chess however,
>so if a player has no good judgement there, he's already soon history.
>
>In chinese chess the king stands on a small square, mating it is of course
>a peanut for programs. Just one shot at it and there you go. Enter a rook
>and a canon at the same time and it's game over.
>
>I dare to state that tactics in chinese chess are more important than
>in chess!
>
>Best regards,
>Vincent
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>On July 30, 2002 at 09:57:03, Vincent Diepeveen wrote:
>>
>>>On July 30, 2002 at 05:57:38, Omid David wrote:
>>>
>>>Competition is strong there, it's not like the tictactoe section
>>>such as the amazones where everyone who has a bugfree program
>>>can win easily the gold medal.
>>>
>>>I was actually watching a few games there from Tony against one
>>>of the stronger programs. Chinese chess is running a lot behind
>>>on how advanced chessprograms are nowadays.
>>
>>Obvious this is not true. But it is understandable here. The center stage has
>>been in mainland china for last few years, and it is hard for westerner to know
>>what is going on there. It is all in chinese. Take a look at this site
>>
>>www.movesky.net
>>
>>it does have a english version, but unfortunetly very limited, chinese versin
>>have a lot more news and events there.
>>
>>This is the premier site for advanced chinese chess players, include many of the
>>professional masters and grandmasters.
>>
>>My chinese chess program, mrsj, has been playing in that site for some time. It
>>has set a few records there, and it won twice for its LeiSheng Tournament, and
>>is the current defending LeiSheng.
>>
>>That tournament works like this. Only the top 32 players in the server can
>>partispate in a 7 round two-games swiss tournament, the first place finisher
>>then challenge the defending champion. The time control is 30 minutes free time,
>>then 1 minutes per move.
>>
>>From the tournaments, and all other games my program played there, All experts
>>agreed that mrsj have the proformance of China's group B level. In China, the
>>natinal individual tournament has been divide to two groups, group A usually
>>about 24 people, and was the strongest, group B, again from 24-48 people. Giving
>>the dominence of China at Chinese chess, one can safely guess that my program,
>>running on a standard pc, was at around world 100th, if not 50th,  place. I
>>don't think that chess program is much advance than that.
>>
>>Computer chinese chess is not behind than what computer chess has, not even a
>>inch.
>>
>>Ren.



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