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Subject: Re: Mate in 19 - Toga thoughts

Author: Dagh Nielsen

Date: 07:31:10 12/01/05

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Hi Vincent, that's exactly what I'm dreaming of too (even choice of engines :-),
but it looks like 4 cpu machines today are still terribly expensive. Like, 2 x
Opteron 275 (= 4 cores) and we're already speaking of about 2000 dollars just
for the processors.

I have read that AMD plans to introduce quad core processors in 2007, so maybe
prices will get human then, at least I hope so.

Regards,
Dagh Nielsen

On December 01, 2005 at 05:15:39, Vincent Lejeune wrote:

>
> Like for other engines, you have to know his strengh and his weaknesses to use
>it at best as possible. To analyse games I recommend you to use a 4 cpu machine
>with 4 engines at same time (my prefered set would be : Shredder 9 (soon 10) +
>TogaII 1.1 (or fruit 2.2) + Fritz 9 + Hiarcs 10)
>
>On December 01, 2005 at 04:00:30, Mig Greengard wrote:
>
>>3n3k/bp3pp1/8/8/R1Q2R2/6p1/B2p1PP1/q1rn2K1 w - - 0 1
>>
>>Plokhodnikov, 1971
>>
>>Was somewhat surprised to find that most engines need a while to solve this
>>puzzle since every move is a check. More than a minute, over five minutes in
>>some cases. I think Toga II 1.1 was the fastest, solving it on my Athlon 64 3800
>>in around 40 seconds. (The original composition was given as mate in 21, but the
>>comps find a faster way.)
>>
>>I'm not an unreserved fan of this engine yet, but it is intriguing and well
>>worth a look beyond its scores against other programs (yes, there is such a
>>thing). It certainly doesn't seem worse than the other top programs. Since 99%
>>of my program usage is as an analytical assistant for GM games for reports and
>>newsletters, I mostly want fast tactics as I favor my own positional eval. In
>>this I don't find Toga better than Junior 9, inferior in most cases when it
>>comes to suggesting interesting tactical lines, Junior's specialty.
>>
>>It is quite good in endgames for an engine despite apparently not accessing EGTB
>>in the search. Does its cousin Fruit 2.2 do this? Probably not particularly
>>relevant in play but it's essential for better endgame analysis. (e.g.
>>Minasian-van Wely from the first round in the FIDE World Cup the other day. Toga
>>has no idea that endgame is totally drawn, even when it's down to bishops.)
>>
>>Like many players I know, I have my own informal test suite I use to evaluate
>>both new programs and new hardware. They are mostly games I have annotated
>>deeply (and/or have been so annotated by others) and know very well, and it's
>>useful to see if new engines find the best moves or see the value of certain
>>paradoxical ideas. And also how long it takes, of course, since speed is of the
>>essence in a working environment. I've found the latest editions of Kasparov's
>>"My Great Predecessors" books handy for this because he and his team also
>>thoroughly computer-check lines. (Famously not so well in Vol. 1.) This avoids
>>annoying refutations and Garry is also more interested in pointing out good
>>moves that aren't just flashy tactics a computer finds instantly. A good test
>>suite can be made just by thumbing through the books and looking for exclam
>>moves.
>>
>>What are the most highly recommended positional test suites in circulation, btw?



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