[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Judging programs from one example and random play



Magnus Persson wrote:
> 
>[skip ..]
> As an example I once made a program that played completely randomly,
> except that it did not fill in "solid eyes". I discovered that if you
> gave that program a free handicap about 100-120 stones it actually
> became a quite addictive variant of go. The nice thing with a random
> opponent is that you can never trick it or learn some systematic
> weakness. And after playing some game I got the feeling that at least
> once in every game, the random player played at that spot where I
> would play myself if I were black - almost as the computer had read
> my mind.
> [skip ..]
> Another interesting thought about a random player (about 100 kyu) is
> that it is possible to make programs that play even worse, even if
> you disallow "filling in of solid eyes". 


Whow ! if a random player is 100 Kyu and you played with it at 120 stones, this
means you are 20 Dan ! Very impressive ;-). For me, I still can be in trouble
with a random player at 70 stones...
I'm really wondering about the real strength of a random player : it's amazing
how, by just adding a few niceties to a random program, such as avoiding
throwing stones into her own territories, you greatly improve her strenght. Of
course (?), subsequent improvements become much harder to implement...



         ______________________
        / Let java be with me !\           \\\|/// 
        \______________________/ O       \\  ^ ^  // 
                                   o o    (  @ @  ) 
 +--------------------------------------oOOo-(_)-oOOo----+
 |  Serge Boisse                                         |
 |  SERVICE TECHNIQUE DE LA NAVIGATION AERIENNE (STNA)   |
 |  PHIDIAS project, http://www.stna.dgac.fr/phidias     |
 |  tel: (33)562 14 5731                                 |
 |  mailto:boisse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                           |
 |  homepage:  http://www.mygale.org/~boisse             |
 +-----------------------------------------------Oooo----+ 
                                         oooO   (   ) 
                                         (   )   ) / 
                                          \ (   (_/ 
                                           \_)