Re: Strong players only?

[Compgo123@xxxxxxx]

Darren Cook wrote:
>How many people agree or disagree that a poor go player cannot be a
>good go programmer, and why do you think that?

First, I think Prof. Chen didn't really mean that only a high ranking player
can write a high ranking program. He was trying to say that his daughter
needed some help in Go knowledge. 

Now back to your question. Your question could mean two things: (1) only a
stronger Go player can write a strong Go program. (2) The help of strong Go
player is needed to write a strong Go program. The first question is not a
simple one, because the word 'strong' need to be more accurately defined. Is
10kyu strong? Is 1 Dan strong? A strong player means who possess Go knowladge
and can apply them effectively. For a computer, the amount of knowledge needed
depends on the computer speed. If a computer can search 361 ply deep, all
knowledge it needs is the Go rules. Ok, at present time Go programs have to
code Go knowledge in the program. Then we need to study in detail the question
what is Go knowledge? Is all Go knowledge expressible in books? If all Go
knowledge can be described in books, one has to answer the question which
knowledge can only be understood by stronger players? I think Go knowledge can
be classified in two groups: one is basic principles and the other are
detailed move sequencies. For the second group of knowledge, only moderate Go
knowledge is needed for a programmer to use them in the program. I guess the
question left is how effective can a Go progammer apply the basic Go game
principles? A related and equally important question is at what playing level
does this become critical?

Dan Liu