Re: computer-go: board reduction

[Roland <goprog@xxxxxxx>]

Hello Dave,

Monday, October 02, 2000, 2:43:48 PM, you wrote:


DD>  Board size reduction, in the manner you are discussing it, is futile. It
DD> cannot possibly work. The idea of "reducing" in some way has merit, but
DD> it can't be just to start making the board smaller and leaving out stones.

I fully agree with that.

DD>  I've always though that a multi-level reresentation of the board
DD> could be useful, where the next level up from the physical stones
DD> would be strings of stones, next level above that wold be live and dead 
DD> groups, etc.  I'm sure all programs contain structures like this already,
DD> but the trick would be to explicitly reason about higher level constructs,
DD> and devolve to looking at the stones only when necessary.

DD>  The internal activity might be something like" black has territories
DD> totaling 100 points, white has territories totaling 95 points, therefore
DD> black must reduce whites terrories;;;; White territories have weaknesses
DD> ....


Yes!!! I fully agree with that also. You managed to put into
simpler words what I wrote in another message today about the
importance that we have to teach the computer abstract thinking and
give him an understanding of the game. I think this top-down
philosophy might be the way to GO. And it is exactly in this reasoning
about higher level constructs that I think the most programs are weak
and need improving. There are already programs who have a strength of
5d or more for solving life-and-death problems. We need the same
strength for the higher level reasoning.

DD>  The point would be to reason and plan and reason top-down, and only
DD> pay attention to individual stones at the very end of the process.


-- 
Best regards,
 Roland