Re: computer-go: Programming the capturing game

[Nick Wedd <nick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Arnie,

>It occurred to me that it would be really great to have a computer opponent 
>for the capturing game.  Having no experience in such things, I 
>nevertheless set out to create one.  I soon discovered just how little I 
>know about what I am doing.  I will continue my quest for knowledge, but in 
>the mean time, it also occurred to me that there are a number of go 
>programmers in the world who probably already have algorithms sufficient to 
>play the capturing game.  I have not found any current software that allows 
>one to play the capturing game against the computer.  Thus my inquiry to 
>the great minds of computer go programming.

I am not a great mind, indeed I have never written any of a computer go
program.  But I try to keep in touch with what is going on.

Your idea is an excellent one.

A few years ago, I set out to do something similar myself.  I wanted to
have a simple, probably 9x9, go-playing program, which could be set to
various playing styles.  But while I can program, I cannot do Windows
interfaces.  So a project was started, here in Britain:  someone else
was to write the front end, and then give it to me to add the move-
generating engine.

He did the front end, or at least he did most of it.  It looked good.
The stones had cats' and dogs' faces on them, which became progressively
sadder-looking as the group they were in had fewer liberties.  This was
a good way to make children aware of connected groups, and of liberty
counts.  And when children played with it, they loved it.

However, nothing seems to have come of this project.  It was not sent to
me to add move-generating engines;  and it has not been released to the
public as a toy.

>Has anyone written a program that will play the capturing game?  It would 
>seem, from my naive perspective, to be a rather trivial task for those who 
>have written engines to play the 'real' game of go.

It seems that way to Windows programmers, too.  More than once, I have
proposed something like this, and been told "yes, that will be trivial.
I'll do it and send it to you.  It will only take me a morning".  Then,
years later, they still have not done it.

>  Assuming that it has 
>not already been done, could I interest anyone in doing so?  Or, failing 
>that, could someone point me in the direction of some suitable starting 
>point for algorithms which would be useful in developing a program whose 
>goal is merely to be the first to capture a stone?

I see this as two steps:
  1.)  A front end which displays the board, and allows the user to
click the mouse to play a stone.  Preferably also a few facilities such
as "undo last move".
  2.)  An engine which receives the board state from the front end, uses
a simple algorithm to play a stone, and passes its move back to the
front end for display.  It could have several algorithms with different
skill levels.

I claim that I can do step 2.  Probably many other people can too, it's
more interesting than step 1.

I shall look into what happened to the aborted project, and see if I can
revive it.

Nick
-- 
Nick Wedd    nick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx