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Re: [computer-go] Time limit in tournaments



In message <020b01c512f3$0bf00780$be02a8c0@bigtower>, Frank de Groot <frank@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
From: "David G Doshay" <ddoshay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "computer-go" <computer-go@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: [computer-go] Computer Go tournament at EGF

And just to be concrete again, SlugGo will rarely take 3
hours per game,
Interesting issue.
In fact, time limits are both necessary and "arbitrary".

1 hour limit is not good for your program, bec. it needs more time to play
strong.

I have the opposite problem, my program plays only one strength, which is
not very strong, but it needs less than a millisecond for a move. It *might*
be that my program beats the current word chapion comp. Go if the time limit
was 250 milliseconds for a game! (125 milliseconds per player).

So, I want the time limit restricted to an absolute maximum of 1 second
instead of 1 hour per game, to benefit *me* and *my* program :)

(I would in fact prefer 100 mSec. for a game, if I speed up the code a
little it should be possible, then every opponent will loose on time :)
For a "real" computer Go tournament, part of the objective is to provide some interest and excitement for the onlookers, even if these are only the programmers themselves. Also, there is the need to fit the event into a schedule. This might best be done with time limits of around half an hour each. But tradition, and inertia, and the wish not to exclude many entrants, suggests increasing this to an hour each.

But for tournaments (and matches, and casual games) played on a server none of this is relevant. All kinds of time limits can be used. I am hoping that by the end of this year, I will be able to go to the Computer Go room on KGS, and watch computer-computer games, some with the four hours absolute that will suit David, some with the second a move or less that will suit Frank, and some with intermediate time limits. And maybe also regular tournaments, with a range of time limits.

Why KGS? Well, I'll be honest, KGS is where I hang out most evenings, and I'd like to be able to watch computer events there. But there are valid reasons too. KGS already has support for computer play, it already has an automated tournament system, and it shouldn't take much more work (by its admittedly already overworked admins) to put these two together.

Nick
--
Nick Wedd nick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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