Re: [computer-go] Time constraints for computer Go

[Evan Daniel <evanbd@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 12:31:51 +0100, Mark Boon <tesujisoftware@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> At the moment SlugGo is the only software that scales well. But I
> think this is a temporary situation, which is partly actually caused
> by the constraints imposed in the past by the computer power then
> available. Making a program scalable was less of a priority than
> adding other constructs that would improve play within the given
> constraints. As soon as there are more programs that are scalable, it
> will become obvious that the question is no longer who can make the
> best playing program, but who can make the best playing program within
> a certain time-constraint. To link this time-constraint to the
> time-limit a human player is comfortable with seems only natural.

I would like to disagree that SlugGo is the only program that scales
well.  I assert that my program scales comparably well, since the
techniques used are closely related to those of SlugGo.  Of course,
this is a purely academic disagreement, and I think you're completely
right about the time constraint debate, with one exception:

I think we should change tournament constraints (for an occasional
tournament, anyway) to allow SlugGo to participate.  I think it would
be interesting to see, and I think encouraging other programmers to
make their programs scale a bit more would be a good thing.  After
all, computer hardware *is* getting faster, and will continue to do so
for the near future.  That said, I think 1 hour / game is about the
right time constraint at least until programs are playing at strong
amatuer Dan levels (when I imagine people would be interested in
waiting longer).

Evan Daniel
_______________________________________________
computer-go mailing list
computer-go@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/