[computer-go] The dominance of search (Suzie v. GnuGo)

[Chrilly]

>
> I don't understand your question.   I don't claim non-determinism
> helps with alpha beta and I'm not recommending a fuzzy evaluation
> function, I'm just saying it still works.  A deeper search will
> produce better moves in general.
>
One has the randomness anyway. A heuristic evalution can be considered as 
the sum of a systematic term which is an estimator of the "true" evaluation 
and an error term (and a bias).
One consequence of this model is, that the shape of the search tree has a 
significant influence on the evaluation. The programm will favour variations 
where it has a lot of good moves and the opponent has only a few. Because 
the more (good) moves the program has, the higher is the expected value of 
the error terms. The programm has more tickets in the error-term lottery.

I have noticed this effect constantly.  E.g. if one extends captures, the 
programm tends to favour lines with captures, if one extends checks 
stronger, the program likes to check...

Chrilly