[computer-go] an idea for a new measure of a computer go program's rank.

[terry mcintyre]

A lot of this interesting discussion has been about whether humans can make use of extra time. Some participants ( such as Dave Devos ) believe that, after a certain point, humans cannot
improve their rank, at least not linearly with respect to time alloted. Fair enough; we humans require sleep, and we are not particularly good at sustaining complex thought over long periods, especially when a great deal of memorization is required.

But this is a "computer go" list. How about computers? Can a computer make effective use of long time controls? We can actually experiment with two computer opponents with different time controls and know that ( unless the programs are devised to "ponder" on their opponent's clock ), one program will have x time, the  other 10x to work with. Given sufficient time and resources, we could give an approximate answer to the question "for a given computer program, an x-fold increase in thinking time will yield y elo points improvement."

Of course, we'll also have to consider memory limitations. Some programs will gain little from extra time; some will run into memory limits before the clock expires; others may be more scalable.

As for my own human anecdote, I am slowly making some progress from about 8kyu AGA to 6kyu AGA or thereabouts. I've always been stronger at tactics than strategy, making the most progress in the middle game. One method which has helped me win quite a few games against dan-level players, at handicaps smaller than the difference in our ranks would indicate, is to deliberately muddy the waters, to make the games as complex as possible, with numerous battles which intersect with each other.

Dan-level players outmanuever me strategically, and almost always out-read me on any individual battle - but when the waters are muddied enough, they'll lose focus and spend a lot more time per move. I do think on my opponents' time, and by the time he works out a move, I already have a good counterplay lined up. All I need is one lapse, one tesuji to yank 20 or 30 points from my opponents - enough turn the tables. Unfortunately, I lack the strategic depth; if my opponent can stay cool and not make errors, I'll not be able to upset him.

Which leads me to wonder if, at some future date when enough processors and memory are available, go programs might be able to leverage the advantage of depth of reading and sufficient memory to handle complex interactions into winning strategies.

By the way, for those of you developing in Java, Azul Systems has created a custom JVM with 48 processors on a single chip, and a few other tweaks which look real promising: 
http://www.azulsystems.com






 
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