[computer-go] Explanation to MoGo paper wanted.

[chrilly]

>
>> I have build just for fun a simple BackGammon engine. [...]
> Interesting - did you also try it for chess, or do you think there's no 
> point in this?
>
The Hydra team has thought about this. Especially the Hydra chess expert GM 
Lutz. Some endgames are difficult to understand, but the moves are more or 
less forced. One could play down the line and evaluate once a clear position 
has been reached. One problem is the definition of "clear positon". The even 
more difficult problem is how to incorporate this in a normal Alpha-Beta 
framework. How to mix the result of the normal eval with the "rollout".
The results in Go are spectacular, because the  quality of conventional 
evaluations is low. In chess its at least not that bad. But one could argue, 
that in BackGammon the quality of the eval is even higher. The simple 
Rollout programm is not as strong as the best ones. But it is in relation to 
its eval very strong. It has also a remarkable 
programming-effort/playing-strength ratio.

These things are also done in FPGA and the FPGA code is already much too 
complicated. FPGA-programming is easier than ASIC-design, but its still much 
more cumbersome than conventional software development. Just trying out 
things is not possible. We felt also, that even if it works, the improvement 
measured in Elos would not be very spectacular. The Elo/Effort ratio is low. 
I was simply too lazy (or too professional) to give it a try.

Chrilly