[computer-go] 9x9 games wanted and the next big challenge

[chrilly]

> It seems to me that a domain where "everything is so amateuristic" has
> its advantages, if you can only see them.  Here is a field that is
> small enough that most people know each other and anyone can
> contribute with a certain amount of effort.  These are the early days;
> computer go's best years are surely yet to come.  And yet it is not so
> early that progress is slow and there is little hope.  Isn't that
> better than working in an area where everything has been done?
>
Yes. The original meaning of amateur is lover. E.g. I enjoyed the 
athmosphere when I was operating GoAhead in the olympiad 2003. Its also 
known that humans generally evaluate/feel the difference and not the 
absolute level. So its nicer to be in the non-saturated point.
But as professional its a job and one can not completly ignore mundane tasks 
like the Euro/h.

The formula: There is money for everything what is important, and if there 
is no money, it is not important, is certainly also wrong. A counter-example 
is the research for Leprosy-medicaments. They ones who have Leprosy have no 
money and there is no incentive for the pharma-companies to invest. But also 
academic institutions do almost no research. There are no funds from 
industry.

> I don't follow computer chess, but my naive outsider's perception is
> that it is largely solved.  Perhaps those who know more about it can
> say more.
>
Its not solved in the theoretical sense. God could certainly give them 2 
pawns as handicap. But it is solved from the practical sense, because God 
could give the top-humans a knight ahead. The only way to measure the 
difference between Rybka and Fritz is to let them play against each other. 
Just looking on the play of each of them or playing against them, most 
humans would not be able to say: Rybka is 100 Elo stronger.
Even Topalov does not play nowadays for fun in the evening some blitz-games 
against a programm. Although he likes challenges, he neither runs with his 
head against the wall in his living room to check who is stronger.
Most of the top-GMs hate the programms, because the size of opening theory 
has become a nightmare. Some opening lines are practically fully analysed 
and hence not playable anymore. I know some top players who would like to 
ban computers for preperation. But its impossible to check such a ban.

Chrilly

.







, so also these GMs use very heavily PCs.





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