[computer-go] scalability study - final results

[Darren Cook]

>  After throwing out the low and high ratings the top 5 players average
>  about 132 ELO per doubling and the bottom 5 average an increase of
>  about 210 per doubling.
> ...
> I suspect Lazarus at
> the highest level I tested is within a few hundred ELO points of
> perfect play.  It's still a long way off, especially considering that
> Lazarus at the highest level was spending almost 4 hours on each 9x9
> game!

You're suggesting that it would be practically perfect with say three
more doublings (another 132*3=400 ELO points), which is "only" 32 hours
per game. At that level play should be relatively stable (statistically)
and it would be great to run just 2 games of self-play (128 hours = 5
days?), and study the game record.

Do you feel that at these strong levels the experiment is distorted by
the lack of an equally strong non-UCT program? UCT programs tend to be
weaker in the opening, stronger at the end. Once they reach the level
where GnuGo is cannon fodder then it is just a self-play experiment, and
their remaining weaknesses are not being exploited.

Darren