[computer-go] Tesuji

[Tom Cooper]

Being a strong player has many obvious advantages, which other people
have listed.  My concern is that as I get more proficient at a skill
like go, the more basic aspects of that skill move from my conscious
mind to a more instinctive level, and I forget the reasons for them.
In some ways the ideal time to add a go insight to your program is
while the insight is still fresh in your mind.

At 14:38 11/09/2007, Don wrote:

>It seems to be the case that you don't need to be a great player to
>write a great program but it certainly doesn't hurt.  I feel that it
>holds me back since I learned the rules just so that I could write a
>program.
>
>I believe it's this way with other games too.  Over the decades, some of
>the very best chess programs were written by non-masters.   A few were
>written by very strong players and often strong players were involved as
>advisers.
>
>It seems that it's good to have a reasonable level of skill, but it's
>more important to be a skillful programmer.  All other things being
>equal, I'm sure playing strength is important.
>
>I personally believe there is a certain skill-set that is somewhat
>related to teaching ability and not highly correlated to playing
>strength.  The skill-set involves being able to articulate what you DO
>KNOW.   I don't know how to explain it,  but I can recognize it in
>others - I know how the really good chess programmers think and I'm sure
>similar skills are involved for those who know how to write good Go
>programs.