Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
The well at the end of the title is implied. And computers still can't play 19x19 Go anywhere near the master level. Ingo Althöfer wrote: Dear Bob Hearn, it is not what you have been looking for, but nevertheless I want to ask you if the title of your talk Games Computers Can't Play is still

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Jason House
On Nov 18, 2008, at 7:43 AM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The well at the end of the title is implied. And computers still can't play 19x19 Go anywhere near the master level. I'm not very familiar with go terms, but I think kyu means student and dan means master. It may

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Mark Boon
On 18-nov-08, at 11:25, Jason House wrote: On Nov 18, 2008, at 7:43 AM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The well at the end of the title is implied. And computers still can't play 19x19 Go anywhere near the master level. I'm not very familiar with go terms, but I think kyu

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread terry mcintyre
When Myungwan Kim guesstimated that Mogo might be dan-level, he certainly was speaking of amateur levels, not pro. He was playing Mogo with 9 stones. If I recall correctly, he later beat Mogo in a seven-stone game. A pro can not offer another pro seven stones. The difference between pro shodan

RE: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread David Fotland
Many Faces gained 5 ranks when I added MCTS to it (with about 7 months of full time work), so I have to agree that Monte Carlo changed our world. David -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:computer-go- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Williams Sent: Tuesday,

RE: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 08:28 -0800, David Fotland wrote: Many Faces gained 5 ranks when I added MCTS to it (with about 7 months of full time work), so I have to agree that Monte Carlo changed our world. I remember that you were not a true believer at first :-) - Don signature.asc

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread terry mcintyre
From: Don Dailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 08:28 -0800, David Fotland wrote: Many Faces gained 5 ranks when I added MCTS to it (with about 7 months of full time work), so I have to agree that Monte Carlo changed our world. I remember that you were not a true believer

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Mark Boon
On 18-nov-08, at 14:32, Don Dailey wrote: On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 08:28 -0800, David Fotland wrote: Many Faces gained 5 ranks when I added MCTS to it (with about 7 months of full time work), so I have to agree that Monte Carlo changed our world. I remember that you were not a true believer

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Weston Markham
On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:13 PM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No one ever alleged that pure AMAF or pure MC was infinitely scalable. My point is that in many cases, they doesn't even keep all of their benefits, after some number of trials have been run. So, running 10k playouts

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
Weston Markham wrote: On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:13 PM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No one ever alleged that pure AMAF or pure MC was infinitely scalable. My point is that in many cases, they doesn't even keep all of their benefits, after some number of trials have been run.

RE: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread David Fotland
I was a skeptic until the 2007 UEC cup. Then it was obvious that MCTS was stronger than the traditional programs. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:computer-go- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Boon Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:56 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED];

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Olivier Teytaud
I think it was the surprisingly useful combination of UCT with Monte-Carlo that got the attention of the 'old school' Go programmers. I would say Monte-Carlo + Tree Search rather than Monte-Carlo + UCT. You can have a very strong program without UCT. You can't without the incremental tree +

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 12:02 -0500, Michael Williams wrote: Weston Markham wrote: On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:13 PM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No one ever alleged that pure AMAF or pure MC was infinitely scalable. My point is that in many cases, they doesn't even keep all

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Bob Hearn
On Nov 17, 2008, at 11:34 PM, Ingo Althöfer wrote: Dear Bob Hearn, it is not what you have been looking for, but nevertheless I want to ask you if the title of your talk Games Computers Can't Play is still up-to-date. I would accept something like Games Computers Could not play well before

Re: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
I had never heard of that. A Google search turned up this list of interesting Go variants: http://www.usgo.org/resources/downloads/deviantgo.pdf Bob Hearn wrote: On Nov 17, 2008, at 11:34 PM, Ingo Althöfer wrote: Dear Bob Hearn, it is not what you have been looking for, but nevertheless

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Weston Markham
On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 12:02 PM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It doesn't make any sense to me from a theoretical perspective. Do you have empirical evidence? I used to have data on this, from a program that I think was very nearly identical to Don's reference spec. When I get a

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 14:17 -0500, Weston Markham wrote: On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 12:02 PM, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It doesn't make any sense to me from a theoretical perspective. Do you have empirical evidence? I used to have data on this, from a program that I think

RE: [computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread dave.devos
It depends very much on what exactly you mean by amateur master level. Is it a level that compares to amateur master level in chess? And what is amateur master level in chess? USCF master, FIDE master or international master? Some time ago I participated in a discussion about comparing chess

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 19:42 +, Oliver Lewis wrote: It doesn't make any sense to me from a theoretical perspective. Do you have empirical evidence? I agree that empirical evidence is required, but theoretically, if MC converges to something that is not perfect play,

Re: [computer-go] RefBot (thought-) experiments

2008-11-18 Thread terry mcintyre
From: Oliver Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] On 11/18/08, Michael Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It doesn't make any sense to me from a theoretical perspective. Do you have empirical evidence? I agree that empirical evidence is required, but theoretically,

[computer-go] Re: Opportunity to promote ...

2008-11-18 Thread Ingo Althöfer
Dear Bob, thanks for your explanations. Now I see clearer. First, the title is deliberately provocative. Accepted. Also, though, the talk is not just about go: some of it is about formally undecidable games, that computers provably can't play well (and of course, that humans can't

[computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Ingo Althöfer
Hello, one of the basic problems of go newbies is their tendency to place the next stone near to the latest stone of the opponent. Sometimes this is called the 2-inch heuristic of beginners. What do you think about a formalized variant of Go with one-sided distance-k rule? Let k be some

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
I think computers would be much better at this game (than they are at Go) because you have vastly reduced the branching factor of the game. Ingo Althöfer wrote: Hello, one of the basic problems of go newbies is their tendency to place the next stone near to the latest stone of the opponent.

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
I think a computer would play this variant well if k was small. To make the move generation consistent, the first move should be played as if there was a previous move to the center perhaps. Ladders would probably still be an issue. - Don On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 23:20 +0100, Ingo Althöfer

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
Well, vastly when k is small. The only way to find a good Komi would be testing and guesstimating. I think MCTS would be well suited to this variant because you still have the problem of difficulty in finding a good evaluation function and MCTS solves that. Computers would probably be

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 17:31 -0500, Michael Williams wrote: Well, vastly when k is small. The only way to find a good Komi would be testing and guesstimating. I think MCTS would be well suited to this variant because you still have the problem of difficulty in finding a good evaluation

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread steve uurtamo
for small k, this should give a massive advantage to black. the additional requirement that white place a stone within the smallest cityblock distance of the last stone whenever he has no valid move within distance k of black's last move is an even more substantial advantage for black. i'm

Re: [computer-go] One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
I assumed the rules were symmetric, in that black also had to place his stones within distance k to white's last move. steve uurtamo wrote: for small k, this should give a massive advantage to black. the additional requirement that white place a stone within the smallest cityblock distance

[computer-go] Re: Congratulations to Many Faces of Go!

2008-11-18 Thread Hideki Kato
Nick Wedd: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: My report on Sunday's KGS bot tournament is now available at http://www.weddslist.com/kgs/past/44/index.html Many Faces of Go was undefeated in both divisions. Did Many Faces 1 and 2 share the same cluster or one for each? Hideki -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kato)

[computer-go] Re: One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Claus Reinke
one of the basic problems of go newbies is their tendency to place the next stone near to the latest stone of the opponent. Sometimes this is called the 2-inch heuristic of beginners. How about going the other way, forcing Monte-Carlo simulations onto a coarser grid in the hope of quickly

Re: [computer-go] Re: One-sided 2-inch Rules

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
I don't think that would be effective because you've completely changed the rules and hence the tactics of the game. Claus Reinke wrote: one of the basic problems of go newbies is their tendency to place the next stone near to the latest stone of the opponent. Sometimes this is called the

[computer-go] Newbie

2008-11-18 Thread Joshua Shriver
I'm writing my engine from scratch and have a curious question. When my best friend an American 1dan lvl player (who has played in Japan) taught me the game. I love it. :) Though as I get more in depth, and programming wise, have no idea what rule set to follow. Not sure what I was taught

Re: [computer-go] Newbie

2008-11-18 Thread Michael Williams
Chinese rule variants are simpler to code than Japanese. This is because the game can be played to the bitter end without affecting the final score. So you should probably start there. There were recently some discussions on this list about how to handle Japanese scoring. Joshua Shriver

Re: [computer-go] Newbie

2008-11-18 Thread Don Dailey
On Tue, 2008-11-18 at 20:30 -0500, Joshua Shriver wrote: I'm writing my engine from scratch and have a curious question. When my best friend an American 1dan lvl player (who has played in Japan) taught me the game. I love it. :) Though as I get more in depth, and programming wise, have no

Re: [computer-go] Newbie

2008-11-18 Thread Joshua Shriver
You've been on this list a long time, haven't you? Yes :) I started by tinkering with Monte Carlo in VRML for a hardware solution, but aiming for a pure C, aimed at x86 engine. Anyway, I don't think there is much of a question that Chinese rules are much better for getting started with

RE: [computer-go] Re: Congratulations to Many Faces of Go!

2008-11-18 Thread David Fotland
One for each. Actually they were running on a 128 core cluster. The current code only scales to 32 cores, so only half the cluster was used. David -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:computer-go- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Hideki Kato Sent: Tuesday, November 18,