Nodes per second

[IanO]

I know some of you have some of the old constellations and other machines - can you tell me how many nodes per second these programs/machines are reporting?

You'd be amazed at how slow even the best dedicated computers were! The early Sargon programs were estimated to run at 15 nps on the 6502 2MHz Apple ][ and Commodore. Level 2 meant a 2 ply search! (perhaps these were only tallying full-width nodes, not capture search nodes)

You can see current dedicated state-of-the-art for dedicated Morsch programs, which report the nps in their display. The VIP/Sapphire/Diamond line of Novag units report their nodes-per-second out their serial interface. The TASC R30 figure is reported on the display screen and estimated in their manual (though that seems low to me, given its strength). The Fidelity Excel series (club, Mach II/III/IV) would report the figure on its display.

NPS Year Model
5000 1998 Sapphire II (H8-32)
4500 2006 Citrine (H8S-26)
4000 1997 Atlanta (SH-20)
3000 1994 TASC R30 (ARM-30)
3000 1996 Milano Pro / Master chess (SH-20)
3000 1993 GK-2100 / Cosmos (H8-10)
2000 1988 Fidelity Excel 68000 12 MHz
1400 1992 GK-2000 / Miami (H8-10)

15 1980 Sargon II (6502 2 MHz)

25 MHz embedded processors were sufficient to attain master level play, the maximum strength sustainable in the mass market (apparently). And that was with 1990's level search techniques, mostly without memory for hash tables, and when the null-move heuristic was cutting edge!

[Don]

Hi Don,

You'll find a lot of data on page 12 of this document:
http://archive.computerhistory.org/proj ... 028.sm.pdf

An otherwise fun read, with caricatures of all participants

Rémi

Rémi,

That document is wrong. It seems to describe the 1986 World Championship in Cologne Germany, but it is labelled Edmonton Alberta May 28, 1989 which was 3 year later.

Larry agrees with me on this. I hope Bob Hyatt takes a look at this and verifies it as it shows Cray Blitz beating Hitech in the final round. I think that is what happend in Cologne but maybe Bob can verify this. I also remember the only game Rex won in Cologne was the one against SHESS, which shows up on the Results table. We did not play Shess in Edmonton. I specifically remember playing 2 other opponents in Cologne which also show here and I also remember this was the only tournament my program finished less than 50% - it's not likely that we played the same opponents and got the same score and just don't remember it. I remember more about this tournament than the one 3 years later because the Cologne tournament was my first one.

Do you know who maintains this archive so that it can be corrected?

It was a fun read and I enjoyed the caricatures, , but this is clearly historical revisionism!

[IanO]

Hi Don,

You'll find a lot of data on page 12 of this document:
http://archive.computerhistory.org/proj ... 028.sm.pdf

An otherwise fun read, with caricatures of all participants

Rémi

Fun indeed! Such a heterogenous lineup: dedicated computers, fledgling PC engines, and supercomputers competing head-to-head. From 200 nps up to a million nps!

It is also remarkable to see such longevity since 1989. Bob Hyatt is still going strong, Don Dailey and Larry Kaufman have put the band back together, and Gyula Horvath is making a strong comeback with Pandix, winning yesterday's Active tourney! And Lang, Kittinger, Morsch, and Schröder all still have programs in play.

[IanO]

Hi Don,

You'll find a lot of data on page 12 of this document:
http://archive.computerhistory.org/proj ... 028.sm.pdf

An otherwise fun read, with caricatures of all participants

Rémi

Rémi,

That document is wrong. It seems to describe the 1986 World Championship in Cologne Germany, but it is labelled Edmonton Alberta May 28, 1989 which was 3 year later.

Larry agrees with me on this. I hope Bob Hyatt takes a look at this and verifies it as it shows Cray Blitz beating Hitech in the final round. I think that is what happend in Cologne but maybe Bob can verify this. I also remember the only game Rex won in Cologne was the one against SHESS, which shows up on the Results table. We did not play Shess in Edmonton. I specifically remember playing 2 other opponents in Cologne which also show here and I also remember this was the only tournament my program finished less than 50% - it's not likely that we played the same opponents and got the same score and just don't remember it. I remember more about this tournament than the one 3 years later because the Cologne tournament was my first one.

Do you know who maintains this archive so that it can be corrected?

It was a fun read and I enjoyed the caricatures, , but this is clearly historical revisionism!

This appears to be the pre-tournament bulletin for the 1989 event, which includes the previous 1986 event's results as an appendix. So descriptions are for the 1989 entities but the reported results are for three years earlier.

[bob]

Hi Don,

You'll find a lot of data on page 12 of this document:
http://archive.computerhistory.org/proj ... 028.sm.pdf

An otherwise fun read, with caricatures of all participants

Rémi

I think those responsible for the drawings were Linda Scherzer (Tony's wife), Claire Nelson, and another wife I do not remember. They were awfully pleased with themselves for a couple of days, with "knowing grins" and such. They unveiled the artwork somewhere near the end of the event.

[Don]

Hi Don,

You'll find a lot of data on page 12 of this document:
http://archive.computerhistory.org/proj ... 028.sm.pdf

An otherwise fun read, with caricatures of all participants

Rémi

Rémi,

That document is wrong. It seems to describe the 1986 World Championship in Cologne Germany, but it is labelled Edmonton Alberta May 28, 1989 which was 3 year later.

Larry agrees with me on this. I hope Bob Hyatt takes a look at this and verifies it as it shows Cray Blitz beating Hitech in the final round. I think that is what happend in Cologne but maybe Bob can verify this. I also remember the only game Rex won in Cologne was the one against SHESS, which shows up on the Results table. We did not play Shess in Edmonton. I specifically remember playing 2 other opponents in Cologne which also show here and I also remember this was the only tournament my program finished less than 50% - it's not likely that we played the same opponents and got the same score and just don't remember it. I remember more about this tournament than the one 3 years later because the Cologne tournament was my first one.

Do you know who maintains this archive so that it can be corrected?

It was a fun read and I enjoyed the caricatures, , but this is clearly historical revisionism!

This appears to be the pre-tournament bulletin for the 1989 event, which includes the previous 1986 event's results as an appendix. So descriptions are for the 1989 entities but the reported results are for three years earlier.

That must be the explanation, although that is not clear at all. I did not see one reference to what it actually was unless I just missed it.

Thanks everyone. I think I have what I need now. Some of the computers that were starting to play reasonable chess such as the super constellation and the fidelity machines were doing only about 1,000 positions per second in 1983. In that same year some were claiming to do only 50 nodes per second, but it's difficult to know how these "nodes" were being counted.

[uaf]

Hitech's speed was 175k nodes per second