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OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:08 pm
by Mark
Hi all-

I saw on the Chinook website that checkers is finally solved. As expected, it's a draw with best play. Quite an amazing accomplishment.

Mark

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:31 pm
by Vinvin
Mark wrote:Hi all-

I saw on the Chinook website that checkers is finally solved. As expected, it's a draw with best play. Quite an amazing accomplishment.

Mark
Yes, read here : http://www.ualberta.ca/~kulchits/project/

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:40 pm
by Leto
They need to hire someone that knows PR, I can't find any of this news on the internet. An achievement like this needs to be heard.

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:39 pm
by Terry McCracken
Leto wrote:They need to hire someone that knows PR, I can't find any of this news on the internet. An achievement like this needs to be heard.
I agree with you, and it may get a blurb somewhere, but it seems most people don't think this is important news.

If chess were solved today, people would say, "That's nothing new, IBM solved it years ago beating some world champion."

Ask the average bloke on the street...see what they know, or care to know?

Terry

P.S. The creator of Chinook is a friend of a friend...small world :wink:

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:58 pm
by Uri Blass
Terry McCracken wrote:
Leto wrote:They need to hire someone that knows PR, I can't find any of this news on the internet. An achievement like this needs to be heard.
I agree with you, and it may get a blurb somewhere, but it seems most people don't think this is important news.

If chess were solved today, people would say, "That's nothing new, IBM solved it years ago beating some world champion."

Ask the average bloke on the street...see what they know, or care to know?

Terry

P.S. The creator of Chinook is a friend of a friend...small world :wink:
Yes

It is not important news because checkers 8*8 is considered too simple
and this is the reason that people play checkers in board that is 10*10

I suspect that practically checkers 8*8 was solved many years ago in the meaning that every comp-comp game between top prgrams was drawn.

If I remember correctly
I remember that a tournament that was played few years ago was not played from the opening position but from predefined positions probably because the programmers understood that with book from the opening position every game is going to be drawn and even if a program is not perfect then a book is enough to take it to a territory when it plays perfect.

Uri

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:20 pm
by Philippe
I hope this stupid game of chess will be solved in the same way.

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:29 pm
by Vinvin
Philippe wrote:I hope this stupid game of chess will be solved in the same way.
I bet chess won't be solved in year 2100.

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:32 pm
by tjfroh
Uri,

If you were to play the best 8x8 checker players then you would lose 100% of the time. For you, checkers is not solved.

Here is a good site for you to download a strong 8x8 checker program.
http://www.fierz.ch/download.php

You can also get 10 piece EGTB 214 GByte databases for $160.00 USD from another site.

TJ

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:33 pm
by George Tsavdaris
Uri Blass wrote: It is not important news because checkers 8*8 is considered too simple
and this is the reason that people play checkers in board that is 10*10

I suspect that practically checkers 8*8 was solved many years ago in the meaning that every comp-comp game between top prgrams was drawn.
Yes more or less.
For example a recent(December 2006) match between 2 of the 3 (or 2 of the 2) strongest Checkers programs, Cake Manchester and KingsRow, has ended +20-17=251 !!!!
And that was with books OFF since Martin Fierz said it would be draws mostly. Like 251 draws are not enough. :D

Re: OT: Checkers is solved!

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:55 pm
by Terry McCracken
Vinvin wrote:
Philippe wrote:I hope this stupid game of chess will be solved in the same way.
I bet chess won't be solved in year 2100.
Safe bet...we'll all be dust by then :wink: