Houdini 4 is still something - only 77 ELO behind Komodo 9.1

[lkaufman]

I like Houdini 4 also, especially it's style, but If you look at the head to head, that is, Komodo 9.1 vs Houdini 4 and Stockfish 6 vs Houdini 4. Houdini 4 got destroyed by those 2 programs by huge margins.


Stockfish scored +43−5=66 against Houdini 4
Komodo 9.1 scored +25−3=31 against Houdini 4


This is also a good indication that improvements in software are in fact more important than hardware improvements.

Yes, it did not do well but what do you expect from a program that has not been improved in 19 months? In those 19 months Komodo & SF have been worked on consistently and being continually refined so this should be expected.

True, but I wouldn't think that Houdini 4 would have been beat by such a wide margin from the top 2. Certainly 77 elo points doesn't translate into that much of a margin of victory for Stockfish and Komodo.

That's because Houdini used a much more speulative/consequential form of contempt, which caused it to run up the score against the weak opponents but to do worse against strong ones. Probably without that contempt Houdini would have a lower rating overall, but a better (i.e. less awful) score against S and K. In any case I don't think Houdini advanced as much as 77 elo in a year and a half on average during its lifetime, so it would probably still be in third place even with continued development.

[Jesse Gersenson]

[snip]In any case I don't think Houdini advanced as much as 77 elo in a year and a half on average[/snip]

It averaged about 1.8 elo per month which is about 32 Elo in a year and a half.

[S.Taylor]

77 ELO is a large gap in computer chess!

But it was released 19 months ago. That's the point I am making. It has been 19 months and Komodo 9.1 is only 77 points stronger and Stockfish 6 is only 45 points stronger. Where would Houdini be if it was still being actively developed? I would venture to say it would be #1 or close to it.

19 months is a large gap too.

Didn't Robert Houdart stop because he couldn't improve it any further?

[S.Taylor]

77 ELO is a large gap in computer chess!

But it was released 19 months ago. That's the point I am making. It has been 19 months and Komodo 9.1 is only 77 points stronger and Stockfish 6 is only 45 points stronger. Where would Houdini be if it was still being actively developed? I would venture to say it would be #1 or close to it.

19 months is a large gap too.

Didn't Robert Houdart stop because he couldn't improve it any further?

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

77 ELO is a large gap in computer chess!

But it was released 19 months ago. That's the point I am making. It has been 19 months and Komodo 9.1 is only 77 points stronger and Stockfish 6 is only 45 points stronger. Where would Houdini be if it was still being actively developed? I would venture to say it would be #1 or close to it.

19 months is a large gap too.

Didn't Robert Houdart stop because he couldn't improve it any further?

Yes,he run out of ideas and then he run away himself....