How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Discussion of anything and everything relating to chess playing software and machines.

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pichy
Posts: 2564
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:04 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by pichy »

EroSennin wrote:If it was possible to use today's best supercomputer all on chess, do you think it would not lose at long time controls? If not, then how about first building a huge opening book with it? I am also assuming there would not be any problem with using all of the supercomputer's resources.
Are you referring to a huge opening book not only with all possible openings, variations and transpotions for examples after 1.a3....? or 1.h3......?; but so huge that all openings would have all the possible variations and transpositions up to the 50 moves entering the endgame stage, and avoiding the middlegame all together. Therefore, all that you need is that huge Opening book and an extensive EGTB. Then you can avoid having the most powerful computer :roll:
EroSennin
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:26 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by EroSennin »

However big and accurate you can build with such a computer.
S.Taylor
Posts: 8514
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:25 am
Location: Jerusalem Israel

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by S.Taylor »

pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
pichy
Posts: 2564
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:04 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by pichy »

S.Taylor wrote:
pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
It would be another 5 years before we can officially say that Chess has just been solved as it was declared by Chessbase and many scientists :wink:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
EroSennin
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:26 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by EroSennin »

S.Taylor wrote:
pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
Well we could make the machine choose its moves based on how many possible losing moves could the opponent make.
pichy
Posts: 2564
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:04 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by pichy »

pichy wrote:
S.Taylor wrote:
pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
It would be another 5 years before we can officially say that Chess has just been solved as Checker was and declared by Chessbase and many scientists :wink:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
Albert Silver
Posts: 3026
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:57 pm
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by Albert Silver »

pichy wrote:
pichy wrote:
S.Taylor wrote:
pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
It would be another 5 years before we can officially say that Chess has just been solved as Checker was and declared by Chessbase and many scientists :wink:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
A lot sooner than you might think with quantum computing around the corner.
"Tactics are the bricks and sticks that make up a game, but positional play is the architectural blueprint."
Terry McCracken
Posts: 16465
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:16 am
Location: Canada

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by Terry McCracken »

Albert Silver wrote:
pichy wrote:
pichy wrote:
S.Taylor wrote:
pichy wrote:Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.

Recent scientific advances have not significantly changed that assessment. The game of checkers was solved in 2007,[5] but it has roughly the square root of the number of positions in chess. Jonathan Schaeffer, the scientist who led the effort, said a breakthrough such as quantum computing would be needed before solving chess could even be attempted, but he does not rule out the possibility, saying that the one thing he learned from his 16-year effort of solving checkers "is to never underestimate the advances in technology".[6] Assuming computational power continues to increase exponentially, chess would be solved "before 2250".[7]
[edit] Notes

http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2010/05/1 ... s-one-day/
I would be EXTREMELY interested to see a program with chess solved. However, anything from Houdini 1.5 or stronger, i already decided, is enough for my purposses. I was waiting many years for that level from available chess computers. So i have to be satisfied one day, and i would call that now. I never wanted to ask for too much :wink: :roll:

I'm talking as a consumer.

But let me suggest a problem which might occur even in a solved-chess program!!!
Please give opinions if this might be true.

A program can may be be made, one day, to draw ANYONE or thing. Such a program will obviously come top in any match, as it will never have any losses, and would surely win one or two vs any program which is not like as great as the "solved chess" monster.
However, that may not mean it plays the strongest moves always. The moves might just be strong enough to hold the draw.... assuming its opponent didn't make big mistakes, in which case it would obviously win (coldly). [but it may not know how to exploit all (exploitable) microscopic mistakes and innacuracies].

If it will not do that, then it's not all that interesting to me, to have chess solved in a program. Another human or program might find a better move!
It would be another 5 years before we can officially say that Chess has just been solved as Checker was and declared by Chessbase and many scientists :wink:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
A lot sooner than you might think with quantum computing around the corner.
Thanks for posting this Albert.
Terry McCracken
Daniel Shawul
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Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:34 am
Location: Ethiopia

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by Daniel Shawul »

Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.
I think chess ,like many other games, has a small chance of being a win for black. YHIHF :)
pichy
Posts: 2564
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:04 am

Re: How long it will take a Super Computer to solve chess?

Post by pichy »

Daniel Shawul wrote:
Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players (White or Black) can always force a victory, or both can force a draw.
I think chess ,like many other games, has a small chance of being a win for black. YHIHF :)
Just like in Checker when it was solved by Chinook, it is not about winning with White or Black, but always forcing a draw with either side if is is played by Chinook. The database is so perfect that no matter what Opening White plays Black can always force a draw :shock: