Engine and database use in Correspondence Chess

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Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: Engine and database use in Correspondence Chess

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Sep 30, 2018 5:09 pm

(1) I was thinking more of opening books, I would think a tablebase is more of a calculating device, so no different from an engine, so we're probably not disagreeing.

(2) Good!


Actually it is really enjoyable beating someone at CC when they have obviously just believed the software...

Tim Harding
Posts: 2318
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Engine and database use in Correspondence Chess

Post by Tim Harding » Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:45 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Sun Sep 30, 2018 5:09 pm
(1) ... I would think a tablebase is more of a calculating device, so no different from an engine, so we're probably not disagreeing.
A tablebase is not a calculating device; it is more like looking up a logarithm table. (If such things are ever used nowadays.)
An engine operating without a tablebase in a 7-man (or fewer-man) ending is often wrong, saying +3 in certain types of positional draw for example. A correctly constructed tablebase says Win or Draw, and indicates a move that brings about that result.

If there is a unique winning/drawing move, it shows that. In a position where the outcome is a clear draw or win, it may suggest a totally silly move which would not be the best practical chance in an over the board game.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com