Hi Chris,
Yes, I understand that deciding on zero seconds is an option. But consider the following situation: Your engine makes a move very quickly (perhaps it is a statically-recognized, large-group-saving move or maybe your time management code demanded a fast move). Now suppose your opponent thinks about it's move for a much longer time. If your engine uses option A (with zero additional seconds), then you are now pondering for a long time on a subtree that is probably meaningless because your hastily guessed opponent response was not based on sufficient exploration of that subtree. If you had chosen option B, then you are using that large chunk of time to fairly ponder on the entire tree. It just seems right. But on the other hand, it's tough to argue against Don's empirical results. Like he said, it doesn't hurt to try both in your engine -- it just takes time, like everything else.
Good point. Yes, I am aware of this issue from my days in computer chess. I added code to move instantly when there was only one legal move available, but then noticed the problem you describe (which I fixed by adding a small minimum think time - sufficient for chess since predicting opponent moves is much easier). Joel _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
