There are some subtle distinctions to make when thinking about slack moves, though. Some strong moves simply solidify a connection enough to make a large region of the board come under more influence to be used later. This is really difficult to measure, because these moves often can serve several purposes, depending upon what happens later in the game. They aren't necessary, they don't immediately threaten anything, and they're not providing life for a group under threat of death. Instead, they are just setting the stage for changing the direction of play later. They may look like slack moves, but they aren't, and it can be difficult to time them, much less find them.
Some stronger players can laugh at my description now. :) s. ----- Original Message ---- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: computer-go@computer-go.org Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 3:45:18 PM Subject: Re: [computer-go] playing strength of programmers 1) The strongest players I've known personally have been extremely articulate about what they were doing & why; one used to practice explaining every move he made to his opponent. 2) I'm not that strong, myself--so you may take this with suitable seasoning. I think the main advantage of personal go strength is having enough experience of the game that you have a sense of the size of the tree-space, the critical importance of correct move-order & of the need to prune that search-tree. Anyone who thinks his program can afford to make a slack move... just doesn't understand the game's requirements. Forrest Curo ----------------------------------------- This email was sent using AIS WebMail. http://www.americanis.net/ _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222 _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
