I promised an example of a monte carlo program mistakenly starting a ladder;
here it is.
I played white; Leela had a 2 stone handicap and 45 minutes on the clock.
Leela's move 32 initiates a ladder. Unfortunately for Leela, I have a ladder
breaker at D16.
Leela's analysis was optimistic when
I think all uct/mc programs will have this problem unless they add something
extra to avoid it. During playouts using random moves the playouts will
think that the ladder usually works. Local 3x3 patterns aren't enough since
they can't tell the difference between ladders that work and ladders tha
Is it practical to recognize the initiation of a ladder, and expand the nodes
all the way to the end, to determine whether it works or not? More generally
speaking, if a large group can be repeatedly put into atari, the outcome will
usually swing the game one way or the other. One of the players
