Newsgroups: comp.ai.games
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!munnari.oz.au!cs.mu.OZ.AU!djmann
From: djmann@ecr.mu.OZ.AU (Daniel_James MANN)
Subject: Re: State enumeration
Message-ID: <1995Apr26.094649@rex.ecr.mu.OZ.AU>
Sender: news@cs.mu.OZ.AU (CS-Usenet)
Organization: Dojo of Elephants, Camels and Rodents
References:  <D731tB.J4D@mv.mv.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 14:46:49 GMT
Lines: 45


In article <D731tB.J4D@mv.mv.com>, sje@mv.mv.com (Steven J. Edwards) writes:
|> Lines: 36
|> 
|> The main reason I comment on state space enumeration is that I
|> continue to see it misused as a complexity metric.  The most common
|> reference is go vs. chess where the larger enumeration of the former
|> is given as a reason for "superiority" over the latter.  This appears
|> from time to time from insecure go players (hopefully a small minority
|> of all go players) who attempt to dismiss chess as activity for those
|> with lesser intellects.
|> 
|> Sadly, some chessplayers are not immune to this sort of pomposity as
|> can be seen from occasional comments disparaging checkers as a "kid's
|> game".
|> 
|> I measure game complexity based on a game's influence and perfusion
|> through human culture and by the amount of interest it stimulates in
|> the research community over time.
|> 
|> Rhetorically:
|> 
|> Where are all the go programs?  Why is it that the topic doesn't
|> attract more than a very small fraction of researchers as compared to
|> chess?  Why is go, a much older game than chess by far, mainly
|> isolated in a few countries?  Where is the corpus of go literature in
|> culture and in programming that even remotely compares to that of
|> chess?
|> 
|> Subjectively:
|> 
|> Go is completely lacking in the crispness and decisiveness that
|> characterizes chess.  Go doesn't have the near-escapes, the surprise
|> thrusts, or even the swindles seen in chess.  Chessgames end in life
|> or death while go games end with an accounting tally.  Playing over a
|> go game is like watching two different spore molds fighting it out in
|> a Petri dish; fascinating for some, but of doubtful holding power for
|> most.


Well, actually, that is because there is much literature in china, japan
and many asian countries.    
Go is much better than chess because it requires subterfuge,
misleading actions. and not every possible move can ever be taken into account.
You can alwasy take every move into account for chess, which is why it isnt as good.
