mclure%Sri-Unix@sri-unix.UUCP (07/26/84)
The Vote Tally
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Folks, the moves are in and have been tallied.
The winner is: 2. ... Nc6.
It was far ahead of the first runner-up, 3 ... Bd7.
One person voted for the bizarre 3 ... Nd7.
A total of 17 votes were cast. Please relay this message to any
friends you have who might be interested in participating. It would
be great if we could have a lot more people voting. Please be sure
to always include your move number with your vote!
The Machine Moves
-----------------
The Prestige 8-ply replied 4. o-o from book in 0 seconds.
Humans Move # Votes
BR ** BB BQ BK BB BN BR 3 ... Nc6 11
BP BP ** -- BP BP BP BP 3 ... Bd7 5
-- ** BN BP -- ** -- ** 3 ... Nd7 1
** WB BP -- ** -- ** --
-- ** -- ** WP ** -- **
** -- ** -- ** WN ** --
WP WP WP WP -- WP WP WP
WR WN WB WQ ** WR WK --
Prestige 8-ply
The Game So Far
---------------
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. Bb5+ Nc6
4. o-o ???
Commentary
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Tom Peters <TPETERS@BBNCCP>, USCF rating 2107, wrote the majority opinion:
I vote for 3. ...Nc6. I chose this move over the more
common 3. ...Bd7 because
1. There is a lot less analysis in ECO.
2. Deciding when to play B x c6 may be hard for the computer.
3. I hope to close the game with an eventual ...e5.
Steve Swernofsky <SASW@MIT-MC>, USCF rating ????, disagreed with the group:
I think 3 ... Bd7 is superior to 3 ... Nc6 because (1)
it poses a threat which White must respond to; and
(2) it is not vulnerable to 4 d4. If 4 Qe2 Nc6 5
Bxc6 Bxc6 6 e4 cd 7 Nxd4 ... I think Black will
have the better command of the center, with either
7 ... Qd7 or 7 ... d5 as his options.
Stuart Mclure Cracraft <MCLURE@SRI-UNIX>, USCF 1553/15:
You folks may want to get the machine out of book as
quickly as possible. It has a pretty extensive
treatment of the Sicilian lines.
Solicitation
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Your move, please?
Replies to Arpanet: mclure@sri-unix or Usenet: sri-unix!mclure.
DO NOT SEND REPLIES TO THE ENTIRE LIST! Just send them to one of
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Addendum
--------
For readers who don't understand any of this, I am conducting a Delphi
experiment wherein a large network-based readership can send moves in
for a chess game. Each reader's move is a vote that is combined with
other readers' votes. The move with the most votes is played against
the Prestige chess machine searching a minimum of 8 full ply deep. The
results will eventually be published in a journal along with an
analysis of the experiment.