Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!duke!unc!mcnc!rti!trt From: trt@rti.UUCP Newsgroups: net.chess Subject: Re: Miscellaneous Message-ID: <1126@rti.UUCP> Date: Sun, 17-Jul-83 01:09:16 EDT Article-I.D.: rti.1126 Posted: Sun Jul 17 01:09:16 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 19-Jul-83 20:10:53 EDT References: utcsrgv.1745 Lines: 46 Re: computer Othello (TM Gabriel), computer backgammon. Since noone else has yet replied, I will make an attempt. OTHELLO The CMU Othello (generic near-equivalent is 'reversi') program is probably better than any human. I do not believe it has an official title, though. In 1979, the first man-machine Othello tournament was held, and the humans (world champ and runner up) finished 1, 2. *But they each lost one of their 6 games against a machine.* Kathy and Dan Sprachlen (Sargon, Boris, Chess Challenger, etc.) had the best computer program, and the CMU program did well too. (I forget the CMU authors' names -- check the 1982 SIGARTs.) A year or so later a revised CMU program went 8-0 (!!) in an all-computer event. The world champion, Jonathan (?) Cerf, was in attendance and said the CMU program was probably better than he was, and declined to play a game. So, something of an AI milestone was reached with Othello -- superiority over mankind in a fairly complex board game -- but the whole thing was pretty much a fizzle. (Computers were total winners in Kalah years ago, but Othello was a much bigger challenge.) BACKGAMMON In 1979, the CMU backgammon program developed by Hans Berliner et. al. defeated the new world backgammon champ 5-1 (in 4 games). The program was not and is not the world champ, it just beat the champ in the only such match ever played. Four games is far too few to judge the relative strengths of two good players, and some (even Berliner) have said that the program made noticeably worse moves but was lucky (e.g. plenty of double sixes). The CMU program is certainly good though, and the win is an interesting historical footnote. Unfortunately, backgammon has such a large component of luck that even a 'perfect' computer backgammon program might have trouble achieving the recognition that it deserved. I have Berliner's 1979 writeup of the match, including the game score. Let me know via mail if you want a copy. Tom Truscott (duke!trt, trt.duke@udel)