Linux.com

If you don't care about the aesthetics then you are a machine - If you are human, then you know you can't win against a machine. It is like having a race to see whether you or the machine can think faster - duh! If you want frustration - play a machine if you want war, personality, thrills, a true since of competition - the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory with all the human (we make mistakes) qualities then don't ever play computer chess. It is an exercise in futility. Computer chess has done more to kill chess playing than anything - buy a kid a computer chess game or let him play a linux chess engine, no matter what the interface and you will lose a future chess player. These geeks (yes I am a geek but not a nerd) are nerds because they think to beat a human is the object - duh - having fund, learning, developing thought processes, making mistakes and learning from them along with competition - trying to better yourself - that's playing chess. The rest of this is an exercise in advanced programming which has some value for the programmer but little to no value in learning or enjoyment to the player which is the object of play - hence - computer chess is worthless but as an exercise.

You want to make a great program for people - take on the greatest programming effort you could possibly do - let it be human with personality, mistakes, etc. If no one (except a grand master and then only the bad chess programs) can ever beat a chess program then what is the point in playing. Do you like to lose day in and day out every time you play - hey, then go beat your head against a wall - currently it is just as fun as play gnuchess or any of the other Plus 2200 rated programs and you have just as much luck of knocking the wall down before your head is mush as winning at the program.

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