❖︎ What factor would you have to slow down a top chess engine before it had the same Elo as a top Grandmaster?
Reducing a Chess engine's (CE) search and evaluation functions to equal the threshold scope of the highest chess GMs with a 2900-3000 ELO rating or more, the CE would need to have its search and evaluation processes pared down in functional and structural integrity to a factor of 10^6 to correspond to the match parity of a top-tier Grandmaster.
CE uses two main functions: a search function and an evaluation function. The search function creates a tree of possible moves and positions, while the evaluation function assesses the quality of each position based on factors like material balance, mobility, and more. Chess engines analyze positions by calculating the best moves for evaluating the strategic elements for more accurate evaluations.
Chess engines use a combination of these search algorithms and evaluation processes to determine the best possible outcome. The search function generates units of possible moves and their consequences, while the evaluation function assigns a numerical value to each position based on factors such as king safety and pawn structure.
CE estimates the stalemate and checkmate strategy through their evaluation functions. Stalemate is assigned a value of 0.0 - indicating a draw. Checkmate is assigned the highest value represented by a specific integer. CE can identify and respond to positions leading to stalemate or checkmate. However, these limitations highlight the importance of human intuition and understanding in chess, even as chess engines improve their calculating power and analytical capabilities.
SUMMARY
To efficiently determine if a position is a checkmate, CE can implement methods like uncovering zero legal moves, although this process isn't computationally reducible and logic intensive than the Elo parity of a top-tier Grandmaster. The 10^6 estimation factor may result in a player parity mismatch.
Physicist. Author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity