Re: [gnugo-devel] End game strategy

[Arend Bayer]

Gunnar wrote:

> SP Lee wrote:
> > The following situation from the game with go ++ maybe a illustration
> >    A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T
> > 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
> > 18 . . . . O X X . . . . . . . . . O . . 18
> > 17 . . . . O O X . . . X . O . O . O X . 17
> > 16 . . O + . . X . . + . . . . . O X . . 16
> > 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . 15
> > 14 . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . 14
> > 13 . O . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
> > 12 . X O . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . 12
> > 11 . X O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
> > 10 . O X O . X . . X + . . . . . + . . . 10
> >  9 . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . 9
> >  8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
> >  7 . . X . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
> >  6 . . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . X . . 6
> >  5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
> >  4 . . . + . X . X . X . . . . . O . O . 4
> >  3 . . . X . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . 3
> >  2 . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . 2
> >  1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
> >    A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T
>
> Is this supposed to illustrate endgame? Looks like middle game to me.

Depends on what you mean by endgame. Yes I would call it early endgame,
as all groups are settled and no fights can be anticipated.

I don't know of a good definition of endgame, but "thickness doesn't
matter anymore (unless it can be directly converted into points)"
is probably the best description I can come up with. Of course you can
say "next move worth than 10 pts", but that would be a less useful
notion IMHO.

Does this matter for GNU Go? I'd say know. E.g. a good strategical
valuation will give low values when all groups are settled, and so
automatically give low strategical values in the endgame. (Not that
I claim that this is currently the case.) Good territorial valuation
is more important in the endgame, but it's useful throughout the game.
So I personnally don't think GNU Go should have more explicit "endgame
awareness".

Arend