3 ms·
That's an excellent point. When humans are taught chess, we are initially taught the value or power of the pieces. The queen ( being the most powerful ), then r
by porpoisely 8y ago
That's an excellent point. When humans are taught chess, we are initially taught the value or power of the pieces. The queen ( being the most powerful ), then rook ... all the way down to the pawn. Stockfish is programmed to know the value of the pieces. But Alphazero isn't taught anything but the rules. If it has any values for the pieces, it would be self generated though I doubt it generates any values for the pieces since it really doesn't need to and the value of pieces varies depending on the position.
AlphaZero does seem to have a style which favors positional development over value. It seems to choose pattern over material.
I wonder what would happen if one set of kids was taught the value of the pieces and another set weren't taught the value. Would one group be better than the other? Is knowing the value of the pieces a help or an impediment to developing your chess skill, especially at such an early age?
- newen 8y agoYou can look at piece value as a heuristic for the strength of your position. The problem with purely positional play without regard for material is that you could miss some tactic that forces exchanges and suddenly you're down three pawns and losing. As humans we miss tactics a lot, which is probably why we value material as much as positional advantages.