[gnugo-devel] Where IS that error?

[Jeff Sorenson]

Re Mark Brodie's question:
"If GNU Go had a function which pointed out the moments where the predicted 
score changed by a large amount  (either during or after the game), this 
might be very helpful for the beginner. It might even be possible to add 
verbal explanations for some of the types of mistakes.
What do you think?"


This idea could likely be done for yose with existing code, I'd bet; a table of the values/sente for a given list of the final 20 or 30 end moves might be helpful for some. 

The problem is that (except for endgame) the likelihood that the move where the predicted score changes by a large amount is almost always NOT the place to find the root error. It is near certain that the move(s)ultimately responsible for a given disaster are very often not even the ones immediately (say 3) before. It seems that often there is no simple way to say, "Here is the error!". If you doubt me, give it a try, readers here will likely be interested! :) 

Regards, all

Jeffrey Sorenson