[Computer-go] Combinatorics of Go

[Robert Jasiek]

On 04.01.2011 00:30, Erik van der Werf wrote:
> The word 'almost' to me suggests that you would know for sure that
> there exists an exception.

So far you have given only heuristics hoping that your long cycles would 
be detected somehow without comparing the positions. ALA you do not give 
a general proof, each long cycle is a possible exception. Since I have 
not found a general proof for the opposing conjecture yet, I cannot be 
sure either, of course.


Your program is White to move.

. O . # O . #
# # # # O O O
. . # # O O .
# # # . . O O
# # # # # O O
# # # O O O O
# # # . . O O


1 O 2 # O 3 #    4 = pass
# # # # O O O
. . # # O O .
# # # . 6 O O
# # # # # O O
# # # O O O O
# # # 5 . O O


With your program's status criteria (especially "number of consecutive 
passes", "number of Black/White captures", "number of Black/White passes 
(not necessarily consecutive)"), after move 4 your program is in danger 
of confusing the move-sequence with a sending-2-returning-1 cycle.


> trigger a bug

It suffices to trigger a tactical mistake or wrong cycle assessment in 
the underlying algorithm.

-- 
robert jasiek