Avoid null move mystery solved

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jwes
Posts: 778
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:11 am

Avoid null move mystery solved

Post by jwes »

I have wondered why avoiding null move in very bad positions relative to alpha did not give a noticeable gain. I finally realized the position almost certainly results from a null move by the opponent unless the opponent's last move created the imbalance. This is in accord with earlier test results that showed null moves in positions where material is below alpha and the last move was a capture almost never cause cutoffs.