CPT Community

Hi,

While preparing a repertoire sometimes it's interesting to add a variation that shows that a move is bad. So you put the best move as the main line, then you add a sub-variation to show that a move loses. While training with CPT, you can ask that only the "top-ranked candidate move" is heeded, but eventually it will train you in the inferior variation I've just mentioned.

The question is: would be possible to add an option that would make CPT pick positions that can only be reached via a top-ranked candidate move for the colour of the repertoire (so that you know what to play against all possible moves played by the opponent, while trained to play only the best with your colour)?
 
Here is a simple example of a line to study with black:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Qg6 7. Nxc6 Bxe3 (
7... bxc6 8. Bxc5) *

You just want to show bxc6 loses a piece, but you don't want CTP to train you in this variation. Same thing for sub-variations:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Qg6 7. Nxc6 Bxe3 (
7... bxc6 8. Bxc5) 8. Nd4 Bxd4 9. Qxd4 (9. cxd4 d6 (9... d5 10. exd5 Qe4+ 11.
Qe2)) *


 

Hi Chessfarrell,

now you get to a pretty complex topic. As you said, as long as you play variations you can let CPT only play top-ranked candidiate moves. If you want to jump to the worst position you run the risk to jump to a position which you actually would not reach via a top-ranked candidate move.

There is no simple way to correct this and I have thought about this issue hours already. There two approaches:

1) you save the info wether a position belongs to a variation which is reachable by top-ranked move

2) you calculate this info on the fly during the training.

The first approach runs into many issues when someone adds a new move, changes the ranking, imports some moves or deletes some. At all these moments you have to recalculate for all affected positions (and follow-up positions) whether they are reachable by a top-ranked candidate move list or not. Then we have such a wonderful thing like transposition in chess. Overall this is not easy to implement in a practical way.

The second approach is too time-consuming to do it on the fly.

I tend to follow a different approach. There should be a batch-job that will save the necessary information to each position. If moves are added / deleted or rankings changed the complete sub-repertoire will be marked as "dirty". Its up to the user to run the batch-job again. CPT might ask to do so from to time when you start training the sub-repertoire.

Regards,

Stefan

As a matter, great idea with the batch job. The user will run the batch job if they want to... And it seems to me that with a "normal" computer, it shouldn't take ages...