Entrevista Martin Bryant

Entrevista hecha por Fernando Villegas a Martin Bryant, creador del Colossus Chess.

https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=230247

Subject: Interview with Martin Bryant, the Man behind Colossus.

Author: Fernando Villegas
Date: 12:35:15 05/18/02

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Probably there are some pals here that not even know what I am talking about
with the smashing, mighty  word "Colossus". Perhaps they will believe I wanted
to go to an archeological site and I pushed the wrong address in my favorite
list. But for, let us say, more "experienced" fans -meaning above 35 years old-
Colossus is a respectable although obsolete name, a venerable piece in the
growing colection of the chess programs museum. It was, in the 80's, one of the
most succesful of the several that were aimed to the mass market, to begin with.
At least it was succesful enough to let Martin Bryan, his father, to buy a
expensive new brand car, so he say. That was not a minor accomplishment. After
all the 80's were the initial, heroic but pennyless era of chess programming and
besides that many many candidates to glory were in the shells asking for
attention from a public than, in those times, was even lesser in  number than it
is by now. Well, at least they were prepared to pay sums that for today
standards seems almost ridiculous. Anyway, most of those products were scarcely
worthy of his glorious names; we had too much pieces of junk christened as
"Master", "Great Master", "Champions" and "Experts" with codes of about 50 to
100 pitiful Kb that scarcely played at 1300 elo, tiny books counted in hundreds
of moves in the best cases, without the most elemental ending knowledge and
prone to be cheated with 3 plys combinations.
It was not so with Colossus.  It played a respectable chess and what's more, it
delivered the very first program -version X for PC- with an algorythm capable of
some learning in the opening. It did so with a basic device: each time after a
move his search showed a dramatic fall of the score, it marked that move as a
criminal to be kept for ever out of circulation . Besides that it had options
for selective of full width search and a book better provided of lines. With
this and that, my Colossus IV, one that runned in a Atari console, I remember
well, was generally capable of beating 60 or 70% of the time my old beloved
dedicated unit, Chess Champion Challenger. This last one had a 1770 USA elo,
then I guess Colossus was worthy of about something more than 1800 or so.  Not
bad at all for a engine that examined no more than 100 or 150 moves per second.
A meditative sould could wonder to himswelf how much could Martin have got if he
had his program running in the currents processors and with the added experience
of some 20 years of extra work. But then Martin Bryan left chess programming for
good. He got bore wit it. Besides he falled in love with checkers and,
commercially speaking, discovered in it a new gold mine almost empty of
explorers, so he begun to do some programming on that and in due time he
produced one of the strongest, if not the strongest commercial checker software,
called, of course, Colossus. It was second only to legendary Chinook.

But what happened with chess? Did Martin left completely the field? What he
thnks looking at the new stars and his creations? I made myself those questions
and I decided to contact the man. He was kind enough to answer and you willm
concur with me that some of his statements are somewhat contradictory as if in
Martin are two opposed forces fighting inside him: one, dicided to forget all
about chess and even to pose as absolute out of it, the other one toying with
the idea of a eventual comeback.

Some friends here suggested more questions than those you will see here, but a
problem with my email service made impossible to send in time a second bath of
inquiries, so I ask benevolence for all that is not in the following note.

Qustions and answers:


a) Have you, in these last years, given a look at the chess programming scene?
Do you know the current trend of it? What do you think of it?

Actually not much really. I do keep a mental note when new program versions come
out, but I couldn't even tell you who the latest computer world champion was!



b) Have you given a thought to the idea of a comeback? As you said to me in an
emai about your current task, at least to give another shot could be a matter of
fun and good experience

I think a 'comeback' would be the wrong word :-) Any chess program I release
would be a spare time effort, either for fun or experience. I doubt that I would
ever get back into full time computer chess programming.



c)  Nevertheless I remember that in our previous intercourse you said you felt
capable of tweaking anything in your hands to make of it something better. Have
you tried with your own Colossus?

Unfortunately I've not really found any time to try new/improved algorithms. I
still do believe however that there is nothing stopping anybody keen enough to
enhance things if the desire is there.



d) What is going on with Colossus checkers?  It is by now a finished adventure?

I haven't touched the commercial version in about 7 years. However I do have a
new experimental version. This would eventually be included as one of the game
engines in the new generic interface I'm working on. I also have a Reversi
(Othello) engine done.



e) If ever you venture again in chess programming, in what conditions you would
do it? Independently, as in the past? As part of a existing company? Which
techniques you would use? What kind of product you would try to deliver to make
a difference with the current crop?

I would almost certainly do it independantly and wholly for fun. I work as a
contractor for a large chemical company to earn my living so I'm not trying to
make a goldmine out of the games stuff. I kinda feel it's more relaxed that way
too and I can just enjoy the games stuff for what it is. I don't know that there
would be anything new in Colossus that would distinguish it from the rest, but
over the years I have received so many emails from chess enthusiasts who are
happy just to experience the different playing styles of the programs and asking
me to come back with a new version that I guess I will.



f)Anything else about this field I have not asked but you would think fit to
say, please do.

As I say I don't really follow the computer chess scene much (or even the human
scene!). In fact I don't even know if Kasparov is still World Champion?! I
vaguely recall there was some sort of split a few years ago? That's how out of
touch I am :-) The computer Draughts scene has been interesting over the last
few years as several new GM strength programs have appeared and Jonathon
Schaeffer (Chinook program) has now released the 8-piece endgame databases to
the public which will only improve things further. They're even having a
computer tourney in Las Vegas soon to decide a challenger to Chinook for its
world crown. Say hi to all the old fans of Colossus and White Knight for me!



Cheers,
Martin

And cheers, Fernando....