LordNazgul wrote:
Elubas wrote:
TheGrobe wrote:
More to the point, if chess is actually a draw, the estimation that the first move advantage is worth .15 of a pawn is actually a miscalculation -- the first move advantage is worth nothing.
Technically, yes -- but practically black has to neutralize the advantage; the fact that white does not have to go through this process is an advantage in itself.
Yes, but it would be only a practical advantage then, not a theoretical advantage.
Exactly, and the practical advantage isn't relevant to solving chess -- only the theoretical one matters in this context.
"Objective practical advantage" seems like a clear oxymoron. The "practical" part applies to human (and maybe human-programmed computer) players, therefore violating the "objective" part.
For the computer which can evaluate the entire game tree (or enough of it for evaluation purposes anyway), the initial evaluation of a game of anything (like chess) is either win for white in x moves, win for black in y moves (I still would really love to see this, meaning white is in fatal zugzwang from move 1) or draw (0). So .15 is indeed a miscalculation in the realms of this thread, which is talking about solving chess, not practical chances.