3 Performance and Timeline
Reiss' Go skill has progressed from l0kyu in l987 to 4 kyu in l992 to 2 kyu in l996. Reiss has programmed full-time on Go4++ for about the last two years and also programmed full-time for one and a half years around 1986. Other than for these two periods since starting Go programming in l983, Reiss has programmed part-time with the most effort usually expended in the two months leading up to a competition.
There have been many commercial relcases of Reiss' programs by Oxford Softworks with another soon to follow. Notable releases have been Go Player Professional and an updated windows version, Go Professional II, released in Japan.
Reiss characterized Go4++ as the weakest of the current strong programs at tactical situations requiring life and death analysis although it is good at creating moyos and gaining territory in the middle and endgame. Since Go4++ tends to play well in the centreof the board, Prof. Chen played 200 games against Go4++ in an attempt to test modifications to Handtalk which were designed at playing befter in the centre. Reiss usesmany empirically hand-tuned algorithms within Go4++ although no learning algorithms are used. Carefully crafted changes to these algorithms can improve the strength of Go4++ e.g.,by making the connection algorithm more accurate, eye and territory evaluation also becomemore accurate, resulting in an increase in playing strength. Before the 2nd FOST Cup in l996, Reiss tuned the performance of Go4++ by playing 700 test games against Handtalk, resulting in Handtalk's only defeat during that competition,
5. Strong Point of My Program:
My program has probably the most accurate evaluation of teratory of any of the competition.
6. My Records of Computer Go Tournaments(past 3 years):
FOST 95 2nd
Ing 95 2nd
FOST 96 2nd
Ing 96 4th
7. How to Buy or Get My Program for Each Country.
