How Computers Play Chess

How Computers Play Chess PDF

Author: David N. L. Levy

Publisher:

Published: 2009-03

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9784871878012

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It now appears possible - even likely - that within a few decades and within certain specialized domains, the computer will be more intelligent than we ourselves. What was unimaginable a few years ago is happening today with alarming rapidity. A small piece of silicon, no larger than a thumbnail, can exhibit more "intelligence" than the best human brains. This book attempts to satisfy two different goals. It presents a comprehensive history of computer chess along with many rare examples of the play of early programs. These examples contain both amazing strokes of brilliance and inexplicable catastrophes; they will give the reader a dear perspective of the pioneer days of computer chess. In contrast, contemporary programs are capable of defeating International Grandmasters; the text contains several recent examples including a remarkable victory over former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. The remainder of the book is devoted to an explanation of how the various parts of a chess program are designed and how they function. Readers who have no knowledge of computers will gain insight into how they "think." Readers who own a personal computer and who want to write their own chess programs will find sufficient information in this book to enable them to make a good start.

Seven Games: A Human History

Seven Games: A Human History PDF

Author: Oliver Roeder

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2022-01-25

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1324003782

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A group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them. Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.

How Computers Play Chess

How Computers Play Chess PDF

Author: David N. L. Levy

Publisher: W H Freeman & Company

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 9780716782391

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Traces the development of computer chess programs, looks at recent programs that have challenged human chess champions, and describes commercially available software

All About Chess and Computers

All About Chess and Computers PDF

Author: D. Levy

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 3642855385

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For some time now, I have felt that the time is right to write a book about Computer Chess. Ever since the first attempts at chess pro gramming were made, some twenty five years ago, interest in the subject ha"s grown from year to year. During the late 1950s the subject was first brought to the attention of the public by an article in Scient(fic American, and less than a decade later a chess program was competing in a tournament with humans. More recently, there have been tournaments in which the only participants were computer programs. and when the first World Computer Championship was held in Stockholm in 1974 the event was an outstanding success. Laymen often doubt the value of investing in a subject so esoteric as computer chess, but there is definitely considerable benefit to be gained from a study of the automisation of chess and other intellectual games. If it proves possible to play such games well by computer, then the techniques employed to analyse and assess future positions in these games will also be useful in other problems in long-range planning. I have tried to make this book both interesting and instructive. Those who understand anything at all about chess but who have no knowledge of computers, will be able to follow my description of how computers play chess. Those with a knowledge of both areas will still find much to interest them.

Computers, Chess, and Cognition

Computers, Chess, and Cognition PDF

Author: T. Anthony Marsland

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 146139080X

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Computers, Chess, and Cognition presents an excellent up-to-date description of developments in computer chess, a rapidly advancing area in artificial intelligence research. This book is intended for an upper undergraduate and above level audience in the computer science (artificial intelligence) community. The chapters have been edited to present a uniform terminology and balanced writing style, to make the material understandable to a wider, less specialized audience. The book's primary strengths are the description of the workings of some major chess programs, an excellent review of tree searching methods, discussion of exciting new research ideas, a philosophical discussion of the relationship of computer game playing to artificial intelligence, and the treatment of computer Go as an important new research area. A complete index and extensive bibliography makes the book a valuable reference work. The book includes a special foreword by Ken Thompson, author of the UNIX operating system.

Computer Chess Compendium

Computer Chess Compendium PDF

Author: D. LEVY

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 147571968X

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For many years I have been interested in computer chess and have collected almost every learned paper and article on the subject that I could find. My files are now quite large, and a considerable amount of time, effort and expense has been required to build up this collection. I have often thought how difficult it must be for many computer chess enthusiasts to acquire copies of articles that they see referenced in some other work. Unless one has access to a good reference library, the task is almost impossible. I therefore decided to try to make available, in one volume, as many as possible of the most interesting and important articles and papers ever written on the subject. Such a selection is naturally somewhat subjective, and I hope that I will not offend authors whose works have been excluded. In particular I have decided to exclude any material which has appeared in the Journal of the International Computer Chess Association (ICCA), or in its precursor, the ICCA Newsletter. The reason is simply that the ICCA itself is in the process of compiling a compendium containing the most important material published in those sources. For further information on ICCA membership and publications the reader is invited to contact: Professor H. 1. van den Herik, or Dr Jonathan Schaeffer University of Limburg, Computing Science Dcpaitment, Department of Computer Science University of Alberta, 6200 MD Maastricht Edmonton Netherlands Alberta, Canada T6G 2HI.

Think Like a Computer

Think Like a Computer PDF

Author: Fm Bill Jordan

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2019-03-28

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9781790980932

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Computer chess has had a large impact on chess in the last two decades. Players have access to databases containing millions of games, they can even look up games played by a potential opponent. The Internet allows players to play fast games against players all around the world. Games can be watched live as they are being played. Computer chess programs (or chess-engines) have become very strong. Not only can be used as practice, they can be used to analyse games or study openings. Books have been written on how a player can study with the assistance of a chess engine. In the 1970s there was a popular chess book called Think Like a Grandmaster by Soviet GM Alexander Kotov. He later wrote Play Like a Grandmaster and Train Like a Grandmaster. He wrote from his own experience and other grandmasters he rubbed shoulders with. He wrote on tree of analysis, candidate moves, avoiding blunders, when not to analyse, positional ideas, endgames etc. He gave ordinary chess players an insight into the mind of a grandmaster. To some extent this book helped them to think like a grandmaster. These days strong computer programs (called chess engines) are very strong indeed. The top engines currently have ELO ratings above3500.They can often analyse faster and more reliably than strong grandmaster. We have Think Like a Grandmaster so why not have Think Like a computer? There are many things we can learn from the strengths and weaknesses of chess engines. What can we learn from the way computers play? The author has been writing his own hobby chess engines since the 1990s. This book is designed to impart knowledge gained from this experience to chess players of all levels. Note that this book is not about using computers to practice with or study chess. Its about what chess-players can learn from how computers play chess. Its also for readers who may be curious to learn something about how computers play chess. You do not need to be computer programmer to learn from how computers play chess. You do not even need a chess set to read this book.

Kasparov versus Deep Blue

Kasparov versus Deep Blue PDF

Author: Monty Newborn

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1461222605

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In February 1996, a chess-playing computer known as Deep Blue made history by defeating the reigning world chess champion, Gary Kasparov, in a game played under match conditions. Kasparov went on to win the six-game match 4-2 and at the end of the match announced that he believed that chess computing had come of age. This book provides an enthralling account of the match and of the story that lies behind it: the evolution of chess-playing computers and the development of Deep Blue. The story of chess-playing computers goes back a long way and the author provides a whistlestop tour of the highlights of this history. As the development comes to its culmination in Philadelphia, we meet the Deep Blue team, Garry Kasparov and each of the historic six games is provided in full with a detailed commentary. Chess grandmaster Yasser Seirawan provided a lively commentary throughout the match and here provides a Foreword about the significance of this event.

Play Winning Chess Against Computers

Play Winning Chess Against Computers PDF

Author: Eric Dana

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2015-02-20

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13: 9781508636977

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Play Winning Chess Against Computers Chess computers are great. As chess players We get a quality opponent ready to play whenever we are. Whether it's at home on a desktop or out with a laptop, or even on a smartphone. The only problem is the that the things are just so darn hard to beat! Now with this new book by National Master Eric Dana you will learn the secrets to beating the chess computers. This is not to say that you will always win, some of these programs are rated higher than the top players in the world. This book cannot promise that, but it will promise to improve your chances and score much better when playing against the machines. Some chapters include: The history of computer chess How computers play chess (What they do well, and what they do poorly) General tips when playing against computers Three specific plans to win or draw more often How to handle online chess players who use computers to cheat Resources relating to computer chess (including free software & films) This ebook is loaded with diagrams so that it is easy to read without a chessboard (although you will get more out of the book if you do follow along with a chess set). Please note that this book assumes you know how to play chess, read chess notation, and understand common chess terminology. In short, this is the most complete book ever written on defeating computers at chess.