How to Write a Chess Program

How to Write a Chess Program
Author: Fm Bill Jordan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2019-11-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9781696444446

IntroductionThere are a number of reasons why you may be interested in how a chess program is written: You are learning programming and interested in learning something different. You are a programmer who is interesting in developing their programming experience. You are a chess enthusiast and would like to improve your chess by learning how chess programs work. You are interested in developing a chess program and playing against it. You are interested in developing a chess program and having it play other engines. You do need to be an expert programmer to understand this book.The code is written as simply as possible.The code is designed to be simple even for intermediate and even novice programmers. If you are not a programmer, but am interested in chess, this book may be of interest. The book includes the source code for a complete chess engine. The program can be compiled using a freely downloadable compiler.You can alter the code and see if you can make it stronger. The engine is strong enough to beat most social players. Features of the engine include: The ability to load positions. The ability to play in chess engine tournaments, with programs such as Arena. Its very fast. It displays the best line of play for both sides. Detects reality of opponent's pieces. Detects checkmate. Detects draws by repetition, 50 move rule, statemate or reduction of material. EvaluationThe engine evaluates elements of a position including: Material. Piece position. King safety. Pawn structure. Passed pawns. SearchThe engine uses a standard alpha-beta minimax search including: Cut offs. Move ordering. History moves, Hash tables. Extensions. Reductions. Capture search. And much more... Other books on computer chess are The Joy of Chess Programming and Think Like a Computer. My other book on programming is The Art of Programming.

How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine

How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine
Author: Fm Bill Jordan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2020-06-22
Genre:
ISBN:

IntroductionThere are a number of reasons why you may be interested in how a chess program is written: You are learning programming and interested in learning something different. You are a programmer who is interesting in developing their programming experience. You are a chess enthusiast and would like to improve your chess by learning how chess programs work. You are interested in developing a chess program and playing against it. You are interested in developing a chess program and having it play other engines. You do need to be an expert programmer to understand this book.The code is written as simply as possible.The code is designed to be simple even for intermediate and even novice programmers. If you are not a programmer, but am interested in chess, this book may be of interest. The book includes annotation of the source code for a complete chess engine the author has developed as a teaching tool.The complete source code is available at GitHub. The program can be compiled using a freely downloadable compiler.You can alter the code and see if you can make it stronger. The program is a derivative of my program referred to in my earlier book How to Write a Chess Program, which did not use bitboards. The book explains how bitboards work and some of the many ways they can be useful in programming. The bitboard version runs considerably faster and is consequently stronger. Alternatively you can simply download the exe file and run the program. The engine is strong enough to beat most social players. Features of the engine include: The ability to load positions. The ability to play in chess engine tournaments, with programs such as Arena. Its very fast. It displays the best line of play for both sides. Detects checkmate. Detects draws by repetition, 50 move rule, stalemate or reduction of material. EvaluationThe engine evaluates elements of a position including: Material. Piece position. King safety. Pawn structure. Passed pawns etc SearchThe engine uses a standard alpha-beta minimax search including: Cut offs. Move ordering. History moves, Hash tables. Extensions. Reductions. Capture search. And much more... My other books on computer chess are How to Write a Chess Program, The Joy of Chess Programming and Think Like a Computer.

The Joy of Chess Programming

The Joy of Chess Programming
Author: F. M. Bill Jordan
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2019-11-11
Genre:
ISBN: 9781707113026

The Joy of Chess Programming This is a memoir of my experiences with creating my own chess engine. It begins with first experiences with computer chess from books, magazines, movies and dedicated chess computers. It progresses to when I had enough knowledge to write an amateur engine and was able to compete in computer chess tournaments. Eventually my engine was strong enough to reach about 2400 ELO strength. It is able to find Bobby Fischer's ...Be6 in the famous Game of the Century in a fraction of a second. It gives insights into how chess engines work and how they select a move. There are numerous tips on how we human players can learn from how computers play. There are a number of reasons why you may be interested in how a chess program is written. If so, you may be interested in my bookHow to Write a Chess Program. I have another book on computer chess called Think Like a Computer which includes a number of games with engines playing engines at a shallow depth. This illustrates how engines evaluate positions.

Advanced Chess Tactics

Advanced Chess Tactics
Author: Lev Psakhis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2020-02-07
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9781784830922

A mastery of tactics is essential to a competitive chess player, and the original Advanced Chess Tactics became an instant classic in this field. "This book is absolutely superb. For serious players... this volume will provide a wonderful breadth of study material and act as a workbook to advance your skills and understanding of this important topic..." was Carsten Hansen's comment when awarding the book 6/6 stars.This new edition benefits from various analytical tweaks, plus an entirely new chapter dedicated to attacking in the French Defence, an opening which the author knows better than almost anyone, having played it for most of his career. Readers are sure to find this an invaluable addition to the original chapters, which remain usefully categorized by opening or common pawn structure.

Chess Skill in Man and Machine

Chess Skill in Man and Machine
Author: P. W. Frey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1461255155

Ten years of intensive effort on computer chess have produced notable progress. Although the background information and technical details that were written in 1975 for the first edition of this book are still valid in most essential points, hardware and software refinements have had a major impact on the effectiveness of these ideas. The current crop of chess machines are performing at unexpectedly high levels. The approach epitomized by the series of programs developed by David Slate and Larry Atkin at Northwestern in the middle 1970s (i. e. , a sophisticated search algorithm using very little chess knowledge) was expected to reach an asymptbtic level of performance no higher than that of a class A player (USCF rating between 1800 and 2000). This perspective was argued quite vigorously by Eliot Hearst in Chapter 8 of the first edition and was held at that time by many chess experts. Subsequent events have clearly demonstrated that the asymptotic performance level for this type of pro gram it at least as high as the master level (USCF rating between 2200 and 2400). Current discussions now focus upon whether the earlier reser vations were wrong in principle or simply underestimated the asymptote. If there is a real barrier which will prevent this type of program from attaining a world championship level of performance, it is not evident from the steady progress which has been observed during the last decade.

Advanced Chess

Advanced Chess
Author: David Norwood
Publisher: E.D.C. Publishing
Total Pages: 68
Release: 1990
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780746006177

This book is a simple practical introduction to advanced chess skills. With easy-to-follow instruction from International Grandmaster, David Norwood, it explains winning techniques for each stage of the game, including sections on tactics, the are of sacrifice and successful planning.

Improve Your Chess at Any Age

Improve Your Chess at Any Age
Author: Andres D. Hortilosa
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-01-10
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9781857446180

In this original and thought-provoking book, Andres D. Hortillosa explains his ever-evolving system of chess improvement. If you are serious about improving your chess this book is for you.

The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement

The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement
Author: Matthew Sadler
Publisher: New In Chess
Total Pages: 982
Release: 2021-11-13
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9056919849

‘How can I learn from AlphaZero’s games, aren’t they too advanced for me?’ many club players asked Matthew Sadler after reading his and Natasha Regan’s groundbreaking Game Changer. Here is the answer: you may not be able to replicate their dazzling deep calculations, but every chess player, from club level up, can improve their game by using engines. You will probably be surprised, there is so much more your engine can do for you than just checking and calculating variations! In this thought-provoking new book, based on many years of working with the world’s best chess software, Sadler presents a unique set of methods to work out using your engine. He shows how in your opening preparation, instead of sifting through masses of computer analysis you should play matches against your engine. He also explains how to train your early middlegame play, the conversion of advantages, your positional play, and your defence. And of course: how to analyse your own games. These generic training methods Sadler supplements with concrete middlegame and opening tools. He explains how the top engines tackle crucial middlegame themes such as entrenched pieces, whole board play, ‘attacking rhythm’, exchanging pieces, the march of the Rook’s pawn, queen versus pieces, and many others. He also opens your eyes to typical scenarios that the engines found and fine-tuned in popular openings such as the King’s Indian, the Grünfeld, the Slav, the French and the Sicilian. Sadler illustrates his lessons with a collection of fantastic games, explained with his trademark enthusiasm. For the first time the superhuman powers of the chess engine have been decoded to the benefit of all players, in a rich and highly instructive book.

Modern Chess Strategy

Modern Chess Strategy
Author: Ludek Pachman
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2012-04-26
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0486135705

The use of the queen, the active king, exchanges, pawn play, the center, weak squares, more. Often considered the most important book on strategy. 298 diagrams.

How To Beat Anyone At Chess

How To Beat Anyone At Chess
Author: Ethan Moore
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2015-10-02
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1440592144

Learn to take the king like a pro with this essential, easy-to-understand guidebook for chess players everywhere no matter what your skill level! Whether you’ve played a few matches or are completely new to the game, How to Beat Anyone at Chess helps you master leading strategies for one of the hardest games out there. Each page guides you through important moves with easy-to-understand explanations and tips for staying ahead of your opponent. From utilizing the queen's power to slaying your rival’s king, you'll learn all about the traps, squeezes, and sacrifices that give players an extra edge and how you can use these techniques to beat the competition. The ultimate guide to conquering the classic game, How to Beat Anyone at Chess will show you how to become a grandmaster in no time!