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.

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.

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.

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.

Toledo Nanochess

Toledo Nanochess
Author: Oscar Toledo Gutierrez
Publisher:
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2014-02
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9781304864376

Toledo Nanochess is the world's current smallest chess program written in C language. Now for the first time is published the complete documented source code. Also including the documented source code of the JS1K 2010 Chess entry (2nd place winner)

Chess and Computers

Chess and Computers
Author: David N. L. Levy
Publisher: Computer Science Press, Incorporated
Total Pages: 160
Release: 1976
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN:

How Computers Play Chess

How Computers Play Chess
Author: David N. L. Levy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2009-03
Genre: Chess
ISBN: 9784871878012

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.

One Jump Ahead

One Jump Ahead
Author: Jonathan Schaeffer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2013-03-09
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 147572733X

This extraordinary book tells of the creation of the world-class checkers computer program, Chinook. From its beginnings in 1988, Chinook became a worthy opponent to the world champion and by 1992 had defeated all the worlds top human players. In his fascinating account, Jonathan Schaeffer, the originator and leader of the Chinook team, provides an engrossing story of failures and successes. He describes the human story behind Chinook and his own feelings in his continuous effort to improve the programs performance. We follow the development of Chinook from an innocent question asked over lunch, through to the final match against the then world champion, Marion Tinsley. As the story unfolds, readers are introduced to the rules of checkers and the basics of computer game programs, as well as to the key figures in the story. The culmination of this new edition expounds upon checker finally perfected and solved by Chinook ten years after the story was originally told.

Human Computer Interaction Handbook

Human Computer Interaction Handbook
Author: Julie A. Jacko
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 1469
Release: 2012-05-04
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1439829446

Winner of a 2013 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award The third edition of a groundbreaking reference, The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications raises the bar for handbooks in this field. It is the largest, most complete compilation of HCI theories, principles, advances, case st

The dotCrime Manifesto

The dotCrime Manifesto
Author: Phillip Hallam-Baker
Publisher: Pearson Education
Total Pages: 523
Release: 2007-12-29
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0132701979

Internet crime keeps getting worse...but it doesn’t have to be that way. In this book, Internet security pioneer Phillip Hallam-Baker shows how we can make the Internet far friendlier for honest people—and far less friendly to criminals. The dotCrime Manifesto begins with a revealing new look at the challenge of Internet crime—and a surprising look at today’s Internet criminals. You’ll discover why the Internet’s lack of accountability makes it so vulnerable, and how this can be fixed —technically, politically, and culturally. Hallam-Baker introduces tactical, short-term measures for countering phishing, botnets, spam, and other forms of Internet crime. Even more important, he presents a comprehensive plan for implementing accountability-driven security infrastructure: a plan that draws on tools that are already available, and rapidly emerging standards and products. The result: a safer Internet that doesn’t sacrifice what people value most: power, ubiquity, simplicity, flexibility, or privacy. Tactics and strategy: protecting Internet infrastructure from top to bottom Building more secure transport, messaging, identities, networks, platforms, and more Gaining safety without sacrificing the Internet’s unique power and value Making the Internet safer for honest people without sacrificing ubiquity, simplicity, or privacy Spam: draining the swamp, once and for all Why spam contributes to virtually every form of Internet crime—and what we can do about it Design for deployment: how to really make it happen Defining security objectives, architecture, strategy, and design—and evangelizing them