The Algorithm as a Chess Player

Abstract

Is there any need for a machine to play chess well? Opinions differ. Grandmasters, for example, become irritated at the question and say that this is idle talk—even if there is a need, the answer is far in the future, perhaps 50 years. Some scholars say that there is little use in wasting effort on “teaching” a machine genuine mastery of chess—to make it a second-rank player is enough. The importance and necessity of giving the machine a “higher education” will be proved later; for the present, the reader should accept them as proven.