Abstract
We propose an approach for developing efficient search algorithms through genetic programming. Focusing on the game of chess we evolve entire game-tree search algorithms to solve the Mate-In-N problem: find a key move such that even with the best possible counterplays, the opponent cannot avoid being mated in (or before) move N. We show that our evolved search algorithms successfully solve several instances of the Mate-In-N problem, for the hardest ones developing 47% less game-tree nodes than CRAFTY—a state-of-the-art chess engine with a ranking of 2614 points. Improvement is thus not over the basic alpha-beta algorithm, but over a world-class program using all standard enhancements.
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Hauptman, A., Sipper, M. (2007). Evolution of an Efficient Search Algorithm for the Mate-In-N Problem in Chess. In: Ebner, M., O’Neill, M., Ekárt, A., Vanneschi, L., Esparcia-Alcázar, A.I. (eds) Genetic Programming. EuroGP 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4445. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71605-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71605-1_8
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