Computer Chess Endgame Play with Pawns: Then and Now

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Newborn, M.¹ | Hyatt, R.²

Affiliations: USA

Note: [1] Quebec, Canada. Email: newborn@cs.mcgill.ca

Note: [2] Computer Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA. Email: hyatt@cis.uab.edu

Abstract: Forty years ago, PEASANT, a program designed to play chess king and pawn endgames, was tested on a set of sixteen positions. The results reflected the weak state of play by computers during this stage of the game. To examine the progress made since then, CRAFTY was recently tested on the same set, and this paper reports on its far stronger results. A new more difficult set is then proposed for this paper, and tested on CRAFTY. The results are presented herein. The set is intended to serve others wishing to measure and compare their program’s performance.

DOI: 10.3233/ICG-2014-37402

Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 195-206, 2014