Random Evaluations in Chess¹

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Beal, Don | Smith, Martin C.

Affiliations: Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England

Note: [1] This is a revised version of the paper delivered under the same title on July 1, 1993, at the 7th Conference on Advances in Computer Chess, Maastricht, The Netherlands. It will also be published in the Proceedings of that Conference.

Abstract: This paper reports experiments using random numbers as “evaluations” in chess. Although this results in random play with a depth-1 search, it is found that strength of play rises rapidly when the depth of lookahead is increased. This counter-intuitive result is discussed and its implications for game-playing are given.

DOI: 10.3233/ICG-1994-17102

Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 3-9, 1994