Computer chess

Computer chess is the design and evaluation of computer systems that play chess. It combines search, position evaluation, and chess-specific knowledge to select moves.

Minimax: A decision rule that chooses a move by assuming an opponent will respond optimally. Chess engines use it to compare moves against the strongest anticipated replies.
Mechanical Turk: An eighteenth-century chess-playing machine that concealed a human operator inside its cabinet. Its apparent automation contrasts with the genuine computational systems developed later.
Richard Greenblatt: An American computer scientist who wrote the early chess program Mac Hack VI. Mac Hack VI became the first program to earn a United States Chess Federation rating.
Chess engine: A software program that analyzes chess positions and recommends or plays moves. It is the standard modern form of a computer chess player.
Computer-assisted chess: Chess played by humans who consult computer engines for analysis or move recommendations. Engine analysis transformed preparation and decision-making in elite chess.
Alpha–beta pruning: A search technique that skips branches unable to affect a minimax decision. It lets chess engines search deeper without evaluating every possible continuation.
Alan Turing: A British mathematician and computer scientist who helped establish theoretical foundations of computation. He devised an early chess-playing procedure that could be executed by hand.
David Slate: An American computer scientist who co-developed the Northwestern chess programs with Larry Atkin. His work helped establish tournament computer chess as a serious engineering challenge.
AlphaZero: A DeepMind system that learned chess, shogi, and Go through self-play and neural-network training. Its self-learning approach contrasted with engines built around extensive human chess knowledge.
Correspondence chess: Chess played over extended periods through written or electronic exchanges of moves. Powerful engines changed how correspondence players analyze positions and verify decisions.

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Computer GoCompared with: Chess engines advanced through deep search, while Go resisted that route for decades.