Chess-Playing Computers

1. Chess-Playing Computers • Braeden de Palezieux • Comp 1631 • Winter 2011

2. Brief History of Chess • Chess has been dated back roughly 1500 years, originating in India, then spreading to Persia and then Europe. • Europe, in the 15th century, is where chess developed into its current form. • Chess tournaments began in the 19th century, and the first ever World Chess Championship was held in 1886.

3. Chess Pieces • The Pawn: Can only move forward, from its original starting position it can move two spaces, but if it is not in its original position it can only move one space. The Pawn can only capture one square diagonally forward. • The Night: Can move from one corner to another in any 2x3 set of squares. It also is the only piece that can jump over another chess piece.

4. Chess Pieces • The Bishop: Can move any number of squares diagonally; however it cannot jump over any pieces. • The Rook: Can move any number of squares horizontally or vertically but cannot jump over any pieces. • The Queen: Can move any number of squares diagonally, vertically, or horizontally; however she cannot jump over any pieces.

5. Chess Pieces • The King: Is the main chess piece, he can move one square in any direction. The side who’s King is captured first loses.

6. General Rules of Chess • The ultimate goal in the game of chess is to capture your opponent’s King, and this is called “checkmate”. • White always moves first, and players take alternating turns, moving one chess piece at a time. Movement is required. • Each chess piece has its own movement (as described in the previous slides). A piece may capture an opponent’s piece or move to an unclaimed square. • A piece is captured by landing on the appropriate square with the moving piece and removing the defending piece from play.

7. Famous Chess Players Today • Vladimir Akopian(Armenia) • Evgeny Alekseev(Russia) • Levon Aronian(Armenia) Austin Powers (England) • Etienne Bacrot(France) • Magnus Carlsen(Norway) • Fabiano Caruana(Italy) • Leinier Dominguez Perez(Cuba) • Pavel Eljanov(Ukraine) • Vugar Gashimov(Azerbaijan) • Boris Gelfand(Israel) • Alexander Grischuk(Russia) • Wang Hao(China) • Vassily Ivanchuk(Ukraine) • Dmitry Jakovenko(Russia) • Gata Kamsky(USA) • Sergey Karjakin(Ukraine) • Humpy Koneru(India) • Vladimir Kramnik(Russia) • Peter Leko(Hungary) • Vladimir Malakhov(Russia) • Shakhriyar Mamedyarov(Azerbaijan) • Alexander Morozevich(Russia)

8. World Chess Championship • The championship started in 1886 when the two best chess players at the time faced each other. • From 1948-1993 the championship was administered by the world chess federation (FIDE). • In 1993 the reigning champion, Garry Kasparov, separated from FIDE leading to two rival championships. • In 2006 the titles were finally unified to create the World Chess Championship. Men and Women of any age are eligible to compete for the title. • There is also a separate title for women only to compete for the Woman’s World Championship. Also there are separate competitions and titles for juniors, seniors, and computers.

9. Brief History of Computers • The word “computer” used to imply a person under a mathematician’s instruction who performed mechanical calculations. • As early as 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to design a fully programable computer. He was unable to construct it however do to various reasons. • Analog computers became increasingly popular in the early 20th century for many computing tasks, however like most technology, became obsolete. • Next came the first digital computer called the Atanasoff Berry computer which used a binary system of arithmetic, parallel processing, as well as regenerative memory. Atanasoff Berry Computer

10. Brief History of Computers • The Atanasoff Berry computer also was the first to use Binary math and electronic circuits, which are both used in today’s computers. • In the 1930’s and 40’s more efficient computers were developed, including key features like digital electronics and flexibility of programming, both of which we see today. • Later, a critical technique known as “stored program architecture” was developed, which is currently the foundation by which all modern computers are derived. • In the 60’s valve-driven computers were replaced with a transistor-driven design. These computers were smaller, faster, and cheaper, and therefore commercially viable. • Finally in the 1970’s integrated circuit technology reduced production costs to an all-time low which resulted in the birth of the personal computer.

11. Chess-Playing Computers • This is a computer encompassing software and hardware with the ability to play chess autonomously, without human guidance. • These computers are designed for solo entertainment when no human opponent is available, aids in chess analysis, computer chess competitions, and helps in research in understanding human cognition. • Since the 1970’s chess playing computers have been available for purchase, and are now accessible to the average consumer.

12. Chess-Playing Computers • There have been many human vs. computer chess matches, beginning in the 1960’s. Since then though the technology has increased greatly. • Currently there are several chess engines that can be downloaded free from the internet like Crafty, Fruit, and GNU that when run are capable of beating most master players in chess under tournament conditions. • Some top programs like Shredder and Fritz have now even surpassed World Champion caliber players.

13. Human vs. Machine • In 1996 IMb’s Deep Blue defeated the reigning world champion Garry Kasparov, for his first loss to a computer at tournament time controls. However Kasparov regrouped to win three and draw two of the next five games of the match. • But Deep Blue wasn’t finished, in 1997 an updated version defeated Kasparov in a rematch 3.5-2.5. • There was a documentary made in 2003 about this match regarding accusations of cheating by the Deep Blue. The documentary is titled Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine. IBM’s Deep Blue

14. Human vs. Machine • To put it into perspective of how tough a computer is to beat, and also how good a world class chess player is know that IBM’s Deep Blue was a mix of special purpose software and hardware with an IBM RS/6000 SP2, capable of examining 200 million moves/second, or 50 billion positions, in the three minutes allocated for a single move in a chess game.

15. Chess-Playing Cell Phones? • In 2009 a mobile phone won a category 6 tournament with an impressive performance rating. • From August 4-14, 2009 the mobile phone HTC Touch HD, running Pocket Fritz 4, won the Copa Mercosur tournament in Argentina with nine wins and one draw!

16. Developing Chess-Playing Computers • The developers of these chess-playing computer systems have to decide on three main fundamental implantation issues: • Board Representation - how the single position will be represented in a data structure • Search Techniques - identifying possible moves and selecting the most promising one for future examination • Leaf Evaluation - evaluation of a board position if no further search will occur for that position

17. Chess-playing Computers • Though these programs may seem impossible to beat now, especially for the untrained and unexperienced, there is still room to grow. Who knows how strong computers (and mobile phones) will become and whether humans will ever beat them again.

18. References • “Chess Pieces.” Chess Lab: Game Colony. N.p. 2000. Web. 28 Jan. 2011 • “General Rules.” Conservative bookstore: Chess Rules. N.p. 2004. Web. 30 Jan. 2011 • Scimia, Edward. “Top Chess Players Active Today.” About Chess: Today’s Best Chess Players. N.p. 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2011 • “World Chess Championship.” Wikipedia: Chess. N.p. 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2011 • Rokwild, Logan. “A Brief History of Computers.” Ezine: Articles: Computers: N.p. 19 Dec. 2005. Web. 31 Jan. 2011 • “Computer Chess.” Wikipedia: Computer Chess. N.p. 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 31 Jan. 2011 • “Deep Blue.” IBM: Vintage Views of IBM Technology. N.p. 2008. Web. 1 Feb. 2011