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Checkers Solved, Unbeatable Database Created

Posted by Zonk on from the does-that-mean-we-don't-need-to-play-anymore dept.

tgeller writes "My story on the Nature site announced that a team of computer scientists at the University of Alberta has solved checkers. From the game's 500 billion billion positions (5 * 10^20), 'Chinook' has determined which 100,000 billion (10^14) are needed for their proof, and run through all relevant decision trees. They've set up a site where you can see the proof, traverse the logic, and play their unbeatable automaton. '[Jonathan] Schaeffer notes that his research has implications beyond the checkers board. The same algorithms his team writes to solve games could be helpful in searching other databases, such as vast lists of biological information because, as he says, "At the core, they both reduce to the same fundamental problem: large, compressed data sets that have to be accessed quickly."'"

3 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. Checkers, Not Draughts by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    From the Wikipedia entry:

    The most popular forms are international draughts, played on a 10×10 board, followed by English draughts, also called American checkers that is played on an 8×8 board, but there are many other variants. Draughts developed from alquerque.[2] Draughts would be a much much larger gamespace than Checkers. I noticed that draughts appeared in the tags of this story but it shouldn't.

    Also, I've heard before that "it takes longer to learn to play checkers at the master level than it does chess. What checkers lacks in breadth, it makes up in precision and finality." I realize that puts me at risk of being modded as flamebait but I wonder if any other Slashdot reader can confirm or contest that.
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    My work here is dung.
  2. Re:We'll always have Go by Derek+Pomery · · Score: 5, Interesting

    'course, Go would be kind of dull too on an 4x8 board (checkers only uses half the squares)
    http://www.chessvariants.com/d.betza/chessvar/16x1 6.html

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  3. Re:The writing's been on the wall... by dprovine · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They randomise starting back-rank positions now in some tournaments, to stave off the eventual "book death" that has already conquered checkers.

    I made up my own variation with randomness that I call Schrödinger's Chess.

    Let me know if you try it out.