A Chess Program that Uses its Transposition Table to Learn from Experience

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Slate, David J.

Affiliations: Odesta Corporation, Northbrook, IL 60062, USA

Abstract: The transposition table is a common tool for conveying information between different branches of a computer-chess search tree. This paper discusses a technique, based on a method described by A. Samuel (1959), for accumulating selected information from many games and then utilizing it subsequently via the transposition table. This transfer of information constitutes a kind of learning from experience. Although position-specific, it is shown to be capable of a modest degree of generalization. A program was implemented to test this algorithm, and preliminary examples of its behavior are given, illustrating some of its capabilities and limitations.

DOI: 10.3233/ICG-1987-10202

Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 59-71, 1987