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Related Experiment Videos

Checkers is solved.

Jonathan Schaeffer1, Neil Burch, Yngvi Björnsson

  • 1Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E8, Canada. jonathan@cs.ualberta.ca

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|July 21, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Checkers has been solved, proving that perfect play from both sides results in a draw. This landmark achievement in artificial intelligence (AI) tackles the game's immense complexity, estimated at 5 x 10^20 possible positions.

Area of Science:

  • Computer Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Game Theory

Background:

  • The game of checkers possesses an astronomical number of possible positions (5 x 10^20), making its complete analysis a significant computational challenge.
  • Solving complex games requires advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, moving beyond heuristic-based strategies seen in programs like Deep Blue for chess.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To definitively solve the game of checkers by determining the outcome under conditions of perfect play from both sides.
  • To apply state-of-the-art AI and computational methods to tackle one of the most complex popular board games ever devised.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized advanced artificial intelligence techniques and extensive computational resources over decades to analyze all possible game states.
  • Employed a systematic approach to game-solving, replacing heuristic approximations with exhaustive proof generation.

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Main Results:

  • The game of checkers is officially solved, with the definitive outcome established as a draw when both players execute perfect strategies.
  • This represents the most complex popular game to date to have been computationally solved, surpassing Connect Four by approximately one million times in complexity.

Conclusions:

  • The successful resolution of checkers demonstrates the power of AI in solving complex combinatorial problems.
  • Perfect play in checkers guarantees a draw, a significant finding for game theory and computational intelligence research.