When you play a game of checkers, you and your opponent can make an unlimited combination of moves as you play the game, eventually leading to one winner.
Actually, there aren't an unlimited number of combinations. It turns out, there are a mere 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 combinations (500 quintillion) that can be made over the course of a game of checkers. Researchers from the University of Alberta's Computer Science department should know, they tried them all out.
Jonathan Schaeffer and his colleagues started their work 18 years ago with the development of a checkers simulation called Chinook. The program used an average of 50 computers to grind through the moves in the game. Initially it used techniques developed by master checkers players to learn the best moves, but now the system knows the perfect series of plays to win the game at any point.
A perfect opponent matched against Chinook can never hope to beat it; even if they play a perfect game, their best result is a draw.
Chinook has been competing for checkers championships for years. It first battled humans in 1990, and finally won in 1994, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the first computer program to win a human championship.
Think you've got the right moves? Try your luck against Chinook online.
Original Source: University of Alberta News Release
