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Subject: Re: Which Algorithm is considered the best ?

Author: Tom Kerrigan

Date: 16:43:33 08/05/00

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On August 05, 2000 at 11:37:01, Larry Griffiths wrote:

>Which Algorithm is considered the best now-adays.
>
>NegaScout? MTD? PVS? Others?  I am looking to implement one of the best search
>type algorithms in my program.  I would like to get it into the 2000 rated range
>as this has been my lifetime goal.  Then, maybe install winboard or something so
>it can compete against other programs to get a rating.
>I dont like MTD as it seems to be complex.

TSCP uses negamax, which is just alpha-beta implemented in a certain way. I
haven't gone out of my way to make TSCP fast, and its evaluation function is
extremely simple, but it plays at a ~2000 blitz level.

If your program is faster than TSCP and it has a better evaluation function,
then it should play significantly over 2000 even with a simple search algorithm.

BTW, if you want to improve TSCP's search code, the first thing to do is add
alpha-beta windows and the second thing to do is add the killer heuristic. These
additions only take a few minutes if you know what you're doing and they'll give
you more benefit than null windows. (You can do those later and it's not that
complicated anyway.)

-Tom



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