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Subject: Re: Min # of bits needed to store a chess position

Author: KarinsDad

Date: 08:58:55 04/20/00

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On April 20, 2000 at 04:21:58, James Robertson wrote:

>What is the current minumum number of bits required to store a chess position?
>If somebody could send me instructions on how to encode a chess position in as
>few bits as possible, I would be very happy.
>
>Thanks,
>James
>jrobertson@newmail.net


I think the answer is around 155 or so bits with a enumeration algorithm, but
I'm not sure if anyone has actually written one and proved it. The reason is
that it would be a bit of a bear to write (but doable).

My best is 162 bits with the algorithm I put together. It also has not been
written. However, it would be quicker to calculate than an enumeration
algorithm.

A good algorithm is the one used in EDP. It requires 192 bits, but is extremely
simple to code up. Something like:

 64   64 bits bitboard
128   4 bits per piece times 32 pieces

With 16 possibilites for the 4 bits, you can store the 12 standard pieces, an ep
pawn (color is known based on position), a castling rook (color is known based
on position), and a side to move king of each color, total 16 piece types. In
fact, this can be reduced to 15 piece types since you could have 3 king pieces
instead of 4; white king, black king, side to move king.

KarinsDad :)



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