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

Author: Tom Kerrigan

Date: 22:44:07 04/20/00

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On April 20, 2000 at 11:58:55, KarinsDad wrote:

>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

Hmm. I wonder if some sort of Huffman encoding would be useful for the bitboard.
Of course, then you get positions that are variable bit lengths, but if that's
not a requirement...

-Tom



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