Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 19:12:15 02/04/99
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On February 04, 1999 at 19:10:24, Greg Lazarou wrote: >I read with interest the Null move discussion below, and it sounds like it is >obvious to everybody else on that thread but can somebody explain what exactly >is the idea of the null move algorithm and why it speeds the search? > >Greg Simple explanation... if you could make two moves in a row at one place in a game, of your choice, you could be world champion with no problems. Two moves in a row is a crushing advantage. In chess... suppose you reach a position where it is your move, and your opponent says "I pass, move again". You do, but you can't do anything good. In such a case, you could rightfully say 'my position sucks'. That is how null move goes... in the chess tree you try a null move and see if your opponent can do anything to you. If not, you 'fail high' there and say 'your position sucks, try something else.' And since the two-moves-in-a-row is such a big advantage, we can search the resulting tree to a shallower-than- normal depth which saves a lot of time...
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