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Subject: Re: PV and Killer moves

Author: Charles L. Williams

Date: 18:19:37 04/29/99

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On April 29, 1999 at 20:27:23, James Swafford wrote:

>On April 29, 1999 at 15:31:54, Dann Corbit wrote:
>
>>On April 29, 1999 at 15:15:37, Pham Hong Nguyen wrote:
>>>Could anyone explain how is different between PV and Killer moves?
>>pv is preferred variation.  That means that it is the sequence of moves the
>>computer imagines is going to happen if both parties do their best.
>>
>>Killer moves are moves that look like really good ideas at first glance.  In
>>evaluating what move to make, you want to look at pawn x queen and stuff like
>>that before some quiet sort of move.  That way, if you run out of time, you will
>>more likely have finished looking at the good moves.
>>
>>A pv is more or less the computer's current thinking about what the future
>>sequence of moves is going to be.
>>
>>A killer move is something that goes into move ordering as far as which
>>possibilities we should check out first and foremost.
>
>
>To expand a bit on what Dann said, most programs keep a list
>of 1-3 killer moves per ply of search.  I _believe_ most programs
>do not allow killer moves to be captures.
>
>A typical move ordering scheme would try the principal continuation
>(or pv) move first, if one exist, followed by captures sorted
>based on the expectation of material gain, followed by killer
>moves and finally noncaptures and captures that are expected to
>lose material.
>
>A move becomes a "killer move" by causing a fail high.
>Whenever a move qualifies as killer, the least popular move
>in your killer list gets replaced.
>
>There are countless other tricks, too.
>
>--
>James


A good example of a killer move is a back rank mate, which can happen if
immediate action such as a pawn move is not taken.  Another is a knight forking
the king and queen.

Chuck



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