Author: Bruce Moreland
Date: 01:22:39 12/28/99
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On December 28, 1999 at 01:49:09, Sanjiv Karnataki wrote: >Hi All, > >I have read about tablebases and I like the way Crafty (Crafty rules !) uses >them to play perfect endgames for 3/4/5 pieces. I wanted to know a bit more >about them, how they are generated and the format of the tablebase files but >cannot find any article (first time yahoo, and altavista have failed me). The >only link i have found seems to be defunct. (chess.onenet.net, SJE's >tablebases). > >Thanks in advance They are generated by working backwards from known positions. Every conceivable position is examined, and those where one side is checkmated are marked as mates in zero. Then every position is examined again, to see if the side to move can reach a mate in zero position, and those are marked as mates in one. Then every position is examined again, to see if it is impossible to avoid moving to a mate in one position. Then every position is examined again, to see if it is possible to reach one of the positions from which it is impossible to avoid a mate in one, these are mates in two. This is done repeatedly until it's impossible to create any deeper mates, at which point everything left over is determined to be a draw. I have oversimplified but essentially this is what happens. bruce
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