One Jump Ahead: Computer Perfection at Checkers

by Jonathan Schaeffer

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since One Jump Ahead: Challenging Human Supremacy at Checkers was published. I’m delighted to have the oppor- nity to update and expand the book. The ?rst edition ended on a sad note and that was re?ected in the writing. It is now eleven years later and the project has come to a satisfying conclusion. Since its inception, the checkers project has consumed eighteen years of my life― twenty if you count the pre-CHINOOK and post-solving work. It’s hard for me to believe that I actually stuck with it for that long. My wife, Steph, would probably have something witty to say about my obsessive behavior. Rereading the book after a decade was dif?cult for me. When I originally wrote One Jump Ahead, I vowed to be candid in my telling of the story. That meant being honest about what went right and what went wrong. I have been criticized for being hard on some of the characters. That may be so, but I hope everyone will agree that the person receiving the most criticism was, justi?ably, me. I tried to be balanced in the storytelling, re?ecting things as they really happened and not as some sanitized everyone-lived-happily-ever-after tale.

605 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 1997

Reviews

[Max Lybbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. After working in chess AI research, Dr. Schaeffer moves to the less competitive realm of checkers AI research. He quickly learns that some of his knowledge does not transfer, that checkers is more complex than he thought, that he's not the first programmer to be surprised by the challenge, and that the best checkers player of all time was still active and considered nearly perfect.

One Jump Ahead covers the Chinook project from its original goal of being a master-level checkers program through it's ultimate goal of solving the game. Unlike other books, Schaeffer mentions false starts, bugs, luck, contributions from others, and disagreements with others while giving the full story. And there are colorful stories in here: such as the grandmaster who tried to cheat, or the tournament organizer who was later convicted of trying to launder drug money.

The checkers players come across as incredibly generous and gracious. Unfortunately, several of the players who played a part in this saga have since passed away. I felt I knew them well enough from this book that I was sad to read of each one's passing. And, to be honest, while I've never been much of a checkers player, I am now considering buying books by Derek Oldbury, Don Lafferty and others.

[Dave Musicant · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of how computers beat humans at chess (Deep Blue, Deep Fritz, etc) is well publicized, but the story of checkers seems to be much more obscure. But wow, what a crazy story it is. This is an amazing tale of academia, of competition, of AI, and of Marion Tinsely -- the world checkers champ who befriended the creator of Chinook (the AI player). I really can't recommend this book highly enough.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun and readable. Worth it just for the valuable preservation of Marion Tinsley, Derek Oldbury, and Don Lafferty, who would otherwise be far, far more forgotten by history.

The one big problem in this book is using Chess notation for games of Checkers. It was a bad decision for several reasons. Chess notation makes little sense for Checkers, because 32 out of the 64 squares aren't used at all. It also makes it way harder for anyone familiar with Checkers notation to follow the games. Schaeffer justifies the choice by noting that he wanted to make the book more accessible to Chess aficionados. It's a nice thought, but to be bluntly realistic, only diehard Checkers fans are going to want to follow the games.

[George Pollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the importance of automated testing, version control, and work-life balance!