How Computers Play Chess

by David N.L. Levy, Monty Newborn (Contributor)

It now appears possible - even likely - that within a few decades and within certain specialized domains, the computer will be more intelligent than we ourselves. What was unimaginable a few years ago is happening today with alarming rapidity. A small piece of silicon, no larger than a thumbnail, can exhibit more “intelligence” than the best human brains. This book attempts to satisfy two different goals. It presents a comprehensive history of computer chess along with many rare examples of the play of early programs. These examples contain both amazing strokes of brilliance and inexplicable catastrophes; they will give the reader a dear perspective of the pioneer days of computer chess. In contrast, contemporary programs are capable of defeating International Grandmasters; the text contains several recent examples including a remarkable victory over former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. The remainder of the book is devoted to an explanation of how the various parts of a chess program are designed and how they function. Readers who have no knowledge of computers will gain insight into how they “think”. Readers who own a personal computer and who want to write their own chess programs will find sufficient information in this book to enable them to make a good start.

Genres: Chess

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this during a phase in which I was interested in AI and chess programming. Although significant progress has been made in that area since the book was published (1991) I would still recommend the book to anyone interested in chess programming. The base algorithms hasn't changed that much, and they're explained pretty good. Based on this and other books I developed a Losing Chess program that actually won against me (but that doesn't say much). There's also a couple of nice photos showing vintage chess computers.


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[Alex Urrutia]

This is probably the most dense and technically written book I have read and I can’t image anything dethroning that. I’ve only ever had a moderate interest in chess, so I was mostly interested in this book from the programming side of it. I skipped past most of the notated games that were played, just reading the notes in between to get a better understanding of the action taking place. I loved being able to read about the creative process to develop the algorithms needed to make and improve on chess engines and I’m glad the authors went into detail on how the computer is thinking as well. It was a slog to get through (see: me starting in September and finishing in January) that had several other books read in the meantime, but I can finally shelve this. Decent read for chess and computer fans alike.

[Trey S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book about chess computers. For me though, reading the other ones from Deep Blue and Kasparov, this one didn’t really do as much for me. It details history of computers, not just deep blue. So that was really cool. It’s mainly for that though, if you want to know more about them, I’d start by reading this and getting a grasp on individual chess computers. I do like this book.

3.5/5

[Amar Pai]

"Publication Date: 1991" Ouch, missed that!

This book is mostly dense analysis of computer vs human chess games. It was too dense for me, but I enjoyed flipping through it as a historical curiosity. Would be great to see a book like this that includes the rest of the story. (Spoiler alert: humanity gets crushed.)

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete history of the computer's involvement in the chess world. While dense, this book provides something for serious chess fans and computer programmers alike. Even if you skip the chess game notations (like me) there is still plenty to chew on.