Researchers have finally developed checker playing computer program that can beat anyone.
Jonathan Schaeffer, scientist at University of Alberta in Canada, had an idea in 1989 to develop checker playing program. Only in 2007, he could proudly announce that they have done with the program.
"It took me less than a minute to teach it to my daughter," said Jonathan Schaeffer. "But just because the rules of checkers are simple does not mean it's a simple game. It's a beautiful game with incredibly deep strategy."
Checker playing program is named Chinook. Jonathan Schaeffer claims that the best thing a player can have in the game is draw.
It took 18 years for the scientists to complete the Chinook development. Mr. Schaeffer even said that he wouldn’t work on the idea, if he knew it would take so long.
These years were been very hard for Mr. Schaeffer. He has always been with his laptop, computing possible board positions and trying to make the game out.
In checker there are 500 billion billion possible board positions. The positions are impossible to count completely. So researchers had to go step by step, filling each bit manually. Any single bit mistake ended up in months of lost time. Scientists needed to go back to find the wrong bit and fix it. This was a very hard work for them.
Once in 1992 Chinook played against Marion Tinsley, the American mathematician and academic. Mr. Tinsley won 4 to 2 with 33 draws. This was Mr. Tinsley’s deserved glory.
In 1994 Mr. Tinsley played against Chinook a rematch, but after 6 draws the game was interrupted because of his illness. Mr. Tinsley was cancer diagnosed and died in 1995. It is still a big question, how the rematch could end up.
Now scientists claim that Chinook is ideal. Anyone can play checker with the software online. It provides 24 matches at a time. HULIQ
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