A Proposal to Investigate the Application of a Heuristic Theory of Tree Searching to a Chess Playing Program

Abstract

The problem of devising a mechanical procedure for playing chess is fundamentally the problem of searching the very large move-tree associated with a chess position. This tree-searching problem is representative of a large class of problems. Consequently, we will first present briefly a general theory of tree-searching problems. This theory will be useful in clarifying the intention of our proposed research.