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Minimax Game Tree Searching

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Encyclopedia of Optimization

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With the introduction of computers, also started the interest in having machines play games. Programming a computer such that it could play, for example chess, was seen as giving it some kind of intelligence. Starting in the mid fifties, a theory on how to play two player zero sum perfect information games, like chess or go, was developed. This theory is essentially based on traversing a tree called minimax or game tree. An edge in the tree represents a move by either of the players and a node a configuration of the game.

Two major algorithms have emerged to compute the best sequence of moves in such a minimax tree. On one hand, there is the alpha-beta algorithm suggested around 1956 by I. McCarthy and first published in [27]. On the other hand, G.C. Stockman [29] introduced the SSS∗ algorithm. Both methods try to minimize the number of nodes explored in the game tree using special traversal strategies and cut conditions.

Minimax Trees

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Sci. Dept. Swiss Federal Inst. Technology-Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Claude G. Diderich

  2. Ecole Sup. d’Ingénieurs de Luminy Univ. Méditerrannée, F-13288, Marseille, France

    Marc Gengler

Authors
  1. Claude G. Diderich
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  2. Marc Gengler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Chemical Engin., Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ, 08544-5263, USA

    Christodoulos A. Floudas

  2. Center for Applied Optim. Dept. Industrial and Systems Engin., Univ. Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Panos M. Pardalos

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© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Diderich, C.G., Gengler, M. (2001). Minimax Game Tree Searching . In: Floudas, C.A., Pardalos, P.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Optimization. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48332-7_280

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48332-7_280

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6932-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48332-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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