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KnightCap
KnightCap is an open source computer chess engine. Its primary author is Andrew Tridgell and it was created circa 1996. Major contributions have also been made by Jon Baxter and probably minor contributions by a few others. KnightCap is free software released under the GNU GPL. In most ways, KnightCap is a fairly typical modern program. It uses bitboard data structures that are slightly different from those that were well known in 1996, but obvious enough and probably well known now. There is backward pruning using MTD(f) (a method approximately equivalent to Alpha-beta pruning but slightly more efficient in some settings). There is Null-move heuristic. There is a fairly complex end-node evaluation process that considers similar features to other programs. In addition, KnightCap has support for multi-processor computers, in particular the now obsolete Fujitsu CAP computer research machines. The most original feature of KnightCap, introduced in the late 1990s, was an experimen ...
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Bitboard
A bitboard is a specialized bit array data structure commonly used in computer systems that play board games, where each bit corresponds to a game board space or piece. This allows parallel bitwise operations to set or query the game state, or determine moves or plays in the game. Bits in the same bitboard relate to each other by the rules of the game, often forming a game position when taken together. Other bitboards are commonly used as masks to transform or answer queries about positions. Bitboards are applicable to any game whose progress is represented by the state of, or presence of pieces on, discrete spaces of a gameboard, by mapping of the space states to bits in the data structure. Bitboards are a more efficient alternative board representation to the traditional ''mailbox'' representation, where each piece or space on the board is an array element. Bitboards are especially effective when the associated bits of various related states on the board fit into a single wo ...
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Andrew Tridgell
Andrew "Tridge" Tridgell (born 28 February 1967) is an Australian computer programmer. He is the author of and a contributor to the Samba file server, and co-inventor of the rsync algorithm. He has analysed complex proprietary protocols and algorithms, to allow compatible free and open source software implementations. Projects Tridgell was a major developer of the Samba software, analyzing the Server Message Block protocol used for workgroup and network file sharing by Microsoft Windows products. He developed thhierarchical memory allocator, originally as part of Samba. For his PhD dissertation, he co-developed rsync, including the rsync algorithm, a highly efficient file transfer and synchronisation tool. He was also the original author of rzip, which uses a similar algorithm to rsync. He developed spamsum, based on locality-sensitive hashing algorithms. He is the author of KnightCap, a reinforcement-learning based chess engine. Tridgell was also a leader in hacking t ...
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Computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as Computer program, programs. These programs enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks. A computer system is a nominally complete computer that includes the Computer hardware, hardware, operating system (main software), and peripheral equipment needed and used for full operation. This term may also refer to a group of computers that are linked and function together, such as a computer network or computer cluster. A broad range of Programmable logic controller, industrial and Consumer electronics, consumer products use computers as control systems. Simple special-purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls are included, as are factory devices like industrial robots and computer-aided design, as well as general-purpose devi ...
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Chess Engine
In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface with no graphics or windowing. Engines are usually used with a front end, a windowed graphical user interface such as Chessbase or WinBoard that the user can interact with via a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen. This allows the user to play against multiple engines without learning a new user interface for each, and allows different engines to play against each other. Many chess engines are now available for mobile phones and tablets, making them even more accessible. History The meaning of the term "chess engine" has evolved over time. In 1986, Linda and Tony Scherzer entered their program Bebe into the 4th World Computer Chess Championship, running it on "Chess Engine," their brand name for the chess computer hardware made, and markete ...
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Jon Baxter
Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Meaning, Origin and History of the Name John
Behind the Name. Retrieved on 2013-09-06. The name is spelled in and on the . In the , it is derived from

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Free Software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, not price; all users are legally free to do what they want with their copies of a free software (including profiting from them) regardless of how much is paid to obtain the program.Selling Free Software
(gnu.org)
Computer programs are deemed "free" if they give end-users (not just the developer) ultimate control over the software and, subsequently, over their devices. The right to study and modify a computer program entails that

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GNU GPL
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general use and was originally written by the founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Richard Stallman, for the GNU Project. The license grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the Free Software Definition. These GPL series are all copyleft licenses, which means that any derivative work must be distributed under the same or equivalent license terms. It is more restrictive than the Lesser General Public License and even further distinct from the more widely used permissive software licenses BSD, MIT, and Apache. Historically, the GPL license family has been one of the most popular software licenses in the free and open-source software domain. Prominent free software programs licensed under the GPL include the Linux kernel a ...
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MTD(f)
MTD(f) is an alpha-beta game tree search algorithm modified to use ‘zero-window’ initial search bounds, and memory (usually a transposition table) to reuse intermediate search results. MTD(f) is a shortened form of MTD(n,f) which stands for Memory-enhanced Test Driver with node ‘n’ and value ‘f’. The efficacy of this paradigm depends on a good initial guess, and the supposition that the final minimax value lies in a narrow window around the guess (which becomes an upper/lower bound for the search from root). The memory structure is used to save an initial guess determined elsewhere. MTD(f) was introduced in 1994 and largely supplanted NegaScout (PVS), the previously dominant search paradigm for chess, checkers, othello and other game automatons. Origin MTD(f) was first described in a University of Alberta Technical Report authored by Aske Plaat, Jonathan Schaeffer, Wim Pijls, and Arie de Bruin, which would later receive the ICCA Novag Best Computer Chess Publication ...
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Alpha-beta Pruning
Alphabeta is an Israeli musical group. Alphabeta or Alpha Beta may also refer to: *The Greek alphabet, from ''Alpha'' (Αα) and ''Beta'' (Ββ), the first two letters *Alpha Beta, a former chain of Californian supermarkets *Alpha and beta anomers (chemistry) *Alpha–beta pruning, a type of search algorithm *Alpha-beta transformation, a mathematical transformation in electrical engineering *Alpha-beta unsaturated carbonyl compounds, a class of organic compounds *Alpha beta filter, a predictive filter *Alpha (finance) and Beta (finance), two measures characterizing the return of an investment portfolio *The Alpha Betas, a fraternity in the ''Revenge of the Nerds'' film series *''Alpha Betas,'' an animated webseries created by Chris Bruno and David Howard Lee starring Evan Fong Evan Fong (born 31 May 1992), known online as VanossGaming (or simply Vanoss), is a Canadian internet personality, video game commentator, music producer, and DJ. He posts montage-style videos on YouTube ...
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Null-move Heuristic
In computer chess programs, the null-move heuristic is a heuristic (computer science), heuristic technique used to enhance the speed of the alpha-beta pruning search algorithm, algorithm. Rationale Alpha-beta pruning speeds the minimax algorithm by identifying ''cutoffs'', points in the game tree where the current position is so good for the side to move that best play by the other side would have avoided it. Since such positions could not have resulted from best play, they and all branches of the game tree stemming from them can be ignored. The faster the program produces cutoffs, the faster the search runs. The null-move heuristic is designed to guess cutoffs with less effort than would otherwise be required, whilst retaining a reasonable level of accuracy. The null-move heuristic is based on the fact that most reasonable chess moves improve the position for the side that played them. So, if the player whose turn it is to move can forfeit the right to move (or make a null mo ...
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Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH was a Japanese and German vendor of information technology. The company was founded in 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Fujitsu Limited of Japan and Siemens of Germany. On April 1, 2009, the company became Fujitsu Technology Solutions as a result of Fujitsu buying out Siemens' share of the company. The offerings of Fujitsu Siemens Computers extended from handheld and notebook PCs through desktops, server and storage, to IT data center products and services. Fujitsu Siemens Computers had a presence in key markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while products marketed elsewhere were sold under the Fujitsu brand, with the services division extending coverage up to 170 countries worldwide. Fujitsu Siemens Computers placed a focus on "green" computers, and was considered a leader or innovator in Green IT, across ecological and environmental markings such as Energy Star and Nordic swan. Fujitsu Siemens sponsored McLaren Mercedes Formu ...
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Temporal Difference Learning
Temporal difference (TD) learning refers to a class of model-free reinforcement learning methods which learn by bootstrapping from the current estimate of the value function. These methods sample from the environment, like Monte Carlo methods, and perform updates based on current estimates, like dynamic programming methods. While Monte Carlo methods only adjust their estimates once the final outcome is known, TD methods adjust predictions to match later, more accurate, predictions about the future before the final outcome is known. (A revised version is available oRichard Sutton's publication page) This is a form of bootstrapping, as illustrated with the following example: :"Suppose you wish to predict the weather for Saturday, and you have some model that predicts Saturday's weather, given the weather of each day in the week. In the standard case, you would wait until Saturday and then adjust all your models. However, when it is, for example, Friday, you should have a pretty go ...
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