ICCA Journal, Volume 19:  Number 4  (December 1996)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial:                                                                                          
    Source of Inspiration (H.J. van den Herik) ................................................. 213
Contributions:                                                                                      
    Bob May Be Missed, but Hardly Forgotten! (T.A. Marsland) ................................... 214
    6-Piece Endgames (K. Thompson) ............................................................. 215
    Multiple Probes of Transposition Tables (D.F. Beal and M.C. Smith) ......................... 227
Note:                                                                                               
    CHE: A Graphical Language for Expressing Chess Knowledge (Chr. Donninger) .................. 234
Review:                                                                                             
    Proceedings of the Game Programming Workshop in Japan '96 (Y. Saito and H. Iida) ........... 242
Literature Received:                                                                                
    B* Probability Based Search (H.J. Berliner and Chr. McConnell) ............................. 246
    The Complexity of Searching Implicit Graphs (J.L. Balcazar) ................................ 247
    Best-First Fixed-Depth Minimax Algorithms (A. Plaat, J. Schaeffer, W. Pijls and A. de Bruin) 247
Reports:                                                                                            
    The 14th World Microcomputer Chess Championship ............................................ 249
        Report on the 14th World Microcomputer Chess Championship (R. Dewanti) ................. 249
        Results and Selected Games (D. Djamal) ................................................. 252
        Recognition of Local Participation (T.A. Marsland) ..................................... 259
    The Junior Chess Program and the 1996 World Microcomputer Chess Championship in Jakarta         
        (The Board of ICCA) .................................................................... 261
    Experience is a Hard Teacher (T.A. Marsland) ............................................... 263
    Junior among the Grandmasters (A. Ban) ..................................................... 268
    Report on the 16th Open Dutch Computer-Chess Championship (Th. van der Storm) .............. 272
    Results of the 4th French Computer-Chess Championship (S. Renard) .......................... 275
    Results of the GM vs. Computer Match (R. Hyatt and L. Cook) ................................ 275
    The 1995-96 Novag Award (T.A. Marsland) .................................................... 276
    The 1996 ICCA Journal Award (The Board of ICCA) ............................................ 277
    The IBM Chess Challenge Rematch Deep Blue - Kasparov ....................................... 277
    ICCA Journal Referees in 1996 (The Editorial Board) ........................................ 277
    Proceedings of the ACC8 Conference ......................................................... 278
    Calendar of Computer-Games Events 1996/1997 ................................................ 278
    The Swedish Rating List (T. Karlsson and G. Grottling) ..................................... 279

ABSTRACTS OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES

6-Piece Endgames

Ken Thompson

[19(4):215-226]   Currently I feel that it is well within modest means to solve endgames with two Kings and four pure pieces. Pawn endgames are still a little out of reach. This contribution outlines an approach for achieving endgame solutions and provides the current status of solving 6-piece endgames. Some code for the construction of endgame databases is given and some pitfalls to be avoided are described.

Multiple Probes of Transposition Tables

Don F. Beal and Michael C. Smith

[19(4):227-233]   The vast majority of chess-playing programs make use of a transposition table to store positions and their associated values. Typically (and especially with very fast processors or relatively small memories) only a fraction of the values encountered can be stored. This article examines the performance of a simple multiple-probe scheme, using varying table sizes, on a number of middle-game positions. Multiple probes of the table are shown to perform significantly better than the standard single-probe implementations.

CHE: A Graphical Language for Expressing Chess Knowledge

Christian Donninger

[19(4):234-241]   (Text still missing ...)

EDITORIAL

Source of Inspiration

H. Jaap van den Herik

[19(4):213-213]   Bob Herschberg is leaving us and such a passing requires an appropriate Editorial. He was a crucial source of inspiration for the Journal. I would like to place his contribution amongst the three I's that have dominated computer chess over the past fifty years: Imagination, Intuition, and Inspiration. Each I has its own background, its own originator and its own perspective.

The I of Imagination refers to Zuse's idea that his mechanical computer (1941), when dedicated to playing chess, would outplay the human World Champion. The I of Intuition pointed in a completely opposite direction. Since Intuition was considered to be an essential ingredient for playing at Grandmaster level (De Groot, 1946), and since it was assumed not to be programmable, chess programs could never reach World-Championship level. Were we at a loss, in a dead end, or were we simply missing the appropriate travelling guide to the desired algorithms? The I of Inspiration, leading us to the foundations upon which our community nowadays rests, is found in Shannon's article (1950). As an Editor, I am proud that the Journal has covered each I in the last ten years by enabling the three originators to set their original ideas into perspective. Zuse and De Groot did so in full articles, Shannon through an interview.

Bob Herschberg has been a major source of inspiration for this Journal for almost fourteen years and this is the first issue in which he has not had a hand in the Editorial. At least, his physical hand is no longer involved, but his inspirational spirit is as strong as ever. In fourteen years he has scrutinized Zuse's, De Groot's, and Shannon's contributions, vigorously supported young researchers and has served the computer-chess community in his own inimitable way. Now he has decided to retire from the University, and from the Journal.

I would like to thank my source of inspiration, in verba magistri, by quoting Jonathan Swift:

``Then, rising with Aurora's light,
The Muse involved, sit down to write;
Blot out, correct, insert, refine,
Enlarge, diminish, interline.''