Introduction
The question of whether chess will ever be solved has been ongoing since the birth of the computer and was supercharged with the introduction of the supercomputer. The advancement of technology and the rise of artificial intelligence has caused the question to resurface yet again. Chess is a simple board game at first glance but when looked at on a deeper level the complexities of the game become even more apparent. One of the main reasons why chess has been difficult to solve is the fact that there are a vast number of opening positions and a vast number of opening variations which has made calculating the perfect chess game extremely challenging. The quest for the ultimate chess playing machine that also has the ability to solve chess began back in 1985 with the creation of the chess playing computer, ChipTest. ChipTest was developed further during the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s and was later renamed to DeepThought, and after additional improvements the developers finally settled with the name DeepBlue. By 1996 the supercomputer DeepBlue was ready to play GM Joel Benjamin in preparation for the much-anticipated match against GM Gary Kasparov. The introduction of Grandmaster Joel Benjamin into the IBM DeepBlue project had a great impact on the overall outcome of the infamous DeepBlue versus Gary Kasparov chess match in 1996. By allowing the wisdom of a chess grandmaster to be absorbed into the supercomputer in conjunction with DeepBlue’s ability to calculate vast amounts of mathematical equations in a short space of time played a significant role in the outcome of the game in which DeepBlue ultimately won.
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What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence can be surmised as a collection of human intelligence that has been aggregated and incorporated into a computer programme in order to animate a machine or provide information to a computer to carry out tasks that would typically require human input such as learning, reasoning, problem solving, perception, language understanding, and decision making. Artificial intelligence has been developed to be able to replicate human thought processes within the confines of a computer for greater accuracy and efficiency when learning and completing tasks. Artificial Intelligence can be categorised as either weak AI or strong AI and the distinction between the two is the ability to carry out simple functions while pulling information from a narrow set of information which is the case with weak AI, and the ability to learn, understand and apply knowledge across a wide range of fields at a human like level, which is the case with strong AI. The ability to undertake generalised learning along with other characteristics like reasoning, problem-solving as well as the ability to perform complicated tasks is a distinctive feature of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has many use cases, and it is utilised across many industries today such as healthcare, transportation, education, the military, finance, and entertainment.
One of the most useful attributes of artificial intelligence is it’s ability to simplify many of the everyday tasks that individuals are required to carry out to maintain a healthy functioning society, and because of this, artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise the world as we currently know it. Incorporating artificial intelligence into the systems used in healthcare, transportation, education, the military, finance, and entertainment will cut costs significantly, increase productivity, as well as enable tasks to be completed in a much more efficient manner. Another useful feature of artificial intelligence is it’s ability to engage in self-learning which enables it to expand and update it’s knowledge base independently for enhanced performance over time. The ability to engage in self-learning ensures that the outputs provided by artificial intelligence improves the more it is utilised without the need for human intervention. In terms of chess, artificial intelligence will enable computer programmes to improve their playing abilities significantly which will undoubtedly shorten the time it will take for chess to be solved. Chess playing computer programmes are already extremely strong and many of them are capable of playing chess at the grandmaster level, some chess playing computer programmes such as Stockfish and AlphaZero have even surpassed the grandmaster level and can be considered super grandmasters.
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What Is The Perfect Chess Game?
Possibly since the very invention of chess the search for the perfect chess game has been ongoing as chess players from all over the world have strived to find the formula to guaranteed success in chess. The ability to guarantee success in chess by discovering the cheat codes to the game has garnered the interest of many individuals however finding such a strategy has been incredibly difficult due to the incredibly large number of possible outcomes in chess. The perfect chess game is a chess game that would guarantee a win from the outset by strategically positioning each chess piece on the chess board following a calculated system that any opponent would be unable to defend against. Whether such a game exists is questionable at most as up until the present day there has been a lack of empirical evidence pointing to a case where the perfect chess game has been played or can be played. The inability for the average human to perform the number of calculations within the time frame of a typical chess game that’s required to solve chess has caused many people to question whether a human could even accomplish such a feat. Even at the grandmaster level in chess, chess players often make blunders and mistakes ruling out the possibility of demonstrating a perfect chess game.
There are more possible moves in a chess game than there are atoms in the observable universe and each move that’s made in a chess game changes the trajectory of the game. In order to play the perfect chess game a chess player would have to have the ability to calculate all the possible outcomes that could arise in the game after each move that their opponent makes of which there are up to ten to the power of 120 or one hundred octovigintillion. The ability to calculate such large numbers is incredibly challenging for even the strongest computers and supercomputers, let alone the strongest chess players or even the strongest mathematicians. Although witnessing the perfect chess game is unlikely in our current era it’s very likely that it will become a reality in the future as technology improves. Humans may also be able to play the perfect chess game in the future due to the phenomenon known as ratings deflation which states that over time the Elo rating of the average chess player is expected to increase which has certainly been the case over the last few decades. Chess players are becoming more skilled as time progresses and are consistently breaking the records of the chess players of the past. If this trend continues the chess players of the future may be able to develop the ability to perform the calculations that are required to play the perfect chess game and solve chess in the process.
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Why Has Chess Proven To Be Difficult To Solve?
Chess has proven to be difficult to solve because of the inherent complexity of the game. There are over fifty thousand positions that the chess pieces can be in on the chess board after just two moves have been made by each player. The large number of possible outcomes in a typical chess game has made it extremely difficult for humans to solve chess and discover the perfect chess game. Demonstrating an ability to calculate vast amounts of information would be an extraordinary feat for any one man or woman to accomplish, however the introduction of computers in chess has increased the mathematical resources that have been directed to attempt to solve chess as well as the likelihood of it becoming a reality. Some of the strongest computers today have the ability to make millions of calculations in a fraction of the time it would take a human. Whilst the inherent limitations of humans might have prevented us from being able to directly solve chess it has certainly not prevented us from creating machines without such limitations which is one of the main reasons why computers have consistently been able to beat the strongest chess players. However, the question still remains as to whether computers, supercomputers or artificial intelligence can solve the game of chess as although these computers are great for being able to make large quantities of calculations, they are still limited in their abilities to solve chess.
Quantum computers on the other hand, offer hope as they are equipped to perform the required number of calculations that are needed to solve chess although they are currently limited in their abilities. One of the most interesting facts about chess is the fact that although chess has been played all over the world for centuries humans have yet to exhaust all the possible outcomes that are available in chess. It would take an unfathomable amount of time for every possible chess game to be played even if everyone on the planet were to commit to playing chess for the rest of their lives. This fact sheds light on how enormous the task of solving chess is as every possible outcome of a chess game must be considered even though many of these chess games have never actually been played. It would be much easier to solve chess if a static formula could be used however, as chess games are typically unpredictable, and the outcome of the game can be changed after each move a dynamic formula is required to solve chess. Although solving chess is an enormous task that will require an incredible amount of computational power, as technology improves the likelihood that computers will be able to solve chess will increase significantly. If humans develop the ability to demonstrate the same level of computational power mentally, they may also be able to solve chess in the future.
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Artificial Intelligence Versus Humans In Chess
Artificial intelligence has been dominating in chess since the late 1990s when GM Gary Kasparov lost to the supercomputer DeepBlue. Since then, artificial intelligence has continued to make strides in its successes in chess. There has been a long list of Grandmasters in chess that have accepted the challenge of a chess game against AI with very few of them leaving the game successful. Prior to this the first chess games between humans and machines beginning in the late 1970s up until 1995 with GM Gary Kasparov winning his first game against DeepBlue showed great promise for human intelligence in opposition to artificial intelligence. However, having the ability to calculate for hours and days on end without the slightest sign of fatigue alongside the ability to learn and expand on the lessons of some of the greatest players in chess has given the machine an uncanny advantage in being able to master the game in comparison to its human opponents. The absence of emotions that an artificially intelligent machine inherently possesses further adds to the arsenal of strengths that AI can draw on in chess. The main success inhibiting traits humans possess when in the process of learning that is weaponised by AI when playing humans in chess or any field of academia would be that of emotion. Having emotion removed from the equation and replaced with years of refined learning practices that have been systematically programmed into a computer allows AI to learn faster and ultimately achieve greater levels of success.
Whilst emotions can often prevent humans from beating artificial intelligence in chess it can also be beneficial when used correctly as emotions can be used as sources of motivation, strength, and determination. Emotions play a crucial role in chess as they can either increase a chess players chance of success or be the cause of their failure. Emotions are often viewed as the opposite of logic, and they make up a substantial portion of a winning psychology in chess since success in chess is mostly dependant on a chess players ability to utilise logic and strategy and control their emotions during their chess games. Chess players that can control their emotions during chess games often rise to the top however negative emotions can affect even the strongest chess players. Most chess playing computer programmes today utilise artificial intelligence to train and have achieved extremely high Elo ratings that surpass all of the greatest chess players. For instance, Stockfish and AlphaZero both utilise artificial intelligence to examine and evaluate positions, for self-learning, and to train their neural networks and both chess playing computer programmes have Elo ratings of over 3500, which is higher than every chess player in the world. To put this in perspective, Magnus Carlsen is currently the highest rated chess player in the world with a peak rating of 2882 which he achieved in 2014.
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Artificial Intelligence Versus Artificial Intelligence In Chess
Since the 1990s artificial intelligence has been unstoppable in chess against humans. After the famous chess game against GM Gary Kasparov, artificial intelligence has left a long list of defeated chess Grandmasters in its wake. The fact that computers with artificial intelligence are able to make learning and adapting their primary focus unlike humans who can be bombarded with distractions allows them to store and process larger amounts of data. Because of this the growth in intelligence that the computers have demonstrated up until this point have made playing chess against humans pointless as the more Grandmasters artificial intelligence is able to learn from the stronger the algorithm can become. This essentially means that with every win or defeat artificial intelligence is able to take the lessons it has learned and implement them into their next games much faster and efficiently than their human counterparts. The next logical step in the development of artificial intelligence would be to have them face themselves in chess as the ultimate opponent for artificial intelligence in chess would be itself. Strategy games like chess are excellent methods of teaching artificial intelligence because of the complexity of the game and it’s ability to provide an almost endless stream of lessons. Chess is a game that’s governed by a set of predetermined rules with the main goal being to checkmate your opponent. This allows artificial intelligence to learn whilst adhering to a specific set of rules to find the best possible solution to almost any problem.
The pre-programmed learning structure that artificial intelligence possesses makes them well suited for the task of finding the best solutions to specific problems whilst drawing from the experiences and lessons learned from solving similar problems in the past. The application of this skill would benefit artificial intelligence not only in chess but in other real-world scenarios. Artificial intelligence’s ability to draw on its own wisdom through it’s experiences playing itself at chess especially at the grandmaster level and above is a great start on the journey of artificial intelligence solving chess and increases it’s likelihood of doing so significantly. Artificial intelligence has made major strides in bringing to light what is possible in chess however, the quest for the perfect chess game, a formula in chess that guarantees a win, has not been found although this quest may be coming to an end soon with artificial intelligence on the job. Computers have been playing chess with each other since the late 1970’s and have consistently improved their chess playing abilities over the years. Today computers have ratings in chess that surpass all the greatest chess players and their strength in chess continues to increase with every chess match that they play.
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Conclusion
Artificial intelligence has come a long way in chess and is coming very close to solving chess although chess still remains unsolved. Solving chess requires a large amount of computational power which artificial intelligence currently does not possess. However, AI’s ability to learn and the further development of AI will undoubtedly lead to future breakthroughs in chess. The future of AI in chess definitely looks promising and a future in which chess has been solved by artificial intelligence seems likely. Even though its highly probable that AI will be the ones to solve chess humans can still marvel at the fact that a human creation will go on to achieve such astounding achievements in chess. Whether humans will be directly behind the solving of chess is irrelevant as human intelligence ultimately spawned what could. The dream of all great teachers and creators should always be to have ones creation or students reach even greater heights of success than their teachers of creators. In which case the successes of AI reflects back to the inherent intellectual prowess found within humans and the limitless potential we possess.
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