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UNIVERSiTY OF, 'r.:.-:·i?'b.,~""'~M • ~ ..... a 1 • •A;;• d-.! BRITISH COLUMBIA lHJRF~RY Prince G"'orgo, ec Chess Software And Its Impact On Chess Players Khaldoon Dhou B.S., Jordon University of Science and Technology, 2004 Project Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Master Of Science m Mathematical, Computer, and Physical Sciences (Computer Science) The Uni versity of Northern British Columbia July 2008 © Khaldoon Dhou, 2008 ABSTRACT Computer-aided chess is an important teaching method, as it allows a student to play under every condition possible, and regulates the speed of his/her development at an incremental pace, measured against actual players in the rated chess community. It is also relatively inexpensive, and pervasive, and allows players to match themselves against competitors from across the world. The learning process extends beyond games, as interactive software has shown; it teaches several skills, such as opening, strategy, tactics, and chess-problem solving. Furthermore, current applications allow chess players to establish rankings via online chess tournaments, meet international grandmasters, and have access to training tools based on strategies from chess masters. Using 250 chess software packages, this research classifies them into distinct categories based mainly on the Gobet and Jansen's organization of the chess knowledge [4]. This is followed by extensive discussion that analyzes these training tools, in order to identify the best training techniques available building on a research on human computer interaction, cognjtive psychology, and chess theory. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF TABLES v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi Chapter 1 -Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2 - Historical Background ............................................................... 5 Chapter 3- Previous Work ............................................................................ 7 3. 1. Computer Chess Methods ......................... .. ......................................................... .. ... ........................ ....... 7 3.2. Chess Tutoring ................................ ..... ............ .... .. ......................................................................... .... .... 8 3.3. Improving and Developing Chess Software and Hardware ................................ ... .... .... .......... ....... ..... ... 9 3.4. Analysi s .............. ..... ................. ....................... ..... ... .... ... ........... .... ..... ......................................... ......... I 0 3.5. Accessibility ................... ..... ...... .. ............................................ ......................... .... .... ... ....... ................. .. II Chapter 4- Where is Computer Science Work Relevant? ........................ 13 Chapter 5- Overview of Go bet and Jansen 's Chess Knowledge Organization .. ......... ............... ............... ..... ......... .. .............. .. .. ... 19 5.1. Type of Knowledge .................. .................... .. ......... ..... ..... ...................... ...... ............ .. .... .... ... ... .... ....... 19 5.2. Diachronic Dimension ........................................................... ........ .. ................................. 20 5.3. Chess Contents (Strategy and Tactics) ............ ... .................................................................................. 21 Chapter 6- Chess Software Applications Classification ........................... 22 6.1. Chess Software Applications Data .................. .... ........ .................................................................. ....... 22 6.2. Classification Methodology ...... ......................................................................... ..... ........... 22 Chapter 7- Chess Training Using Chess Software .................................. 26 7 .I . The Chess Opening ...... ............. ... .... .... ....... ........ .... .. ............................................................................ 26 7.2. Middle Game, Strategy and Tactics ....... ..................... .................................................... ..... 30 7.3. The Endgame .......................................................... ...... ................................................. 33 7.4. Tournament Organization ...... .............. .. .............. ............................................................. 36 7.5. Game Databases ... ..................... .................. .......................................................... .......... 37 7.6. Chess Playing Programs ..................................... ....... .................................... .... ............... 39 Chapter 8 - Summaries and Conclusions ................................................... 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................ 42 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................... 46 111 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4-1 Neuron .................... .............. ...................................................................................... 15 Figure 4-2 Production Example .................................................................................................. .. 17 Figure 4-3 Illustrative example of productions showing how Qh8+ leads to checkmate ............. 18 Figure 4-4 Searching for a good move in a grandmaster's memory ............................................ 18 Figure 5-1 Gobet and Jansen's organization of the chess knowledge [4] . ................................... 19 Figure 5-2 (a) Italian Game (b) Italian Game- Evans Gambit. ................................................. 20 Figure 5-3 Middle game position after move 19 taken from Kasparov (White) vs. Anand (Black) Game in PCA World Championship, Round 10, 1995 [37]. ............ .................................... 21 Figure 5-4 Endgame position taken from Karpov (White) vs. Anand (Black) Game in FIDE World Championship, Round 1, Switzerland, 1998 [37]. ..................................................... 21 Figure 7-1 Endgame position leads to checkmating the black's king ......................................... 34 IV LIST OF TABLES Table I Average chess rating for the top 100 players from July 2001 to April 2008 .................... 4 Table II Classification of publications on chess research .............................................................. 7 Table III Classification of chess software applications in Appendix A ................... .................... 23 Table IV Classification of chess tutoring applications ................................................................. 24 Table V Classification of chess opening applications .................................................................. 29 Table VI Examples of software applications for teaching openings ............................................ 30 Table VII Classification of chess middle game applications ....................................................... 31 Table VIII Examples of chess middle game applications . ... ........................................................ 31 Table IX Classification of chess endgame applications .............................................................. 36 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to extend a special, warm thank you to Dr. David Casperson for supporting and encouraging me in this project, as well as providing me with research guidance. By sacrificing a personal time for both my personal development and that of this research, this project was made possible. His influence and insight as a graduate supervisor is evident to me everyday, and on every page of this project. In a way, I hope that its completion is a way of extending my gratitude. I would like to thank Dr. Andrew Kitchenham and Dr. Alex Aravind for their worthwhile comments and critiques. Special thanks to Dr. Kitchenham for his guidance on the chess software classification methodology and for his input on this project. I would also like to thank the UAE Chess Federation and Dubai Chess and Culture Club for giving me the opportunity to participate in national tournaments and meet chess masters which had a great influence on me on this research. I will always remember the UAE International chess players, especially FIDE Master Jasim AR Saleh and Grandmaster Taleb Moussa, by whom I gained valuable chess experience during several bloody national chess tournaments. I will also always be grateful to my parents. Their unyielding support, academic guidance, and motivation have helped to shape both a positive opinion of myself, but also of my future and development. Due their influence, I am able to improve everyday, doing tomorrow what I thought impossible today. Finally, many thanks for my brother Basheer and my sister Salam, for always being pushy in the best possible way. VI -Chapter 1- Introduction If learning chess were that easy, everybody would be good. - Dan Heisman Though chess exact origins are unknown, scholars believe that its history dates to the seventh century. Chess is a mental game that requires a keen mental acuity; a successful player is able to quickly assess and analyze both the current situation and future permutations of his and his opponent's options. Now a universal game, it is taught in many public schools, including those in Iceland, Russia, and Venezuela [1]. The World Chess