From: pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)
To: collins@newton.apple.com (Scott Collins)
Message Hash: f11da79b4e4ed0b66b930ffe33a3221d6a6b5c326e330b8186650a16b26a97b8
Message ID: <199404012219.AA18361@access1.digex.net>
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UTC Datetime: 1994-04-01 22:19:55 UTC
Raw Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 14:19:55 PST
From: pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 14:19:55 PST
To: collins@newton.apple.com (Scott Collins)
Subject: Re: How Many Games of Chess?
Message-ID: <199404012219.AA18361@access1.digex.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
> >This is tangentially related to crypto. I've been reading A.K. Dewdney's
> >_The New Turning Omnibus_ recently to refresh my memory of all that stuff
> >I learned in undergrad that I'm going to see again on the Comp Sci GRE
> >shortly. :-) Anyway, I was glancing through the chapters on complexity,
> >computabilty, and minimax trees, and I got to wondering something: how
> >many possible games of chess are there? I know that it has to be a finite
> >number, but I'm not sure how to go about finding this number. Any
> >pointers would be appreciated.
>
>First, I think there are a finite number of games only if all stale-mates
>are are required to terminate.
There is that curious rule that ends a game when the same board position
occurs three times in the course of the game. I wonder if there were
any real cool endgames where the underdog was able to manipulate the
overdog into repeating the position three times?
Peter Wayner * 4129 Roland Ave. #1B, Baltimore, MD 21211-2038
410-366-1452
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1994-04-01 (Fri, 1 Apr 94 14:19:55 PST) - Re: How Many Games of Chess? - pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)