Checkers Program Proves Invincible

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Checkers players, time to close up shop. The program Chinook has proven it cannot be beaten, and that the worst possible outcome, if its opponent played errorless checkers, would be a draw.

An invincible checkers-playing program named Chinook has solved a game whose origins date back several millennia, scientists reported Thursday on the journal Science’s Web site. By playing out every possible move — about 500 billion billion in all — the computer proved it can never be beaten. Even if its opponent also played flawlessly, the outcome would be a draw. Source: MSNBC

We Say: Chinook bested the world checkers champion in 1994 and then continued undefeated until its retirement in 1997. If you’d like to lose, you can play Chinook at http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook/.