Timeline for how to evaluate the position inside the search function
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 2015 at 12:07 | comment | added | Pete Becker | @patbarron - the reason for basing the value on the number of moves to mate is so that the engine picks the shortest mate when there's more than one. It doesn't affect the outcome of the game, it just keeps the engine from looking stupid. It's also a complication that's better ignored when you're just getting started. | |
| May 4, 2015 at 0:12 | comment | added | SmallChess | You're right. VALUE_MATE is just a constant for anything that a not-mate position wouldn't give you. The ply is indeed to prefer shorter mates. :-) | |
| May 3, 2015 at 18:08 | comment | added | patbarron | Yes - I was trying to understand why any position that leads to mate returns any evaluation other than VALUE_MATE, and whether adding/subtracting the ply was to make search prefer shorter mates. In the interim, I found chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Score, which seems to indicate that this is indeed the case. | |
| May 3, 2015 at 12:25 | comment | added | SmallChess | Sorry. I don't really understand your question... Do you mean VALUE_MATE? | |
| Apr 27, 2015 at 16:55 | comment | added | patbarron | Or (thinking about it a bit more...), is this so that the search will find a quicker mate if one is available? | |
| Apr 27, 2015 at 16:45 | comment | added | patbarron | What is the purpose of using that return value? Is this a generally recognized convention (e.g., to let a GUI or something recognize and announce "Mate in N moves"), or is it just something that Stockfish does for it's own reasons? | |
| Mar 28, 2015 at 5:55 | history | answered | SmallChess | CC BY-SA 3.0 |