How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine: How Chess Programs Work, (Paperback)

<p><b>Learn how to build your own fast, modern chess engine using bitboards and clear, easy-to-follow C++ code.</b></p>How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine<p>There are many reasons why you might be interested in learning how a chess program is written: </p><ul><li>You're learning programming and want to try something different.</li><li>You're a programmer looking to expand your skills and explore a fascinating project.</li><li>You're a chess enthusiast who wants to understand how chess engines think and evaluate.</li><li>You'd like to create your own chess program to play against.</li><li>You're interested in developing an engine to compete in chess tournaments.</li></ul><p>You don't need to be an expert programmer to understand this book. The code is written as clearly and simply as possible-designed to be accessible even for intermediate or novice programmers.</p><p>If you're not a programmer but love chess, this book will still fascinate you. It offers an inside look at how computers analyse positions and choose moves, deepening your appreciation of the game.</p><p>The book includes a fully annotated version of the source code for a complete chess engine. The code is available on <b>GitHub</b> and can be compiled with a freely downloadable compiler. You can study the source, modify it, and see if you can make it stronger. Alternatively, you can simply download the <b>exe</b> file and play against it-the engine is strong enough to beat most social players.</p>Why Bitboards?<p>Bitboards make a chess engine faster, simpler, and often shorter. Many calculations that normally require loops can be performed in a single statement. Bitboards can be used for move generation, evaluation, and position updating, all with remarkable efficiency.</p>Topics Covered Include: <ul><li>How bitboards store piece positions.</li><li>Move and capture generation.</li><li>Detecting blocked lines, passed pawns, and isolated pawns.</li><li>Managing castling permissions and pawn hash tables.</li><li>Using bitwise operations: AND, OR, XOR, NOT, left shift, and right shift.</li></ul>Engine Features: <ul><li>Can load and play from any position.</li><li>Compatible with popular chess GUIs such as <b>Arena</b>.</li><li>Extremely fast search speed.</li><li>Displays the best line of play for both sides.</li><li>Detects checkmate, stalemate, 50-move rule, and draw by repetition.</li></ul>Evaluation and Search: <p>The engine evaluates multiple elements of a position, including: </p><ul><li>Material balance.</li><li>Piece placement and mobility.</li><li>King safety.</li><li>Pawn structure and passed pawns.</li></ul><p>Its alpha-beta minimax search incorporates: </p><ul><li>Move ordering and cut-offs.</li><li>History heuristics and hash tables.</li><li>Extensions and reductions.</li><li>Capture and quiescence searches.</li>&amp;</ul>

• How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine: How Chess Programs Work, (Paperback)
• Author: Independently Published
• ISBN: 9798632787437
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2020-06-22
• Page Count: 138