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Los Alamos chess

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abcdef
6a6 black rookb6 black knightc6 black queend6 black kinge6 black knightf6 black rook6
5a5 black pawnb5 black pawnc5 black pawnd5 black pawne5 black pawnf5 black pawn5
4a4b4c4d4e4f44
3a3b3c3d3e3f33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white queend1 white kinge1 white knightf1 white rook1
abcdef
Los Alamos chess setup

Los Alamos chess (or anti-clerical chess[1]) is a chess variant played on a 6×6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program. This program was written at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory by Paul Stein and Mark Wells for the MANIAC I computer[2] in 1956. The reduction of the board size and the number of pieces from standard chess was due to the very limited capacity of computers at the time.

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Game rules

The starting position is illustrated. All rules are as in chess except:

Los Alamos trials

The computer played three games. The first it played against itself. The second one was against a strong human player, who played without a queen. The human player won. In the third game, MANIAC I played against a laboratory assistant who had been taught the rules of chess in the preceding week specifically for the game. The computer won, marking the first time that a computer had beaten a human player in a chess-like game.[2][3]

The third game

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6a6b6c6 black kingd6e6f66
5a5b5c5 black knightd5e5 white knightf55
4a4 black rookb4c4 black pawnd4 white queene4f4 black pawn4
3a3b3c3 black pawnd3 white pawne3f33
2a2b2c2 white pawnd2e2 white pawnf22
1a1b1 white rookc1d1 white kinge1f1 white rook1
abcdef
Final position after 23.Ne5#

White: MANIAC I   Black: Beginner
1.d3 b4 2.Nf3 d4 3.b3 e4 4.Ne1 a4 5.bxa4 Nxa4 6.Kd2 Nc3 7.Nxc3 bxc3+ 8.Kd1 f4 9.a3 Rb6 10.a4 Ra6 11.a5 Kd5 12.Qa3 Qb5 13.Qa2+ Ke5 14.Rb1 Rxa5 15.Rxb5 Rxa2 16.Rb1 Ra5 17.f3 Ra4 18.fxe4 c4 19.Nf3+ Kd6 20.e5+ Kd5 21.exf6=Q Nc5 22.Qxd4+ Kc6 23.Ne5# 1–0[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Anderson (1986), p. 105
  2. ^ a b Pritchard (1994), p. 175
  3. ^ Pritchard (2007), p. 112
  4. ^ Pritchard (1994), p. 176

Bibliography

  • Anderson, Herbert L. (Fall 1986). "Metropolis, Monte Carlo, and the MANIAC" (PDF). Los Alamos Science: 104–105. Issue #14
  • Pritchard, D. B. (1994). "Los Alamos Chess". The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
  • Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "Los Alamos Chess". In Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.

Further reading

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