The document summarizes the evolution of computer chess from its early beginnings in the 1950s to more advanced programs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It describes several notable computer chess programs from each era like Deep Thought, Deep Blue, Chessterfield vi3, Star Wars Chess, and Chessmaster 8,000. It also discusses the improvements in algorithms, search techniques, and hardware that led to stronger computer chess players over time.

1. Computer Chess 2004 How far have we come? By Mike Donner And Dan Mathia

3. 1957 - Newell and Simon predicted that a computer would be chess champion within ten years Simon : “I was a little far-sighted with chess, but there was no way to do it with machines that were as slow as the ones way back then” 1958 - First computer to play chess was an IBM 704 - about one millionth capacity of deep blue. 1967 : Mac Hack competed successfully in human tournaments 1983 : “Belle” obtained expert status from the United States Chess Federation Mid 80’s : Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University started work on what was to become Deep Blue. Project moved to IBM in 1989 History

17. novice 5 ply Chessterfield used minimax, evaluation function, cut-off test grand master 14 ply ChessMaster 8,000 minimax, alpha-beta search, plus additional pruning, database of openings and end games expert 10 ply Star Wars Chess minimax and alpha-beta search Level of play Search depth Players and their Algorithmic Strategies