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f we compare our life style and requirements of the day with not more than 50 years back then one conclusion is obvious that we are evolved not merely in terms of knowledge but also in stance of requirements, needs and dependency over the external entities.

In short it can be said that as the domain of our knowledge expanded it also changed the scale of our dependency over the external entities, and to cop up with this dynamic world of knowledge one of the tools to assist came into being called “computers”.

There is very interesting thing related with computers.

Before the 1920s, computers were human clerks that performed computations. They were usually under the lead of a physicist. Many thousands of computers were employed in commerce, government and research establishment. Most of these computers were women and they were known to have a degree in calculus. Some performed astronomical calculations for calendars [1].

It gives us a clue of Artificial Intelligence. Clue is; most of the jobs that man was associated with, now machines are give the responsibility to perform, because machines can work on those things effortlessly. And it is said that if knowledge is the power then of course computer is an amplifier of this power. But we will see that now this domain of required knowledge is changing and know the definition of Knowledge in terms of computer is evolved from mindlessly performing some actions to reasoning and thinking and in this regard I am afraid computer is not a very good amplifier, yet.

If we broader our domain from computer system to the machines all around us then again it wont be unnatural or unusual, man has always manipulated the nature to cater its needs and these all mechanical development around us is a good piece of confirmation. Man maneuver the nature simply be the faculty of curiosity that is very much inherited by a child. When it opens its eyes, starts hearing voices, etc. You must have observed this phenomenon.

Computers can do many awesome things that are in the domain of computation but now man has again pushed its limits and challenged the nature in its endeavor of exploration.

For Aristotle, the most fascination aspect of nature was change. In his Physics, he defined his “ philosophy of nature” as the “ study of things that change “. [2]

Although there is no standard definition of Artificial Intelligence and many experts have suggested different definitions relevant to their work on it.

We can say that Artificial Intelligence is the study of intelligence that can be generated in the entities that do not inherit it. Although it is a definition by a student so do not solely reply on it.

INTELLIGENCE is something like fire, it is thought of a divine gift, randomly delivered in the form of lightning, forest fire or burning of lava. European peasants would insert a wooden frill in round hole and rotate it briskly between their palms to produce fire, Ancient Greeks used lenses or concave mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays and burning glasses were also used by Mexican Aztecs and the Chinese’s. Same is the case with Intelligence, chess playing and theorem-proving were thought as subject to intellect but now intelligent computers can defeat their masters in chess playing and even can have tremendous achievements at master level chess championships. Now it is quest of man to encage intelligence into the machines of iron and steel.

A more formal definition of Artificial Intelligence given by Elaine:

“ Artificial Intelligence is the study of how to make computers do things at which, at the moment, people are better”. [3]

So it is clear now that Artificial Intelligence is not the study to make computers efficient in what it can perform, already but it is a study of how to empower computers to do things at which at the moment people out class computers.

Computers are better than people in numerical computation, information storage, repetitive operation now what’s left, the core area of Artificial Intelligence i.e. Intelligent Behavior, even an ordinary person can perform better than a super computer. Dr. Seuss in her book writes that even the most super supercomputer lacks the reasoning capacity of a child engrossed. [4]

We do much more than just process information we understand it. We make sense out of what we see and hear; we use common sense to make our way through a world that sometimes seems highly illogical. [5]

So now our quest is streamlined but still there is a long way ahead to reach our destination. Before that do you know what intelligence is? Well most of us don’t or probably almost all of us.

But for the sake of abstract idea regarding intelligence I list some characteristic indispensable for an intelligence system, these characteristics are suggested by Douglas Hofstadter in a list of “essential abilities for Intelligence. He says for an intelligent system it needs:

· “To respond to situations very flexible”.

· “ To make sense out of ambiguous or contradictory messages”

· “To recognize the relative importance of different elements of a situation.”

· “To find similarities between situations despite differences which may separate them.”

· “To draw distinctions between situations despite similarities which may link them.”[6]

Mathematics can describe in great detail the technique for multiplying two numbers together because they can be described in intricate detail; computer performs them easily. On the other hand if an activity comes so naturally to you that you don’t have to think about it at all, you may have great difficult in describing exactly how you did it. What did you have for dinner last night?

Now, can you list the mental steps you went though to remember what you ate? [7]

And definitely learning is required to be intelligent. But when our computers are used-to with predefined instructions, when computer are already dictated what to do, how to do, and when to do, then is it learning. I don’t think so. Learning is basically reasoning and analyzing and in short concatenation new processed information to our already held knowledge database. Although, it is a big concern that how this knowledge need to be represented in computer system so that it can be retrieved for intelligent actions. One of the proposed actions taken by researchers is using Artificial Neural Networks. Those are closely resembled the human brain and activities taking place in it. And again it is very interesting thing that okay its fine computer ‘knows’ a lot of things but that’s what we know. How does computer know what it knows?

Another concern could be that why mimic human intelligence, when we all know that people don’t do things exact or optimal. Well the main reason to do so is this that we want our computers to perform activities sufficiently acceptable we don’t require them to be Intelligent and optimal at the same time although it is desired but just for a start it is not required. And to serve our energies to make computers Optimal and Intelligent, scientists are working over how to avoid “Artificial Stupidities”.

Following are the some research fields of Artificial Intelligence by John McCarthy [8]:

Logical AI

What a program knows about the world in general the facts of the specific situation in which it must act, and its goals are all represented by sentences of some mathematical logical language.

Search

AI programs often examine large numbers of possibilities, e.g. moves in a chess game or inferences by a theorem-proving program. Discoveries are continually made about how to do this more efficiently in various domains.

Pattern recognition

When a program makes observations of some kind, it is often programmed to compare what it sees with a pattern. For example, a vision program may try to match a pattern of eyes and a nose in a scene in order to find a face. More complex patterns, e.g. in a natural language text, in a chess position, or in the history of some event are also studied. These more complex patterns require quite different methods than do the simple patterns that have been studied the most

Representation

Facts about the world have to be represented in some way. Usually languages of mathematical logic are used.

Inference

From some facts, others can be inferred. Mathematical logical deduction is adequate for some purposes, but new methods of non-monotonic inference have been added to logic since the 1970s.

Common sense knowledge and reasoning

This is the area in which AI is farthest from human-level, in spite of the fact that it has been an active research area since the 1950s. While there has been considerable progress, e.g. in developing systems of non-monotonic reasoning and theories of action, yet more new ideas are needed.

Learning from experience

Programs do that. The approaches to AI based on connectionism and neural nets specialize in that. There is also learning of laws expressed in logic.

Planning

Planning programs start with general facts about the world (especially facts about the effects of actions), facts about the particular situation and a statement of a goal. From these, they generate a strategy for achieving the goal. In the most common cases, the strategy is just a sequence of actions.

Epistemology

This is a study of the kinds of knowledge that are required for solving problems in the world.

Ontology

Ontology is the study of the kinds of things that exist. In AI, the programs and sentences deal with various kinds of objects, and we study what these kinds are and what their basic properties are. Emphasis on ontology begins in the 1990s.

Heuristics

A heuristic is a way of trying to discover something or an idea imbedded in a program. The term is used variously in AI. Heuristic functions are used in some approaches to search to measure how far a node in a search tree seems to be from a goal.

Genetic programming

Genetic programming is a technique for getting programs to solve a task by mating random Lisp programs and selecting fittest in millions of generations.

Right now it can be said that this field is evolving and still there is much more to be done. Currently, we have many questions but only some of them are answered. But being scientist we are not afraid to ask because question is the key to unlock the secrets of the nature.

I hope this preliminary introduction will give you better understanding about this field and its concerns.

“When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem you encounter trends to resemble a nail”;

(Source – Unknown)

References:

1. wikipedia/History of computer science.

2. Artificial Intelligence, 3rd Edition. By George F. Luger and William A. Stubblefield, Page No. 65.

3. Understanding Artificial Intelligence by Henery C Mishkoff..

4. Herald Net. Published: Sunday, January 30, 2005. The A.I. equation.

5. Understanding Artificial Intelligence by Henery C Mishkoff.

6. An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. New York, vintage 1980, Page No. 6.

7. Understanding Artificial Intelligence by Henery C Mishkoff.

8. www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/whatisai/whatisai.html

Phantom Force Computerized Chess. This video shows the first three minutes of the unit playing both sides of a game. Sound effects are active.

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I'm looking for a computer chess game and I would like to know if anyone has a personal favorite. If you do can you also explain why it's your favorite? Thanks.

I have 2 favorites....maybe 3 as of yesterday.

Chessmaster 10th edition. ($20 at Best Buy) It has excellent tutorials and drills, the layout is nice, and the computer opponents are fun to play with working your way up to the more difficult ones. Also, the Chessmaster online site works beautifully without the kind of problems Yahoo online chess has. (Except you must first download a free update for their software to connect properly - but that is a very simple matter.) I was amazed to play a guy in Moscow the other day...I'm in Virginia! The game was a draw.

Then there's Majestic Chess. ($10 at Staples) Very nice layout with an incredible ambience that really sets the mood. It has a story mode which is excellent. In that mode you actually work through challenges and as you progress, you earn pieces and are actually building a chess army to play with one piece at a time...and you will need these to accomplish future challenges. This is a perfect teaching tool because it assumes you know nothing about how to play....great for beginners who want to learn. But the challenges will entertain even the most seasoned players.

I just bought Fritz 10 (Purchased from Chessbase.com for $54)
This program has an incredible database of historic games that you can load and watch move by move (Chessmaster has this too, but not near as many games to choose from.) This program also taunts you as you play and makes funny comments (can be swtched off). Yesterday it did a Mrs. Doubtfire impression saying, "Are you sure you wouldn't like to take that move back, dear-r-r-r?" And this software has an incredible online deal where you can get tutorials by Kasparov and others, as well as watch live broadcasts of games being played by the GM's. And of course you play online as well.

I like Chessmaster and Fritz best because I have a DGT chess set ($490 from chessexpress.com) which is a set you connect to your computer and play from the board instead of the screen. These two programs work really well with the board.

Between Fritz and Chessmaster, I'd say Chessmaster wins because as I play from my DGT board, I rely on the computer voice telling me it's moves. Fritz will say "D6 to B4" as it captures a pawn and puts me in check. For that same move Chessmaster will say "Bishop takes pawn on C4 - CHECK!" The voice is very fluid and natural sounding while the Fritz voice is very synthetic and robotic and sometimes hard to understand.

Now there's one more product you may want to try, but it is a chess tutor, not a computer chess opponent. It is called Chess Mentor and you can get a free trial download if you google search "Chess Mentor trial"
I enjoyed the trial so much that I coughed up the $180 for the full package. (You can buy the package in increments for a lot less) This software gives you game scenarios with a goal for you to figure out. You can ask for various degrees of hints from vague to obvious. I enjoy it very much because it's like having a Grandmaster sitting beside you coaching you. If you give a wrong answer, it explains in great detail why it is not the best move. It's very user friendly and I highly recommend that you get the trial if nothing else because just in the trial you will learn a lot! For a freebee it's awesome!

Good luck! I hope this was helpful. "Castle early!"

Does anyone remember that old computer chess game were the pieces came to life and killed each other in response to the move you made? Im trying to find it for my brother.

Battlechess is the name of the game.

Finding may prove difficult as it's pretty old.

But good luck.

Battle Chess - A Computer Chess Game, Not For The Faint Of Heart
By Mike Hirn

Battle Chess is a computer game version of chess released for the 3DO, PC, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amiga CDTV, CD32, AtariST, Apple Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes, and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Developed by Interlay Productions, Inc., the game was designed to draw people who did not normally play chess.

Battle Chess elevates the game beyond a mere cerebral one and into a full-fledged war with riveting graphics and animations that bring each piece to life. The objective is the same as the board game version--to capture enemy pieces and finally the King.

The animations are extremely entertaining and clever. The Bishop fights opponents by using magic and twirling a staff with retractable blades that resemble a martial arts expert. The Pawn performs wizardry and hits the ground with the butt of his lance that creates a large hole large enough to swallow the Bishop. The Queen uses magic to capture opponents, and also blasts them to pieces using bolts of energy. In one animated sequence, the Queen decimates the opposing Knight and blasts the Bishop with such force that only his skeleton remains!

The others have moments of glory too, and the Queen does not always dominate. For example, when the Queen throws her energy bolt at the Knight, the Knight can in turn use his shield to redirect the bolt back at the Queen and turn her into a small dragon. The Rook transforms himself into a large rock monster and attacks the Queen, swallowing her whole. The Rook also reduces the Knight to a helmet with feet by pounding the Knight's head.

The King also has a bag of dirty tricks. He takes a gun against the Bishop, strikes down the Rook with magic powder, and hurls a bomb at the Knight. When capturing the Queen, he embraces her passionately before hitting her with his scepter when she tries to stab him in the back with a knife.

When defeated, the King ends up resembling a deflated two-dimensional cartoon character. The Knight cuts open the King's robe, and pounds him into a two dimensional version of himself that looks as though he has been run over by a steam roller. The Pawn, with a flip of his lance, then takes the King's crown for himself as the King pounds the ground in frustration.

Battle chess attracted a large number of imitators but none matched the humorous animation of artists Todd Camasta and Bruce Schlickbernd. The game can be played with 3D animation, and there is also a version in 2D with no animation. There are a total of 30,000 different moves in the game's library. It can be played across 10 levels of increasing difficulty. The game can be played with a human opponent or against the computer. Another entertaining option is watching the computer play against itself.

For more information about chess strategies and playing tips visit http://www.chessmovespro.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Hirn
http://EzineArticles.com/?Battle-Chess---A-Computer-Chess-Game,-Not-For-The-Faint-Of-Heart&id=1023547

I'm not interested in complete sources, I just want to know how a computer chess game works.

For the high-level overview:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/chess1.htm

The pseudo-code:
http://www.mayothi.com/computerschess.html

This is a game i played against the computer

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This is the game I used to build up my chops. I know of some people who prefer to play online, but nothing beats being able to handle pieces in real life as you play against a computerized opponent.  I read quite a few reviews on this, and ended up buying it because it's durable , high-quality, and scalable to all user levels.

It also has a neat training mode that helps to drill you on tactics and enables you to put into practice the techniques you've learned through courses like the Grandmaster course I recommend. This training mode is phenomenal. When I first started, I was rated around a 7 or 8, but after picking up the Grandmaster course and using this chess board set, I was able to improve my rating into the 20's. That's a HUGE jump.

Hey, this board is endorsed by Garry Kasparov, by the way!

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