Chess will likely never be solved, even though it’s theoretically possible to solve chess. There’s practical reasons for this and in this article we break down why the perfect chess strategy might never be found.
What does it mean to solve chess
When people talk about solving chess, they generally mean finding a mathematical proof that one player has a winning strategy, regardless of how the other player plays. This would essentially mean that the game is reducible to a finite set of rules with a predictable outcome.
In practice, solving chess would require determining the optimal move for every possible position on the board, which is impossible given the vast number of possibilities.
Is chess colved by AI?
No, chess is not “solved” by AI. As I mentioned earlier, solving chess would require determining the optimal move for every possible position on the board, which is impossible given the vast number of possibilities.
Even the strongest chess-playing AI are still limited by the fact that they can only search a limited number of moves ahead and they also rely on a database of previous games to make their decisions.
However, AI has played a significant role in advancing the game of chess. With the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence, chess-playing computers have become extremely advanced, and they are able to defeat even the strongest human players.
Will chess ever be solved?
It is unlikely that chess will ever be “solved,” meaning that a perfect strategy for playing the game has been found that guarantees a win for one side or the other. It’s also not really something that anyone’s trying, because it would involve solving many ‘unrealistic’ chess positions that never occur in normal games.
Why is chess not solvable?
There’s 3 reasons why chess isn’t solvable:
- Chess is not solvable because the game is too complex, with too many possible moves and variations. The number of possible positions in chess is estimated to be around 10^40, which is an incredibly large number that makes it impossible to evaluate every single position on the board. Even the most powerful computers today can only evaluate a small fraction of the possible positions in a reasonable amount of time.
- Nobody’s really trying to ‘solve’ chess. Even though we’re trying to make AI’s better and better, this isn’t the same as solving the whole game. To solve the whole game, we’d need to know the move in every possible position – but many positions aren’t relevant to practical chess.
- Even if AI solves chess, we might not necessarily realize it. There’s no light bulb that magically switches on when AI finds the perfect chess strategy. More than likely, the AI will continue to search for even better strategies. If it doesn’t find anything new for a few weeks, will we be certain that we can rely on this strategy being perfect?
What happens if chess is solved?
If chess were to be “solved” in the sense of finding a mathematical proof that one player has a winning strategy, regardless of how the other player plays, it would likely have a significant impact on the game and its players.
One of the main effects would be that the game would become less interesting for players at all levels, as the outcome would be more or less predetermined. Theory and memorization would become more important than creativity.
Will solved chess be a draw?
Currently, there is no scientific proof that chess is solvable and no one knows for sure if a winning strategy for one side or the other exists. Some chess experts and researchers believe that chess is a draw with perfect play, while others believe that white has a small advantage.