Learning Patterns for Playing Strategies

A rst order system, PAL, that can learn Chess patterns in the form of Horn clauses from simple example descriptions and general purpose knowledge about Chess is described. This is the rst time that Chess patterns which can be used for over-the-board play have been learned. To test if the patterns learned by PAL can be used to play, a simple playing strategy for the King and Rook against King (KRK) endgame was constructed with patterns learned by PAL. Limitations of PAL in particular, and rst-order systems in general, are exposed in domains like Chess where a large number of background deenitions may be required for induction. Conclusions and future research directions are given.