ProbCut: An Effective Selective Extension of the alphabeta Algorithm

This article presents a new, game-independent selective extension of the algorithm. Based on the strong correlation of evaluations obtained from searches at diierent depths it is shown how the result of a shallow search can be used to decide with a prescribed likelihood whether a deep search would yield a value outside the current search window. In its application to Othello, the technique is shown to be eeective in investigating the relevant variations more deeply. It signiicantly increased the playing strength of an already strong brute{force Othello program.