mathematics chess book?

October 18, 2007 4:21 PM

is there a book on the mathematics of chess?

i've been looking for a book that deals with the mathematics or/and game theory of chess, but i'm not having much luck. is there a chess book that deals with the mathematics/game theory?

posted by randomizer to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

You may have more luck if you search for "combinatorial game theory." "Game theory," in the classical sense, is probably a dead end when it comes to chess. Classical game theory actually has very little to say about chess, roughly, "It's a game of perfect information, and thus, theoretically solvable. Yawn. Could we talk about a more interesting game, please?"
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:21 AM on October 19, 2007

Response by poster: yes, of course, looked on amazon. none of them really discuss the math. chess AI programming might be better search, but that still turns up a blank when i search for it.
posted by randomizer at 4:53 AM on October 19, 2007

Possibly Theory of Games and Economic Behavior?
I can't locate my copy, and I'm not sure if he discusses chess.

I don't really think of mathematics when I think of chess theory. Of course there's logic and game theory, but I don't think of the study of these as much practical use in chess.

Slightly mathematical (but really more batshitinsane) are the works of Franklin K. Young, who at least was a good player. They are interesting.
posted by MtDewd at 10:55 AM on October 20, 2007

All the Right Moves from MIT Press is 20 years old, but is an excellent book with some chess math in it.
posted by iconjack at 7:29 PM on October 20, 2007

If you're talking about how computers play chess, there's a nice piece from Byte magazine in 1978 about Sargon III, which shows the Z-80 code for the program with comments and some explanation.
posted by MtDewd at 10:11 AM on October 22, 2007