LOW OVERHEAD ALTERNATIVES TO SSS

Of the many minimax algorithms, SSS is noteworthy because it usually searches the smallest game trees. Its success can be attributed to the accumulation and use of information acquired while traversing the tree. The main disadvantages of SSS are its high storage needs and management costs. This paper describes a class of methods, based on the popular alpha-beta algorithm, that acquire and use information to guide a tree search. They retain a given search direction and yet are as good as SSS, even while searching random trees. Further, although some of these new algorithms also require substantial storage, they are more flexible and can be programmed to use only the space available, as the cost of some degradation in performance.