Los Alamos chess game 2 (after P-K3) is solved; black wins in 21 moves

What is it about?

The first game of chess skill between a human and computer took place in 1956. In this match, Dr Martin Kruskal from Princeton University played White against the MANIAC I computer at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. Due to the limited capacity of computers at the time, which couldn’t handle a full 8 × 8 chess board, the competitors played “Los Alamos Chess”, a minichess variant using a 6 × 6 board without bishops. For this game, White played without a queen, opened with P-K3 and ultimately won against the machine opponent in 38 moves. Here we show that with perfect play, Black can force a win in 21 moves. The proof contains over 267 million positions (with Black to move).

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Photo by Hassan Pasha on Unsplash

Photo by Hassan Pasha on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Increases in computing power and data storage, and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) mean that the once unthinkable quest of "proving chess" (determining optimal play for one side under all possible responses from the opponent) is a step closer. Although Los Alamos chess Game 2 is a major simplification over regular chess, this work represents the largest and most complex proof so far.