
One Jump Ahead
Computer Perfection at Checkers
Jonathan Schaeffer(Author)
Springer (Publisher)
2nd Edition
Published on 13. November 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
XX, 585 pages
978-0-387-76575-4 (ISBN)
Description
It's hard to believe that it's been over a decade since One Jump Ahead: Challenging Human Supremacy at Checkers was published. I'm delighted to have the oppor- nity to update and expand the book. The ?rst edition ended on a sad note and that was re?ected in the writing. It is now eleven years later and the project has come to a satisfying conclusion. Since its inception, the checkers project has consumed eighteen years of my life- twenty if you count the pre-CHINOOK and post-solving work. It's hard for me to believe that I actually stuck with it for that long. My wife, Steph, would probably have something witty to say about my obsessive behavior. Rereading the book after a decade was dif?cult for me. When I originally wrote One Jump Ahead, I vowed to be candid in my telling of the story. That meant being honest about what went right and what went wrong. I have been criticized for being hard on some of the characters. That may be so, but I hope everyone will agree that the person receiving the most criticism was, justi?ably, me. I tried to be balanced in the storytelling, re?ecting things as they really happened and not as some sanitized everyone-lived-happily-ever-after tale.
More details
Edition
2nd ed. 2009
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Popular/general
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
XX, 585 p.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
908 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-387-76575-4 (9780387765754)
DOI
10.1007/978-0-387-76576-1
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2008
2nd Edition
Springer
€53.49
Available for download
Previous edition
Book
04/1997
Springer
€85.59
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
The scientists who developed Chinook rigorously proved that Chinook can never lose, i.e. computer checkers has been solved. Author Schaeffer detailed the process on the web site of the journal
Science
in July 2007, and the story has since been reported in the
Chicago Tribune
,
The New York Times
,
USA Today
,
Discover Magazine
, as well as on MSNBC and CNN, among others.
Content
The Opening Game.- I Feel I Can't Lose.- ThisWas Going To Be Easy.- BottomlessWell.- The Middle Game.- Valuable Lessons.- The Illusion of Intelligence.- A Nobel Turing Trio.- Didn't Samuel Solve That Game?.- The Case for the Prosecution.- As Close to Perfection As Humanly Possible.- You Look Like a Checkers Player.- The Fudge Factor.- I Feel Like a Teenager Again.- Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.- Trust Me.- A Wake-Up Call.- Prelude to Disaster.- Programmed by God.- Divine Intervention.- DissensionWithin the Ranks.- Home Away From Home.- It's a Draw!.- Let Me Suggest the Unthinkable.- The End Game.- Gentlemen's Agreement.- I'm Ready to Go.- The Game Score.- As Good As God.- The Final Frontier.- Quiet Satisfaction.- As Close to Perfection as Computationally Possible.- I Know I Can't Lose.- Past and Present..- Sluicing for Gold by Robert Lake.- A Long Journey by Paul Lu..- Recollections and Reflections by Norman Treloar.- Personal Recollections by Martin Bryant.- Solving the Problem of a Checkers Solving Program by Neil Burch..- Checkered Past by Rebecca Schaeffer.- Checkered Out by Steph Schaeffer.