Tag: King Safety

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MadChess 3.0 Beta 6794c89 (King Safety)

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I added evaluation of king safety to MadChess 3.0 Beta. Because determining the safety of a king’s position involves examining moves that attack squares near the king, I combined it with piece mobility evaluation, which also examines moves. When examining piece mobility, keep a weighted count of attacks on squares ringing the king (16 squares in outer ring and 8 squares in inner ring) with separate weights for attacks by minor pieces, rooks, and queens. In the following code, white moves to squares ringing the black king contribute negatively to black’s king safety. Black moves to squares ringing the white… Continue Reading

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Thought Process

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Dana Mackenzie suggests before moving, ask the following questions. What are the pawn breaks? What are my and my opponent’s best and worst placed pieces? What pieces are targeted and vulnerable? What are the possible trades, and which ones benefit me? Where are the best squares for my pieces? Who would be winning the endgame? Who has the safer king? On which side of the board should I play? Continue Reading

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Castling on Same Side

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King Safety Castling on same side creates a quieter game than when kings are castled on opposite sides. Pushing pawns weakens king safety. Initiate an attack with pieces rather than a pawn storm. White’s move g3-g4 does more harm to his position than to his opponent’s. It weakens white’s king safety. Closed Center If you control the center, or the center is closed, you may initiate an attack with a pawn storm. Because the center is closed, g4 is a good move. Continue Reading

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MadChess 2.0 Beta Build 032 (King Safety)

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I added king safety evaluation to MadChess 2.0 Beta. Defects in king protection (missing pawn shield, semi-open files adjacent to king, squares near king attacked by enemy pieces) are counted, then used as an index into a non-linear piece coordination table. It took me several attempts to calibrate the weights and the non-linear penalty, but eventually I found an improvement. This added 27 Elo to the playing strength of MadChess 2.0 Beta. MadChess 2.0 1904 : 800 (+233,=127,-440), 37.1 % vs. : games ( +, =, -), (%) : Diff, SD, CFS (%) BikJump v2.01 : 100 ( 6, 18,… Continue Reading