MadChess 3.0 Beta Build 093 (Staged Move Generation)
I increased the speed at which MadChess 3.0 Beta examines nodes by implementing staged move generation. Previously, in the main search, the chess engine would generate all pseudo-legal moves, sort them by move priority, then iterate through them: testing move legality (does move expose own king to check) and playing the legal moves. This is wasteful if a beta cutoff occurs early in the move list. Usually a capture is responsible for a beta cutoff, so time is wasted generating non-captures. Now the chess engine generates moves in stages. I could have implemented more stages (QueenCaptures, RookCaptures, BishopKnightCaptures, etc) but… Continue Reading