but I hate that technically there's only a limited number of moves in chess, and therefore the best move is there, maybe there's a strategic where white will always win, but we'll never know because the number of variations likely is larger than atoms in the universe.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

On the lower end of estimates, the number of unique chess board configurations is 10^120, often referred to as the Shannon number. The universe doesn't stand a chance.

[–] buttnugget@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

That’s cool. I think this is why I never liked chess.

[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

maybe a distant future technology could compute that, Clarktech style

[–] expr@programming.dev 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In modern chess, engines have gotten good enough that we generally do know the top moves and humans can't beat them. We can even numerically assess someone's chess play with a computer, which we call "accuracy". Obviously they can always be improved further, and there are a handful of situations where they might misevaluate, but it's still pretty incredible.

Engines have only made chess more exciting as they have shattered a lot of old theory and helped people find a lot of new and innovative ideas. They are an incredible aid in analysis and tournament prep.

[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

yhea, but engines still act as if it is an unsolved game.

while in theory, given that the number of moves is limited, in theory one colour would always win.

[–] Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The solution to chess is almost certainly a draw, since this is what all top engine chess converges to. Otherwise you are completely correct: chess is unsolved and will likely never be solved.

[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

one AI that always manages to draw in chess is Stable diffusion and dalle...