Saturday, July 07, 2007

Fuzzy Chess?

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Being slated to take part in a discussion of fuzzy logic, soft computing, etc., and law later this summer (in Las Vegas, b'gosh!), I have been having more than my share of fuzzy thoughts recently. Well, no, that's not it. I misspoke. (Forgive me.) I meant to say that I have been thinking, quite precisely (in my usual fashion), more than I usually do about fuzzy features of law.

In any event, having just thought about chess and then having thought (roughly, next) about fuzzy phenomena (for reasons that I may explain momentarily), I thought, "What about fuzzy chess? Would that be possible?"

In today's GOOGLE world no question like this goes unanswered for very long.

GOOGLE reveals that, yes, there is such a thing as fuzzy chess and people already play the game. See, e.g., Fuzzy Chess (Be patient: allow time for the applet with a fuzzy chess board to load.)

Well, waddaya know? Isn't that neat?

The author of "Fuzzy Chess" (id.) states in part:

The [Fuzzy] Chess game play follows the exact same rules as a normal chess game however before each move the player is required to enter a description of this move and the computer will respond by displaying to the player a description of its move. Both these descriptions should be imprecise.

This allows the player to base [her] decision of the actual move [she] will make, at least partly, on the computer's response. The player is using vague information to make [her] decision which is just like how [she] will make decision in real life situations.The rules are pretty simple, before you make any move you will need to enter a description of that move. This description can be as vague as you like - in fact the less specific the better. Once you have entered your description the computer will display a description of the move it may make in response to your move. Now you can actually make your move, this move does not necessary need to match the description you entered. The computer will then make its move based on your actual move. You are white and the computer is black.

The author also has a link that apparently describes the sorts of imprecise move descriptions the computer will accept.

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