Answers.Body: <p>I think you are partially right, the constraint is basically that we can't evaluate every position due to computational restraints.</p>
  <p>The neural network in Alpha Zero is basically trained to identify which moves should be explored more.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-02-04T22:38:24.533Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-02-04T22:38:24.533Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Pile_of_linear_Algebra
Body: <p>I understand main difference between <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AlphaZero</a> and the classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_tree_search" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Monte Carlo tree search</a> is the playout (simulation) step is replaced with a neural network prediction which itself is trained from the output of the MCTS. How does this additional complexity improve the performance?</p>
  <p>My guess is that classic MCTS would not perform worse than the AlphaZero's hybrid approach on a system with unlimited memory. Since memory is a constraint in the real world, the neural network is a work-around.</p>
  
Tags: <monte-carlo-tree-search><alphazero>
Title: Why does AlphaZero not use vanilla MCTS?
UserDisplayName: user2309803
ThreadText: # Why does AlphaZero not use vanilla MCTS?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-07)
  
  I understand main difference between [AlphaZero](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf) and the classic [Monte Carlo tree search](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_tree_search) is the playout (simulation) step is replaced with a neural network prediction which itself is trained from the output of the MCTS. How does this additional complexity improve the performance?
  
  My guess is that classic MCTS would not perform worse than the AlphaZero's hybrid approach on a system with unlimited memory. Since memory is a constraint in the real world, the neural network is a work-around.
  
  **Tags:** monte-carlo-tree-search, alphazero
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2023-02-04. Score: 2
  
  I think you are partially right, the constraint is basically that we can't evaluate every position due to computational restraints.
  
  The neural network in Alpha Zero is basically trained to identify which moves should be explored more.
  
  
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