Answers.Body: <p>It's hard to start from the opening position, as then you don't know what the result of the line is.</p>
  <p>Instead, chess is &quot;being solved&quot; from the end, with endgame tablebases.</p>
  <p>All positions of 7 pieces (<em>including</em> the kings) have been completely solved, there are in databases in which you can look up the result in case of perfect play. There has been some work on 8 pieces, but the required investment in computer power is too large -- it's expected to take about 2 petabyte of space when finished. ( <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame_tablebase" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia on tablebases</a> ).</p>
  <p>Let's say we would start from the front. How many different ways to play n moves are there? <a href="https://www.chessprogramming.org/Perft_Results" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The perft page on the chess programming</a> Wiki has a list.</p>
  <p>Let's say we store 1 byte per line, and the 2 petabyte of the 8 piece tablebase is a limit, then we can store about 2 million billion lines. That's roughly the perft for 11 half-moves.</p>
  <p>So in the same space as 8 piece tablebases, very roughly, you could get up to all lines after the 6th move of white.</p>
  <p>But the problem of starting from the beginning remains -- you can't conclude anything about those positions being a win, loss or draw.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-25T13:45:42.263Z
Answers.Text: "you can't conclude anything about those positions being a win, loss or draw" unless you can look at the results in a very large database of games and use machine learning.  But that needs the word "calculated" to be used in a different way to the what I expect the question asker had in mind.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ian Ringrose
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-25T20:35:48.003Z
Answers.Text: That would especially need the word "solved" to be used differently, as that generally implies mathematical proof. You can get an engine evaluation of course, but that's not proof.
Answers.UserDisplayName: RemcoGerlich
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-25T11:20:18.027Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-05-25T11:20:18.027Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: RemcoGerlich
Body: <p>Chess hasn't been completely solved yet, even though it is completely deterministic. However, can't we &quot;solve&quot; it up to a certain number of moves (e.g., up to 50 moves)? Then, considering perfect play by both players, who would win, or would it be a draw?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-05-25T11:07:47.100Z
Comments.Text: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1cy94fi/up_to_which_number_of_moves_has_the_result_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Comments.UserDisplayName: ARGYROU MINAS
Tags: <theory><mathematics><calculation>
Title: Up to which number of moves has the result of chess been calculated?
ThreadText: # Up to which number of moves has the result of chess been calculated?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-25)
  
  Chess hasn't been completely solved yet, even though it is completely deterministic. However, can't we "solve" it up to a certain number of moves (e.g., up to 50 moves)? Then, considering perfect play by both players, who would win, or would it be a draw?
  
  **Tags:** theory, mathematics, calculation
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1cy94fi/up_to_which_number_of_moves_has_the_result_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-25. Score: 4
  
  It's hard to start from the opening position, as then you don't know what the result of the line is.
  
  Instead, chess is "being solved" from the end, with endgame tablebases.
  
  All positions of 7 pieces (*including* the kings) have been completely solved, there are in databases in which you can look up the result in case of perfect play. There has been some work on 8 pieces, but the required investment in computer power is too large -- it's expected to take about 2 petabyte of space when finished. ( [Wikipedia on tablebases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame_tablebase) ).
  
  Let's say we would start from the front. How many different ways to play n moves are there? [The perft page on the chess programming](https://www.chessprogramming.org/Perft_Results) Wiki has a list.
  
  Let's say we store 1 byte per line, and the 2 petabyte of the 8 piece tablebase is a limit, then we can store about 2 million billion lines. That's roughly the perft for 11 half-moves.
  
  So in the same space as 8 piece tablebases, very roughly, you could get up to all lines after the 6th move of white.
  
  But the problem of starting from the beginning remains -- you can't conclude anything about those positions being a win, loss or draw.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: "you can't conclude anything about those positions being a win, loss or draw" unless you can look at the results in a very large database of games and use machine learning.  But that needs the word "calculated" to be used in a different way to the what I expect the question asker had in mind.  
  > **username_1**: That would especially need the word "solved" to be used differently, as that generally implies mathematical proof. You can get an engine evaluation of course, but that's not proof.  
  
  ---
  
  