Chess is not where the action's at in AI anyways, so you're right, that idea is indeed laughable. These days, poker is hot new(ish) thing for AI research, with it's stochastic gameplay and psychological twist (bluffing and calling bluffs), and wide range of strategies. See, for example: <a href="http://poker.cs.ualberta.ca/" rel="nofollow">http://poker.cs.ualberta.ca/</a>