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OTHELLO
Joshua Engel

Othello was conceived to test a theory I have called the
Correlational weighting algorithm. The CWA is still in test
mode, but basically it refines the coefficeients of the scoring
function based on experience. The project as of this date (17-
March-1988) has won first grand prize in the Eleanor Roosevelt
High School science fair, and proceeds to area fair soon.

The Othello program was designed to test it. The program
plays well with the coefficients file you give it. If you want
to re-write the coefficients, see scorepos.c. Two coefficient
files are given: othello1.wgt and o.wgt. The default,
othello1.wgt, plays almost well enough to beat me at the default
level 3. O.wgt plays only based on material, so it should be
easier.


Othello works with command line switches. The basic ones
are:
-p play with the weight file instead
asking for your move
-r Recurse to a level of ; default 3 takes
30 seconds for the average move.
-w computer plays with file

The min() and max() routines are a good textbook alpha-beta tree
search that take up almost no memory, because it uses the stack
instead of building a tree.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions about the
program or interest in the correlational weighting algoththm,
either on the board or:
12301 Cliffe Place
Bowie, Md. 20715
(301) 464-2331


NOTE: Things to be added in later versions.
(1) Take back.
(2) Save (can already be done) and reload (not yet)
(3) Make the thing interrupt driven, so it can think while you
do.
(4) Standardize the screen calls and window library.