Project Milestones
Milestones | Arthur Samuel's Legacy
1989: Checkers project begins. Compute 4-piece endgame databases (7 million positions). Checkers program Chinook wins Computer Olympiad.
1990: Completion of the 6-piece endgame databases (2.5 million positions).
1990: Chinook wins the right to challenge for the World Checkers Championship.
1992: First Man-Machine World Championship – narrow victory for Man.
1994: Second Man-Machine World Championship; Chinook wins due to human frailty.
1995: Successful defense of World Championship title.
1994: Completion of 8-piece endgame databases (444 billion positions).
1996: Last tournament for Chinook, finishing miles ahead of the strongest human players in the U.S. Championship.
1997: Publication of One Jump Ahead: Challenging Human Supremacy at Checkers.
1997: Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Chinook as the first computer to win a human championship.
1997: First attempt to solve checkers was unsuccessful and the project put on hold.
2001: Endgame database construction starts again in earnest.
2004: Second attempt to solve checkers begins.
2005: First checkers opening, the infamous “White Doctor,” is solved – a draw.
2005: 10-piece endgame databases completed (39 trillion positions).
2007: Checkers is solved. Perfect play leads to a draw.
