State of the Art

The term “state of the art”, a phrase of Anglo-Saxon origin, is used to describe the most recent and significant advances in a specific area of study or field. Consequently, the present chapter is dedicated to exploring and analyzing these most novel and revolutionary advances that have emerged in the field of chess, particularly during the period between the years 2020 and 2023. This stage represents the vanguard of research in this millenary game, being a witness to the constant evolution and progress that characterizes the study of chess.

On one hand, we will examine the phenomenon of how Stockfish, one of the most robust and accurate chess programs, managed to overcome its defeat against AlphaZero, and how it regained its place in the elite of chess engines. We will detail the strategic changes and technical optimizations that allowed this powerful chess engine to reclaim its former glory and prestige.

On the other hand, we will deviate completely from the objective traditionally analyzed in previous chapters, which is to play chess in the best possible way from a tactical and strategic point of view. Instead, we will focus on an emerging and fascinating approach in the field of artificial intelligence applied to chess: the imitation of human decision-making during a chess game. We will analyze the techniques and methods used in this line of research, and evaluate how successful these attempts have been to replicate and emulate the complexity and subtlety of human thought in chess.