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title: Don Beal

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Don Beal, WCCC 1986 [1] Donald Francis (Don) Beal,

a British computer scientist and computer games researcher, Emeritus staff from the Queen Mary and Westfield College of London, Department of Computer Science [2]. Don Beal researched and published on various computer chess related topics, for instance search pathology, null move quiescence search, integrated bounds and values, temporal difference learning and retrograde analysis. Selected publications were summarized in his Ph.D. thesis The Nature of MINIMAX Search [3] , he was author and co-author of several chess programs competing at various CC Tournaments, and was long time board member of the ICCA as Secretary-Treasurer [4], contributor of multiple Advances in Computer Chess Conferences, as well as editor of the ACC 4, ACC 5 and ACC 6 conference proceedings. Don Beal advocated and organized Uniform-Platform Computer Chess Championship [5], an approach to compare programs without hardware dependence.

Photos

Don Beal's BCP still in the assembly stage, 1983 [6]

Don Beal, Thompson, Newborn and Botvinnik, WCCC 1983 [7]

Don's Programs

Don Beal is author and co-author of following chess programs [8] :

• Beal
• BCP
• Delicate Brute
• CilkChess

and the Lines of Action program:

• Apprentice

See also

• Integrated Bounds and Values
• Null Move Quiescence Search
• Retrograde Analysis
• Search Pathology
• Search with Random Leaf Values
• Temporal Difference Learning

Selected Publications

[9] [10] [11]

1978

• Don Beal (1978). Handicapping Computer Chess Programs. ICCA Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 2

1980 ...

• Don Beal, Mike Clarke (1980). The Construction of Economical and Correct Algorithms for King and Pawn against King. Advances in Computer Chess 2
• Don Beal (1980). An analysis of minimax in Advances in Computer Chess 2
• Don Beal (1982). Benefits of minimax search in Advances in Computer Chess 3
• Tony Harrington (1983). Alphabetical Chess. Personal Computer World, June 1983 » BCP
• Don Beal (1983). Recent progress in understanding minimax search. in Proceedings of ACM National Conference, New York, October 1983
• Don Beal (1984). Mixing Heuristic and Perfect Evaluations: Nested Minimax. ICCA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1
• Don Beal (1984). Mating Sequences in the Quiescence Search. ICCA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3

1985 ...

• Don Beal (1986). Selective Search without Tears. ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2
• Don Beal (1986). Turbo GameWorks: Tools for Turbo Pascal. (Review) ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2 » Turbo Chess
• Don Beal (1989). Experiments with the Null Move. Advances in Computer Chess 5, a revised version is published (1990) under the title A Generalized Quiescence Search Algorithm. Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 43, No. 1, edited version in (1999). The Nature of MINIMAX Search. Ph.D. thesis, Chapter 10
• David Levy, Don Beal (eds.) (1989). Heuristic Programming in Artificial Intelligence - The First Computer Olympiad. Ellis Horwood » 1st Computer Olympiad

1990 ...

• Don Beal (1990). A Generalized Quiescence Search Algorithm. Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 43, No. 1
• David Levy, Don Beal (eds.) (1991). Heuristic Programming in Artificial Intelligence - The Second Computer Olympiad. Ellis Horwood » 2nd Computer Olympiad
• Don Beal (1991). Report on the 11th World Microcomputer Chess Championship. ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2 » WMCCC 1991
• Don Beal (1991). Report on the 22nd ACM International Computer Chess Championship. ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4 » ACM 1991
• John Roycroft, Don Beal (1991). To Make Dumb Endgame Databases Speak. Advances in Computer Chess 6
• Don Beal (1992). The 1992 QMW Uniform-Platform Autoplay Computer-Chess Tournament. ICCA Journal, Vol. 15, No. 3 » UPCCC 1992
• Don Beal (1993). Report on the QMW 1993 Uniform-Platform Computer-Chess Championship. ICCA Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3 » UPCCC 1993 [12]
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1994). Random Evaluations in Chess. ICCA Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1994). Random Evaluations in Chess. Advances in Computer Chess 7
• Don Beal (1994). The QMW's Uniform-Platform Computer-Chess Tournament. ICCA Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1
• Don Beal (1994). Report on the QMW Uniform-Platform World Championship 1994. ICCA Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3 » UPCCC 1994

1995 ...

• Don Beal (1995). An Integrated-Bounds-and-Values (IBV) Numeric Scale for Minimax Searches. ICCA Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2 » Integrated Bounds and Values
• Hin-Kwok Tsang and Don Beal (1995). The 8th World Computer-Chess Championship. ICCA Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2 » WCCC 1995
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1995). Quantification of Search-Extension Benefits. ICCA Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1996). Multiple Probes of Transposition Tables. ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1997). Learning Piece Values Using Temporal Differences. ICCA Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1998). First Results from Using Temporal Difference Learning in Shogi. CG 1998
• Don Beal (1999). The 9th World Computer-Chess Championship: the Search-Engine Features of the Programs. ICCA Journal, Vol. 22, No. 3 » WCCC 1999
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1999). Learning Piece-Square Values using Temporal Differences. ICCA Journal, Vol. 22, No. 4
• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (1999). Temporal Coherence and Prediction Decay in TD Learning. IJCAI 1999, pdf
• Don Beal (1999). The Nature of MINIMAX Search. Ph.D. thesis, IKAT, Maastricht University, pdf

2000 ...

• Don Beal, Martin C. Smith (2001). Temporal difference learning applied to game playing and the results of application to Shogi. Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. 252, Nos. 1-2
• Ren Wu, Don Beal (2001). Computer Analysis of some Chinese Chess Endgames. Advances in Computer Games 9
• Ren Wu, Don Beal (2001). Fast, Memory-efficient Retrograde Algorithms.ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 3 [13] [14]
• Ren Wu, Don Beal (2001). Parallel Retrograde Analysis on Different Architectures. in IEEE 10th Conference in High Performance Distributed Computing, August 2001
• Ren Wu, Don Beal (2001). Solving Chinese Chess Endgames by Database Construction. Information Sciences, Vol. 135, Nos. 3-4
• Don Beal (2002). Learn from your opponent - but what if he/she/it knows less than you? in Jean Retschitzki, Rosita Haddad-Zubel (eds.) Step by Step.
• Ren Wu, Don Beal (2002). A memory efficient retrograde algorithm and its application to solve Chinese Chess endgames. in Richard J. Nowakowski (ed.) More Games of No Chance
• Don Beal (2002). TD(µ): A Modification of TD(λ) That Enables a Program to Learn Weights for Good Play Even if It Observes Only Bad Play. JCIS 2002

2005 ...

• Don Beal (2006). Review of a nullmove-quiescence search mechanism from 1986. File:Alg1986review.txt (Draft) [15]

Forum Posts

• computer chess tournament by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, May 15, 1992
• QMW uniform-platform computer chess tournament by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, August 18, 1992 » UPCCC 1992
• QMW computer chess by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, August 19, 1993 » UPCCC 1993
• Re: Human VS computer by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, July 11, 1994 » Search with Random Leaf Values
• World Computer Chess Championship by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, March 16, 1995 » WCCC 1995
• ICCA issues by Don Beal, rgcc, January 27, 1997 » ICCA, ICGA
• Re: mate threat extension/null move by Don Beal, CCC, October 04, 2004 » Mate Threat Extensions, Null Move and WAC booster
• Null move in quiescence search idea from Don Beal, 1986 by Eelco de Groot, CCC, Aug 17, 2009 » Don Beal's Null Move Quiescence Search

External Links

• Don Beal's ICGA Tournaments

References

1. ↑ László Lindner, A SZÁMÍTÓGÉPES SAKK KÉPEKBEN című melléklete - The pictures of the Beginning of Chess Computers
2. ↑ School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science - Honorary, Retired and Visiting Staff
3. ↑ Don Beal (1999). The Nature of MINIMAX Search. Ph.D. thesis
4. ↑ Jaap van den Herik (2000). From Cognition to Perception. ICGA Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4
5. ↑ QMW "Uniform Platform" Computer-Chess Tournament from the old CSVN site
6. ↑ Image by Tony Harrington, from: Tony Harrington (1983). Alphabetical Chess. Personal Computer World, June 1983, pdf hosted by Mike Watters
7. ↑ Photo Gift of Monroe Newborn from The Computer History Museum
8. ↑ Don Beal's ICGA Tournaments
9. ↑ dblp: Donald F. Beal
10. ↑ ICGA Reference Database
11. ↑ Don Beal's Publications
12. ↑ QMW computer chess by Don Beal, rec.games.chess, August 19, 1993
13. ↑ Generating egtbs ICGAJ by Tony Werten, CCC, December 04, 2001, with reference to Computing endgames with few men by Urban Koistinen
14. ↑ Wu / Beal retrograde analisys algorithm by Alvaro Jose Povoa Cardoso, Winboard Forum, March 10, 2007
15. ↑ courtesy of Don Beal and Carey Bloodworth, Re: Antique chess programs by Carey, CCC, December 16, 2015

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