BEST PLAY IN FANORONA LEADS TO DRAW

Maarten P. D. Schadd (), Mark H. M. Winands (), Jos W. H. M. Uiterwijk (), H. Jaap van Den Herik () and Maurice H. J. Bergsma ()
Additional contact information
Maarten P. D. Schadd: MICC-IKAT Games and AI Group, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Mark H. M. Winands: MICC-IKAT Games and AI Group, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Jos W. H. M. Uiterwijk: MICC-IKAT Games and AI Group, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
H. Jaap van Den Herik: MICC-IKAT Games and AI Group, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Maurice H. J. Bergsma: MICC-IKAT Games and AI Group, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

New Mathematics and Natural Computation (NMNC), 2008, vol. 04, issue 03, 369-387

Abstract: Fanorona is the national board game of Madagascar. The game's complexity is approximately the same as that of checkers. In this article, we present a search-based approach for weakly solving this game. It is a well-chosen combination of Proof-Number search and endgame databases. Retrograde analysis is used to generate the endgame databases in which every position with 7 or fewer pieces on the board has been solved. Then, a Proof-Number search variant,PN2, exploits the databases to prove that the game-theoretical value of the initial position is a draw. Future research should develop techniques for strongly solving the game.

Keywords: Fanorona; proof-number search; endgame databases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1142/S1793005708001124

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