[HN Gopher] Bitboards and Connect Four
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       Bitboards and Connect Four
        
       Author : pncnmnp
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2024-02-25 21:01 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | tromp wrote:
       | My connect-4 page [1] also links to this comprehensive
       | explanation.
       | 
       | [1] https://tromp.github.io/c4/c4.html
        
       | missblit wrote:
       | I used a similar technique in a university class. We were doing a
       | Connect 4 bot tournament, and I wanted mine to be as optimized as
       | possible.
       | 
       | But in the end I spent all my time playing around with bitwise
       | operations, so had no time left to add in multiple threads (so
       | couldn't was slowed down by a factor of 4 or so) timing (so had
       | to cut off the search early to not accidentally go over the
       | limit), or to tweak the score heuristic.
       | 
       | Which meant my program only got second place. Still, I think the
       | teacher enjoyed it, and there were some oohs and aahs when my
       | program output moves basically instantly during the tournament.
        
       | NoboruWataya wrote:
       | As I understand it, chess engines generally do something similar,
       | taking particular advantage of the fact that chess boards are 8x8
       | in size.
        
       | divbzero wrote:
       | Reminds me of a similar write-up about hexagonal grids posted to
       | HN 10+ years ago:
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5809724
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-26 23:01 UTC)