Artificial Intelligence with Python

Negamax algorithm

The Negamax algorithm is a variant of Minimax that's frequently used in real world implementations. A two-player game is usually a zero-sum game, which means that one player's loss is equal to another player's gain and vice versa. Negamax uses this property extensively to come up with a strategy to increases its chances of winning the game.

In terms of the game, the value of a given position to the first player is the negation of the value to the second player. Each player looks for a move that will maximize the damage to the opponent. The value resulting from the move should be such that the opponent gets the least value. This works both ways seamlessly, which means that a single method can be used to value the positions. This ...