computer-go: Re: alternatives to Alpha-Beta Search

[Dave Dyer <ddyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> In my opininion we should be looking at Proof Number based searching.
>I know some people have done so for local battles but I am not aware
>of any work done on using this scheme for resolving many interacting
>local situations, please shout if you have done so I would be interested
>in any results or opinions.
>

There are two problems with proof number search from the
viewpoint of a go program.  The lesser problem is that it
derives only a single bit, ie; true or false for a proposition,
rather than a value.  The major problem is that it requires you
to switch "current node" more or less at random, which makes it
very hard to use in conjunction with any kind of caching or 
incrementally derived state.  A go program which approaches the
board from scratch on every single evaluation would be very
slow indeed.