Solved Games (Chinook)
📋 What it is
Checkers is a "solved game": with perfect play by both sides the result is always a draw.
🗣️ Coach says
In 2007 a program called Chinook proved that if BOTH players play perfectly, standard checkers is a draw — every time. This does not make the game boring: humans make mistakes, and finding the perfect line is still hard. It just means the "answer" to the whole game is known.
🧠 Memory hook
Perfect vs perfect = draw. But no human plays perfectly, so the game is still alive.
😂 Giggle
Why did the beginner learn to count pieces?
Because being up even one piece often wins the game!
😲 Whoa!
Chinook needed 18 years and analysed 500 BILLION billion positions to prove checkers is a draw — the first non-trivial game ever completely solved.
✅ Quick check: What does it mean that checkers is a "solved game"?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
With perfect play by both sides the outcome is known for certain (a draw); the whole game has been calculated to its end.
A solved game has a proven result under perfect play — for checkers, that result is a draw.
🪄 Trick question: Since checkers is a proven draw, is it pointless for humans to play?
Careful — think it through, then reveal.
No — humans err, so out-calculating your opponent still decides real games; "solved" describes perfect play, not human play.
The solution assumes flawless play; real games are won and lost on mistakes.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Look up "Chinook checkers" and note the year it was solved (2007). Discuss: does knowing the answer spoil the fun?