Using Castle and Assault Maps for Guiding Opening and Middle Game Play in Shogi

Grimbergen, R. and Rollason, J.(2001)

in: The 6th Game Programming Workshop (GPW2001), pp. 102--109, Kanagawa, Japan

Abstract

Shogi programs still have a lot of room for improvement in the opening and early middle game, which usually is a strategic stage in shogi. The planning of long-term strategies is required, which is known to be hard to program in games. This paper presents a new method for guiding opening and middle game play in shogi. Board maps for castle formations and assault formations are used to evaluate the strategic value of a position. These maps have importantly improved the playing strength of the shogi programs Spear and Shotest.