A Learning Program Which Plays Partnership Dominoes

Abstract

A learning program has been written in BASIC to play four-player partnership dominoes. Because dominoes is a game of incomplete information, the program uses somewhat different principles of artificial intelligence from those used in programs for games of complete information, such as checkers, chess, and go. The program was constructed to use a “strategy signature table” which classifies board situations through the interactions of game parameters. Each entry in the table contains adaptively determined weights indicating the advisability of various strategies. Once chosen, a strategy then employs probability analysis and linear polynomial evaluation to choose a move. Our program wins approximately two-thirds of its games in tournament situations, and has defeated championship players. © 1973, ACM. All rights reserved.