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    Classic AI: search, logic & planning· 1975

    An analysis of alpha-beta pruning

    Donald E. Knuth (first author) · 1975

    Read the original

    DOI 10.1016/0004-3702(75)90019-3OpenAlex W2157803532

    On the reading lists

    Why it matters

    Established rigorous analysis of alpha-beta pruning and game-tree search efficiency.

    Condensed from the expert lists' notes.

    The record

    First released
    1975 (from OpenAlex)
    Citations
    1,006 citations, as counted by OpenAlex (CC0)
    Named by
    both expert lists
    Score
    0.414 · computed rank 347 · consensus 0.76, must-read 0.5, citations percentile 0.389 (1970s · classic-ai), awards 0, existing lists 0. Method

    Editor's notes

    • Readability check: pass: The analysis of game-tree search; rigorous and clear. (AI draft (Claude), not yet reviewed, 2026-10-29)

    Data sources

    Catalogue data from OpenAlex (CC0), Crossref (CC0 metadata; no abstracts are shown), arXiv, and Papers With Code (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each count names its source. See the method.