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    Classic AI: search, logic & planning· 1950

    XXII. Programming a computer for playing chess

    Claude E. Shannon (first author) · 1950

    Read the original

    DOI 10.1080/14786445008521796OpenAlex W1970647289

    On the reading lists

    Why it matters

    Established foundational principles for computer chess and game-tree search.

    Condensed from the expert lists' notes.

    The record

    First released
    1950 (from OpenAlex)
    Citations
    618 citations, as counted by OpenAlex (CC0)
    Named by
    both expert lists
    Score
    0.406 · computed rank 356 · consensus 0.73, must-read 1, citations percentile 0.25 (pre-1970 · classic-ai), awards 0, existing lists 0. Method

    Editor's notes

    • Readability check: pass: Shannon's chess paper: minimax and evaluation functions, very readable. (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.