Alexander Brudno
Encyclopedia
Alexander Brudno (January 10, 1918-December 1, 2009) was a Russian
Jewish
computer scientist
, best known for fully describing the alpha-beta
(α-β) search algorithm
. Since 1991 he lived in Israel.
in the Soviet Union
. He was a great friend of Alexander Kronrod
.
Brudno's work on alpha-beta was published in 1963 in Russian and English.
The algorithm was used in computer chess
program written by Georgy Adelson-Velsky
and others at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics
(ITEF or ITEP). According to Monty Newborn and the Computer History Museum
, the algorithm was used later in Kaissa
the world computer chess champion in 1974.
and Herbert Simon
who used what John McCarthy
calls an "approximation" in 1958 wrote that alpha-beta "appears to have been reinvented a number of times". Arthur Samuel
had an early version and Richards, Hart, Levine and/or Edwards found alpha-beta independently in the United States
. McCarthy proposed similar ideas during the Dartmouth Conference
in 1956 and suggested it to a group of his students including Alan Kotok
at MIT in 1961. Donald Knuth
and Ronald W. Moore refined the algorithm In 1975 and it continued to be advanced.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
computer scientist
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, best known for fully describing the alpha-beta
Alpha-beta pruning
Alpha-beta pruning is a search algorithm which seeks to decrease the number of nodes that are evaluated by the minimax algorithm in its search tree. It is an adversarial search algorithm used commonly for machine playing of two-player games...
(α-β) search algorithm
Search algorithm
In computer science, a search algorithm is an algorithm for finding an item with specified properties among a collection of items. The items may be stored individually as records in a database; or may be elements of a search space defined by a mathematical formula or procedure, such as the roots...
. Since 1991 he lived in Israel.
Biography
Brudno developed the "mathematics/machine interface" for the M-2 computer constructed in 1952 at the Krzhizhanovskii laboratory of the Institute of Energy of the Russian Academy of SciencesRussian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He was a great friend of Alexander Kronrod
Alexander Kronrod
Aleksandr Semenovich Kronrod was a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist, best known for the Gauss-Kronrod quadrature formula which he published in 1964. Earlier his computations informed theoretical physics...
.
Brudno's work on alpha-beta was published in 1963 in Russian and English.
The algorithm was used in computer chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
program written by Georgy Adelson-Velsky
Georgy Adelson-Velsky
Georgy Maximovich Adelson-Velsky , is a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist. Along with E.M. Landis, he invented the AVL tree in 1962....
and others at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics
Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics
The Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics is located in Moscow, Russia as a MinAtom physical institute....
(ITEF or ITEP). According to Monty Newborn and the Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
, the algorithm was used later in Kaissa
Kaissa
Kaissa was a chess program developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. It was named so after the chess goddess Caissa. Kaissa became the first world computer chess champion in 1974 in Stockholm.- History :...
the world computer chess champion in 1974.
Early alpha-beta
Allen NewellAllen Newell
Allen Newell was a researcher in computer science and cognitive psychology at the RAND corporation and at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, Tepper School of Business, and Department of Psychology...
and Herbert Simon
Herbert Simon
Herbert Alexander Simon was an American political scientist, economist, sociologist, and psychologist, and professor—most notably at Carnegie Mellon University—whose research ranged across the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, computer science, public administration, economics,...
who used what John McCarthy
John McCarthy (computer scientist)
John McCarthy was an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist. He coined the term "artificial intelligence" , invented the Lisp programming language and was highly influential in the early development of AI.McCarthy also influenced other areas of computing such as time sharing systems...
calls an "approximation" in 1958 wrote that alpha-beta "appears to have been reinvented a number of times". Arthur Samuel
Arthur Samuel
Arthur Lee Samuel was an American pioneer in the field of computer gaming and artificial intelligence. The Samuel Checkers-playing Program appears to be the world's first self-learning program, and as such a very early demonstration of the fundamental concept of artificial intelligence...
had an early version and Richards, Hart, Levine and/or Edwards found alpha-beta independently in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. McCarthy proposed similar ideas during the Dartmouth Conference
Dartmouth Conference
The Dartmouth Summer Research Conference on Artificial Intelligence was the name of a 1956 conference now considered the seminal event for artificial intelligence as a field.-People:...
in 1956 and suggested it to a group of his students including Alan Kotok
Alan Kotok
Alan Kotok was an American computer scientist known for his work at Digital Equipment Corporation and at the World Wide Web Consortium...
at MIT in 1961. Donald Knuth
Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth is a computer scientist and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.He is the author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms...
and Ronald W. Moore refined the algorithm In 1975 and it continued to be advanced.
External links
- Handwritten letter (12.04.1971) and postcard (19.11.1971) from Brudno to A. P. ErshovAndrey ErshovAcademician Andrey Petrovych Ershov was a Soviet computer scientist, notable as a pioneer in systems programming and programming language research. He was responsible for the languages ALPHA and Rapira, AIST-0 the first Soviet time-sharing system, electronic publishing system RUBIN, and MRAMOR, a...
.