Checkers 'solved' by computer

Have you ever played Checkers? If you haven't, you might soon find that you're running out of chances. A research team at the University of Alberta in Canada has announced that they have "completely solved" this game. How? They created a program called Chinook and had it continuously play against itself. This unfortunate little program ran for eighteen years, testing quintillions of possible moves, and ultimately proved that the optimal strategies for both sides in this 5,000-year-old game will result in a "draw"!