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Shannon number

The Shannon number, 10120, is an estimation of the game-tree complexity of chess. It was first calculated by Claude Shannon (father of information theory).

The game-tree complexity of chess is now evaluated at approximately 10123 (the number of legal positions in the game of chess is estimated to be between 1043 and 1050). As a comparison, the number of atoms in the Universe, to which it is often compared, is estimated to be between 4×1078 and 6×1079.

01-04-2007 01:18:14
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