Zobrist hashing

Zobrist hashing (also referred to as Zobrist keys or Zobrist signatures [1]) is a hash function construction used in computer programs that play abstract board games, such as chess and Go, to implement transposition tables, a special kind of hash table that is indexed by a board position and used to avoid analyzing the same position more than once. Zobrist hashing is named for its inventor, Albert Lindsey Zobrist.[2] It has also been applied as a method for recognizing substitutional alloy configurations in simulations of crystalline materials.[3] Zobrist hashing is the first known instance of the generally useful underlying technique called tabulation hashing.

  1. ^ Bruce Moreland. Zobrist keys: a means of enabling position comparison.
  2. ^ Albert Lindsey Zobrist, A New Hashing Method with Application for Game Playing, Tech. Rep. 88, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, (1969).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MonteCarlo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).