Chess Database Exploration Dan Alcantara
Motivation Want way to easily browse through a hierarchically ordered database of chess games Want way to easily browse through a hierarchically ordered database of chess games Find all games played by a particular person Find all games played by a particular person Compare two different players and their opening strategies Compare two different players and their opening strategies
Data set Database of chess game records from 2002 – 2007 Database of chess game records from 2002 – 2007 Each record contains: Each record contains: Exact sequence of moves played Exact sequence of moves played Player names Player names Player rankings Player rankings Chess opening designation Chess opening designation [Event "Sparkassen Gp 1"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date " "] [Round "1"] [White "Topalov,V"] [Black "Lutz,C"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2650"] [EventDate " "] [ECO "B48"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne5 10. Nb3 b5 11. Kb1 Nc4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Nc1 Qb7 14. N1e2 Rb8 15. b3 O-O 16. Bf4 Ra8 17. etc.
Data set Looking at all games forms a big tree Looking at all games forms a big tree e4 c5e5 Nf3… …
Navigating the data set Current approaches either step through the data set or present all of the games in a simple listing Current approaches either step through the data set or present all of the games in a simple listing Hard to get an overview of what each step causes Hard to get an overview of what each step causes
Navigating the data set Each node of the hyperbolic tree represents one particular configuration of the board Each node of the hyperbolic tree represents one particular configuration of the board Each player action is represented by a connection between two nodes Each player action is represented by a connection between two nodes Gives rough idea of popularity and success rate of particular action Gives rough idea of popularity and success rate of particular action
Navigating the data set Mousing over the nodes converts the chess notation into an actual board Mousing over the nodes converts the chess notation into an actual board Navigating the tree darkens areas which have been previously visited Navigating the tree darkens areas which have been previously visited
Comparing players
Hyperbolic tree not really suitable for comparisons Hyperbolic tree not really suitable for comparisons Can focus on one or two players to see which pathways were taken Can focus on one or two players to see which pathways were taken Colors blend where the pathways overlap Colors blend where the pathways overlap
Comparing players The chess games form two trees Branch for every different player action Branch for different “chess openings” (strategies)
Comparing players
Framework Tree structures were separated from the visualization, so multiple types of visualizations can be used on the same data. Tree structures were separated from the visualization, so multiple types of visualizations can be used on the same data. Problem was that I couldn’t come up with anything interesting with the given timeframe. Problem was that I couldn’t come up with anything interesting with the given timeframe.