Paper ID: 2206.03965

Combining Monte-Carlo Tree Search with Proof-Number Search

Elliot Doe, Mark H. M. Winands, Dennis J. N. J. Soemers, Cameron Browne

Proof-Number Search (PNS) and Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) have been successfully applied for decision making in a range of games. This paper proposes a new approach called PN-MCTS that combines these two tree-search methods by incorporating the concept of proof and disproof numbers into the UCT formula of MCTS. Experimental results demonstrate that PN-MCTS outperforms basic MCTS in several games including Lines of Action, MiniShogi, Knightthrough, and Awari, achieving win rates up to 94.0%.

Submitted: Jun 8, 2022