Random Chess: Piece Strength; End Games; and Large Sparse Eigenvalue Problems.
Allan Struthers
Professor
Mathematical Sciences
Michigan Technological University
Chess books all include an assessment of the relative strength of pieces and a detailed analysis of various end game situations. Modern computer algebra systems make it easy to build transition matrices for random walks by various pieces on chess boards. The eigenvectors of these large
sparse matrices quantify piece strength and provide interesting end-game information. The talk will provide
all necessary background in both Chess and Linear Algebra.