minimax score

Terms from Artificial Intelligence: humans at the heart of algorithms

The glossary is being gradually proof checked, but currently has many typos and misspellings.

The minimax score is used in the minimax algorithm for two-player zero-sum game. For each move if it is your oppponent's turn you look for the move that minimises your score (maximises theirs), that is the worst-case move your opponent could make. If it is your move you choose the one that maximises your own score. Of course when calculating the board position after a move you can use the same method recursively or a heuristic evaluation if the search depth is too great.
to find minimax score of n
    find minimax score of each child of n
    if it is first_players turn
        score of n is the maximum of the children's scores
    if it is opponents_players turn
        score of n is the minimum of the children's scores

Used in Chap. 11: page 152

Minimax search on a game tree.