The Nation - The computer wears the crown in checkers - A program finally solves the game -- and humans can't win.

The result?

A perfect game cannot be won or lost but will inevitably end in a draw, according to the research published in the journal Science online.

The proof demonstrates that even the most skilled player can't count on executing a cunning move designed to win -- he or she can only avoid making a mistake that leads to a loss.

The complete solution to checkers marks a milestone in computing, achieving a goal that researchers had pondered since the earliest days of computers.

It is not a victory of pure machine intelligence, but one based largely on rote calculating ability.

The task of analyzing the game to its end was so difficult that from 1996 to 2001, the researchers had to put their efforts on hold because the most powerful computers of the time weren't up to the task. The team had as many as 200 computers working full time on the problem.

"You've got 500 billion billion pieces of hay in your haystack, and you've got to find the needles," said lead researcher Jonathan Schaeffer, chairman of computer science at the University of Alberta in Canada. "How do you do it in a smart way? If you don't, you'll spend centuries sifting through all this data."

For checkers enthusiasts, the solving of their beloved game was met with admiration mixed with a sense of anticlimax.

"We kind of knew the game was a draw anyway, though we didn't have the scientific proof," said Richard Beckwith, the American Checker Federation's player representative.

David Fogel, creator of the checkers-playing program Blondie24, said the machine's achievement probably wouldn't discourage the estimated 200 million people worldwide who play the game with friends, in tournaments or on the Internet.

"How many people in the world can play infallible checkers? The answer is probably nobody," Fogel said. "As long as it's human-versus-human, it should be as fun as before."

Still, with checkers joining tick-tack-toe, Connect Four and Qubic on the list of games that have been solved, its overall appeal -- on the decline since the Great Depression -- will undoubtedly take a hit, Fogel said.

One likely casualty will be the 15-year-old Man-Machine Checkers Championships, said American Checker Federation President Alan Millhone.