Evaluate the best move using Minimax

chess-ai-minimax.js

var calcBestMoveNoAB = function(depth, game, playerColor,
                                isMaximizingPlayer=true) {
  // Base case: evaluate board
  if (depth === 0) {
    value = evaluateBoard(game.board(), playerColor);
    return [value, null]
  }

  // Recursive case: search possible moves
  var bestMove = null; // best move not set yet
  var possibleMoves = game.moves();
  // Set random order for possible moves
  possibleMoves.sort(function(a, b){return 0.5 - Math.random()});
  // Set a default best move value
  var bestMoveValue = isMaximizingPlayer ? Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY
                                         : Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
  // Search through all possible moves
  for (var i = 0; i < possibleMoves.length; i++) {
    var move = possibleMoves[i];
    // Make the move, but undo before exiting loop
    game.move(move);
    // Recursively get the value of this move
    value = calcBestMoveNoAB(depth-1, game, playerColor, !isMaximizingPlayer)[0];
    // Log the value of this move
    console.log(isMaximizingPlayer ? 'Max: ' : 'Min: ', depth, move, value,
                bestMove, bestMoveValue);

    if (isMaximizingPlayer) {
      // Look for moves that maximize position
      if (value > bestMoveValue) {
        bestMoveValue = value;
        bestMove = move;
      }
    } else {
      // Look for moves that minimize position
      if (value < bestMoveValue) {
        bestMoveValue = value;
        bestMove = move;
      }
    }
    // Undo previous move
    game.undo();
  }
  // Log the best move at the current depth
  console.log('Depth: ' + depth + ' | Best Move: ' + bestMove + ' | ' + bestMoveValue);
  // Return the best move, or the only move
  return [bestMoveValue, bestMove || possibleMoves[0]];
}