Endgame tablebase
a database of precalculated analysis of chess endgame positions
In chess, an endgame tablebase, or simply tablebase, is a computerised database containing precalculated evaluations of endgame positions. Tablebases are used by players and chess engines to analyze games and positions. Tablebases are typically exhaustive, covering every legal arrangement of a specific selection of pieces on the board, with both White and Black to move. For each position, the tablebase records the ultimate result of the game assuming perfect play from both sides (i.e. a win for White, a win for Black, or a draw), and the number of moves required to achieve that result. Because every move from a covered position results in another covered position, the tablebase acts as an oracle that always provides the optimal move.
Tablebases are generated by retrograde analysis, working backwards from checkmated positions. By 2005, tablebases for all positions having up to six pieces, including the two kings, had been created. By August 2012, tablebases had solved chess for almost every position with up to seven pieces, with certain subclasses omitted due to their assumed triviality; the first complete seven-piece tablebase was released in August 2018. As of 2026, work is still underway to solve all eight-piece positions.
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This entry incorporates text from “Endgame tablebase” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.