MECHANICAL CHESS PLAYER-w. ROSS ASHBY

THE question I want to discuss is whether a mechanical chess player can outplay its designer (1). I don't say "beat" its designer; I say "outplay." I want to set aside all mechanical brains that beat their designer by sheer brute power of analysis. If the designer is a mediocre player, who can see only three moves ahead, let the machine be restricted until it, too, can see only three moves ahead. Let us assume that the machine cannot analyze the position right out and that it must make judgments.