A two-million moves/s CMOS single-chip chess move generator

A single-chip chess move generator has been developed as the first chip of a two-chip set that forms a special-purpose chess computer. The resultant special-purpose chess computer is expected to be an order of magnitude faster than chess programs now running on the fastest supercomputers. The move generator itself has a peak throughput of two-million moves/s. Implemented in 3-μm p-well double-metal CMOS technology, the chip measures 6.8×6.9 mm, contains 36000 transistors, and dissipates less than 0.5 W. The chip is comprised mainly of an 8×8 array of combinatorial circuits, each with less than 550 transistors.