Alpha-beta pruning

Okay kiddo, imagine you are playing a game with me. Let's say it's a game where we take turns guessing a number from 1 to 10, and the person who guesses the correct number first wins.

Now, imagine that we are both very smart players and we want to make sure we use our time wisely and only make the best guesses we can.

That's where alpha-beta pruning comes in. It's a way of making sure we don't waste time guessing numbers that we know won't help us win.

Here's how it works:

Let's say it's your turn to guess and you pick the number 5. I know that this isn't the correct number, but I don't want to waste my turn guessing a number that's already been guessed. So, I use alpha-beta pruning to "prune" away those bad guesses.

Alpha-beta pruning means I can look ahead and see what will happen if I make a certain guess. If I know that guessing a certain number won't help me win, then I won't waste my time guessing that number.

So, let's say I look ahead and see that if I guess 6, I won't have a chance of winning. Instead of guessing 6 and using up my turn, I "prune" that guess away and look for a better option.

By using alpha-beta pruning, we can play the game more efficiently and increase our chances of winning. It's like a shortcut that helps us find the best moves without getting lost in all the bad possibilities.