Path-Dependency describes a situation when the same position gets a different value depending on a sequence of moves by which it has been reached. Whilst a few programs do this by design [1], within the standard alpha-beta framework path-dependency is considered undesirable, if impossible to avoid. Typical cases are:
the position can be treated differently if there is a chance of repetition or hitting into a fifty-move rule.
different move ordering can cause different result (different moves causing a cutoff), when it comes from the hash table[2]
if a program uses search extensions, search depth may be different (i.e. 1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 vs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nc3, where only the latter triggers a check extension)
history-dependent heuristics, like some versions of LMR may prune different sub-trees.
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Path-Dependency describes a situation when the same position gets a different value depending on a sequence of moves by which it has been reached. Whilst a few programs do this by design [1], within the standard alpha-beta framework path-dependency is considered undesirable, if impossible to avoid. Typical cases are:
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