In game theory, a null move or pass is a decision by a player to not to make a move when it is their turn to move. Even though null moves are against the rules of many games, they are often useful to consider when analyzing these games. Examples of this include the analysis of zugzwang (a situation in chess or other games in which a null move, if it were allowed, would be better than any other move), and the null-move heuristic in game tree analysis (a method of pruning game trees involving making a null move and then searching to a lower depth).
Famous quotes containing the words null and/or move:
“A strong person makes the law and custom null before his own will.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Increasingly in recent times we have come first to identify the remedy that is most agreeable, most convenient, most in accord with major pecuniary or political interest, the one that reflects our available faculty for action; then we move from the remedy so available or desired back to a cause to which that remedy is relevant.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)