Branching factor

In game theory the branching factor is the number of move avaible for a player. In Hex the branching factor decreases by one each move. At the beginning of a 13x13 game the branching factor is 169.

The branching factor of game gives an estimate of how efficient a brutal force computer would be, the higher the branching factor is the weaker will be the Artificial Intelligence. This is due to the number of positions to be analysed to perform in-depth search. In chess the average branching factor is 40, it is more than 100 in Hex and more than 300 in 19x19 Go. It means that it is possible in chess to look 5 or 6 moves ahead and then choose the best to begin with, whereas it is hardly conceivable in Hex. Hence other ways have to find to choose the right move.