# Alpha-Beta Pruning ## Metadata **Status**:: #x **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Created**:: [[2026-04-21]] ## Synopsis Alpha-Beta Pruning optimizes Minimax Search algorithm by pruning branches to reduce search space. ![[alpha-beta-pruning.svg]] %%[Edit in Figma](https://www.figma.com/design/Wz7xPXeSXKHEOWMLiXCKqO/Alpha-Beta-Pruning)%% In the maximizing layer, a child determines the lower bound. Since the minimum node among all siblings wins in this layer, if the lower bound is larger than or equals to an uncle, we can prune the branch. Similarly, in the minimizing layer, when a child is small than an uncle, the branch rooted at its parent can be pruned.