system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do chess computers work?
gpt
There are two main components, a static position evaluator and a search tree.

The position evaluator looks at the current position, and gives it a score, mostly based on material but includes other factors as well.

The computer then builds of a tree of all possible moves for say, the next four moves.  It scores all the resulting positions, and decides which move leads to the best outcome.

There is a lot more to it, but that is the core of what a chess computer is doing.  And since it is computer, it can look at millions of positions before deciding its next move.