... Sort of. Yes, you're right to bring up minimax/alpha-beta pruning, but things like the correct values for piece square tables and the opening book are chosen based on data that is analogous to ML model training (sometimes these are directly chosen using ML models).
Removing a piece may mess up the values chosen for the piece square tables and certainly messes up with the opening book - but on the other hand, it makes it sooner for the engine to end up using it's tablebases in the end game!
Comments
... Sort of. Yes, you're right to bring up minimax/alpha-beta pruning, but things like the correct values for piece square tables and the opening book are chosen based on data that is analogous to ML model training (sometimes these are directly chosen using ML models).
Removing a piece may mess up the values chosen for the piece square tables and certainly messes up with the opening book - but on the other hand, it makes it sooner for the engine to end up using it's tablebases in the end game!