The South Australia-based Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) uses chess strategy and theory to evaluate command and control systems - the software, communications and decision support systems used by commanders to co-ordinate actions on the battlefield.

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The DSTO's studies are conducted on a cluster of 16 Apple dual-processor XServe servers running Apple OS 10.2.4. The cluster, known as "Checkmate," runs Java-based simulations and analysis. DSTO credits the cluster with reducing the time to produce valid results.

"Previously, we could not produce scientifically valid test results in less than a year. With the cluster, we completed the chess analysis study in just four months," said DSTO Virtual Enterprises Group head Michael Webb.

"After playing tens of thousands of games on our XServe cluster, what we found is that tempo and material advantages are important, but skill level - as reflected by greater search depth, or the ability to think further ahead - provides the greatest source of strategic advantage," he said.

"This research helps guide millions of dollars worth of government spending by suggesting that we need systems that offer faster decision making backed by the deepest possible consideration of permutations."

The Apple cluster proved very reliable, running at 100 per cent CPU load for four months, Dr Webb said.