CHEOPS uses as its game tree search a standard minimax search with alpha-beta cutoff. One feature which was planned but dropped from the implementation was the option to time-limit the computer opponent's moves. It was felt that this option was more trouble than was worth to implement as it would have necessitated the installation of an iterative deepening algorithm. Such a feature would have resulted in better gameplay at the cost of exponentially longer thinking time. The human playtesters found that using a regular three- or four-ply search, typically completed within ten seconds, was challenging enough for them.
Another feature left out of the final release was the option for players (human or computer) to offer draws. It was decided that having the computer offer a draw would be a sure sign to its opponent that it is losing. Conversely, a computer opponent should never accept a draw offer, even if it is losing, since the possibility should always be reserved for the human making a mistake should the game continue. That said, heuristics for forced draws (stalemates, triple occurrence, and the fifty-move rule) were still included in the program; a winning program will generally avoid such a condition.