Smart AI to "throw" the game

[isidro02139]

I want to make an AI that loses (for beginners to play against) without seeming to lose on purpose (no obvious Queen sacks etc.). In general, here are the goals:

- Player wins by checkmate
- Short number of total moves
- Don't make the AI look like it is losing intentionally

Any ideas? The current approach is to find moves that reduce CP score by roughly the same amount (e.g. -100 per AI turn), but I'm hoping to build something more dynamic and specifically get the AI into checkmate quickly (it's as if the AI was constantly trying to get itself fool's mated).

Thanks for your thoughts, will share results!
Arun