The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

intelligent backtracking

    An improved backtracking algorithm for
   Prolog interpreters, which records the point at which each
   logic variable becomes bound and, when a given set of
   bindings leads to failure, ignores any choice point which
   does not bind any of those variables.  No choice from such a
   choice point can succeed since it does not change the bindings
   which caused the failure.

   (1996-04-06)