American Go E-Journal » Computer Go/AI

After a brief break for the holidays, Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary.

The game features a ponnuki* near the center of the board,” and Redmond says that “nowadays with people getting new ideas from AI’s, a lot of the old ideas — the old values, you might say — about things like ponnukis or josekis have been questioned. So in this game we get to see how an AI handles a ponnuki.” After that, Redmond warns, “things get very tactical, there’s a lot of calculating, a lot of groups and you have to figure out what’s alive and what’s dead; there’s a lot to figure out.”

The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries — some AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo and some of Redmond’s games — on January 16, 23 and 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.

* Capturing a single stone, leaving a diamond shape. According to the proverb, “A ponnuki is worth thirty points” Sensei’s Library

Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 32 of the popular series.

Redmond talks about the new era in Japan, as, after 30 years on the Chrysanthemum Throne, Emperor Akihito abdicated earlier this year — the first Japanese emperor to do so since 1817 — marking the end of the Heisei era and the inception of the Reiwa era, and his son and successor, Emperor Naruhito, was enthroned.

In Game 32, Black plays the mini Chinese Opening, which was also played in Game 31, with the colors reversed. “A very similar move comes up in this game,” says Redmond, “illustrating why the popularity of the mini Chinese has been reduced. It’s another exciting game in which, after a lot of fighting, it ends up in a half-point difference.” Redmond warns Garlock that “You’re going to be a bit more worried this time, I think, about the life and death of some of these groups.”

The series will continue with Friday releases this month, with AG-AG games 33 and 34, as well as a commentary on a game Redmond played with Ishida Yoshio last summer. AG-AG 34 was originally streamed live on Twitch on December 3; follow the AGA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds for announcements of future commentary streaming in this series. “The live streaming brings these commentaries to a broader audience and enables fans to interact with us in real time,” says Garlock. “Special thanks to Senior Producers Michael Wanek and Andrew Jackson for all their work on this series, and to new producer Steven Hu and editor Allen Moy.”
NOTE: Live streams are currently planned for December 9 and 11, both at 7p EDT on the AGA’s Twitch channel; be sure to follow the channel and get notified of live streams.

After a two-month hiatus for travel and other projects, Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock have returned with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 31 of the series. “Black plays the Chinese Opening, which was very popular before AlphaGo,” Redmond says, “but because of a move AlphaGo came up with as White, it’s not as popular now. After that, we get to see Black doing neat attacks, and White ignoring them; business as usual, you could say.”

After a nearly 1-month hiatus, Michael Redmond 9p and the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock returned last Friday with the latest  in their series of video commentaries on the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo selfplay games. “This is the one game in this series in which AlphaGo plays a variation of the taisha,” says Redmond, “and it reminds me of a variation played in the ‘ear-reddening game’ played by Shusaku against Gennan Inseki in 1846.” “Mindblowing stuff!” says GerSHAK.

These videos are made possible by the support of the American Go Association; please consider joining today!

Video produced by Michael Wanek & Andrew Jackson.