American Go E-Journal

The AGA’s series of Master video game commentaries continued this week with two new posts:

Master 45 with Ryan Li 1p & Stephanie Yin 1p
Ryan Li 1p & Stephanie Yin 1p, hosted by Andrew Jackson, provide commentary of Master’s (AlphaGo) 45th game. In this game, Master plays black against Shi Yue 9p.

Master 23 with Michael Redmond 9p
Michael Redmond 9p and Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal provide commentary and analysis of the twenty-third game of Master (AlphaGo). In this game, Master plays black against an unverified professional player.

Barely a year after AlphaGo bested Lee Sedol 9P in Seoul, the go-playing AI program has set the global go community abuzz again with plans for a new match, this time against Ke Jie 9P, the top player in the world.

From May 23-27, DeepMind will collaborate with the China Go Association and Chinese Government to bring AlphaGo, China’s top go players, and leading A.I. experts from Google and China together in Wuzhen, one of the country’s most beautiful water towns, for the “Future of Go Summit.”

“Instead of diminishing the game, as some feared, artificial intelligence (A.I.) has actually made human players stronger and more creative,” said DeepMind in its announcement. “It’s humbling to see how pros and amateurs alike, who have pored over every detail of AlphaGo’s innovative game play, have actually learned new knowledge and strategies about perhaps the most studied and contemplated game in history.”

“AlphaGo’s play makes us feel free, that no move is impossible. Now everyone is trying to play in a style that hasn’t been tried before,” said Zhou Ruiyang 9P.

The summit will feature a variety of game formats involving AlphaGo and top Chinese players, specifically designed to explore the mysteries of the game together. The games will include “Pair Go,” a game where one Chinese pro will play against another…except they will both have their own AlphaGo teammate, alternating moves, to take the concept of ‘learning together’ quite literally. “Team Go” — A game between AlphaGo and a five-player team consisting of China’s top pro players, working together to test AlphaGo’s creativity and adaptability to their combined style.

Of course, the centerpiece of the event will be a classic one-on-one 3-game match between AlphaGo and the world’s number one player, Ke Jie 9P, to push AlphaGo to its limits. Interspersed with the games will be a forum on the “Future of A.I.”

Meanwhile, the American Go Association’s video commentaries on the January AlphaGo/Master games continue. Nine commentaries have been posted so far, by Michael Redmond 9P (hosted by Chris Garlock) and Jennie Shen 2P (hosted by Andrew Jackson), with new posts — and new pros — planned for each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

photo: Ke Jie [far right], along with Nie Weiping [next to Ke Jie], Fan Hui [standing] and Gu Li [far left], replays the opening moves of one of AlphaGo’s games with Lee Sedol from memory to explain the beauty of its moves to Google CEO Sundar Pichai during a visit he made to Nie Weiping’s Go school in Beijing last year.

In the latest video commentary in the AGA’s Master Review series, Michael Redmond 9P, hosted by Chris Garlock, takes a look at a game between Master and Park Jungwhan.

The top Korean player is usually placed second to Ke Jie in the world ranking systems. “In this game Master shows some very strong fighting on the lower side,” says Redmond.