COMPUTER BEATS PRO AT U.S. GO CONGRESS:
In a historic achievement, the MoGo computer program defeated Myungwan
Kim 8P (l) Thursday afternoon by 1.5 points in a 9-stone game billed as
“Humanity’s Last Stand?” “It played really well,” said Kim, who
estimated MoGo’s current strength at “two or maybe three dan,” though
he noted that the program – which used 800 processors, at 4.7 Ghz, 15
Teraflops on a borrowed European supercomputer – “made some 5-dan
moves,” like those in the lower right-hand corner, where Mogo took
advantage of a mistake by Kim to get an early lead. “I can’t tell you
how amazing this is,” David Doshay -- the SlugGo programmer who
suggested the match -- told the E-Journal after the game.
“I’m shocked at the result. I really didn’t expect the computer to win
in a one-hour game.” Kim easily won two blitz games with 9 stones and
11 stones and minutes and lost one with 12 stones and 15 minutes by 3.5
points. The games were played live at the U.S. Go Congress, with over
500 watching online on KGS. “I think there’s no chance on nine stones,”
Kim told the EJ after the game. “It would even be difficult with eight
stones. MoGo played really well; after getting a lead, every time I
played aggressively, it just played safely, even when it meant
sacrificing some stones. It didn’t try to maximize the win and just
played the most sure way to win. It’s like a machine.” The game
generated a lot of interest and discussion about the game’s tactics and
philosophical implications. “Congratulations on making history today,”
game organizer Peter Drake told both Kim and Olivier Teytaud, one of
MoGo’s programmers, who participated in a brief online chat after the game.
At a rare loss for words in a brief interview with the EJ after the game,
Doshay wondered “How much time do we have left? We’ve improved
nine stones in just a year and I suspect the next nine will fall quickly now.”
- reported by Chris Garlock, photo by Brian Allen