Still Going Strong

But don't worry. Almost a decade later, with Moore's Law still at work, there is still a board game in which humans reign supreme. The game is Go, an oriental game of strategy. It sounds superficially easy. The board is a 19 by 19 grid of intersecting lines. The pieces (called "stones") are black or white, and identical. Once placed on the board, they do not move (unless surrounded and captured) or change colour. The object is to use one's stones to surround as many blank intersections (called "territory") as possible. And that's about it.
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The implication is that computers are bad at Go because they're still bad at being human. Which might come as some relief. In 2002, David Levy, one of the earliest drivers of computer chess, wrote (in Do not pass Go, October 24 2002): "Perhaps Go will be the final bastion in man's attempts to stave off his inevitable intellectual defeat at the hands of the machine." Despite humanity's own best efforts to undermine it, the bastion still looks remarkably solid.

Good to see people are still writing about this. And nice to have the skill levels laid out as well (I rank about 16 kyu so still have a long way to go).

Comments

[Matt]

Sounds like you've improved! When are you going to come on IGS and play a game with me? (I'm mbardeen there)

[Joh]

Next term for sure, this term impossible sadly. My workload is atrocious.

Jealous of your house. So happy for you!

Must arrange to come visit...