0 for man 1 for computer. At the recent Google DeepMind Challenge Match, the Go-playing computer program, AlphaGo, defeated the best Go player of the last decade, Lee Sedol, again. Playing as black, the computer won by resignation after 211 moves. A regulation of 2 hours were used to play the game which then went into overtime termed byō-yomi.
According to Michael Redmond, the 9-dan US commentator,“I was impressed with AlphaGo’s play. There was a great beauty to the opening. Based on what I had seen from its other games, AlphaGo was always strong in the end and middle game, but that was extended to the beginning game this time. It was a beautiful, innovative game.”
Yoo Changhyuk, 9-dan, Korean commentator, said “During the first match, Lee Sedol made difficult moves to agitate AlphaGo, but failed to do so. Today, he tried the opposite — he played safe and entered the endgame. While using his byō-yomi periods, he made some mistakes, which I think caused the defeat.”
Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO of DeepMind, said, “That was dramatic to say the least! Lee Sedol put up an incredible performance and had our expert commentators divided over the result until the end. AlphaGo played some really surprising and beautiful moves in this game.”
Lee Sedol said at the post-game press conference, “Yesterday, I was surprised, but today I am quite speechless. If you look at the way the game was played, it was a very clear loss on my part. Yesterday I felt like AlphaGo played certain problematic positions, but today I felt that AlphaGo played a near perfect game. There was not a moment I felt like its moves were unreasonable.”
A player needs three wins to claim victory in the five-game tournament, but either way, all five games will be played to determine the final match score. The next game, Game Three, will be held at 1pm KST on Saturday, March 12. Game Four will be on Sunday, March 13, and the final game, Game Five, will be on Tuesday, March 15. $1 million USD in prize money goes to the winner. If AlphaGo wins, the prize money will be donated to UNICEF, STEM charities, and Go organizations.
