Thursday January 30, 2020
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return to the AGA’s Twitch channel tonight at 7p EDT with their latest live game commentary on the AlphaGo vs AlphaGo series. ” Entertaining and enlightening review,” commented SpaceTimeMachine on the previous commentary. “I recommend this series to my friends all the time.”
Saturday January 25, 2020
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 35 of the series, posted on the AGA’s YouTube Channel.
The game features “A lot of intense fighting in the center of the board that sort of spreads to the corners,” says Redmond. Plus, “We’ll see some ko’s, as well as some ko’s that didn’t happen.”
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 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.
Saturday January 11, 2020
South Korean Go icon Lee Sedol closed out his illustrious career last month in a three-game match with home-developed artificial intelligence (AI) program HanDol, according to a report by the Yonhap News Agency.
Lee, who turned pro at 12 and went on to capture 18 international and 32 domestic titles, defeated HanDol in the opener of the best-of-three match in Seoul, playing with a two-stone advantage. The second match was played without any handicap, and HanDol was victorious. In the decisive third game, HanDol, developed by South Korea’s NHN Entertainment Corp., took down the 36-year-old master after 181 stones in Lee’s final match, held in his hometown of Sinan, 400 kilometers south of Seoul.
“I should have done better early, and then the (final game) would have played out much like the first one,” Lee said. “To be honest, I don’t think HanDol is particularly strong when playing with an advantage. I think some of the younger players would have beaten HanDol.”
Looking back on his career, Lee said, “I’ve enjoyed this ride. In the past, I used to say, ‘Baduk is my life,'” he said. “But now, I think there’s more to my life than baduk. I take away a lot of fun memories. Even though I lost today, I was happy to have played a good match.”
Note: This post has been updated to clarify the game sequence.
Friday January 10, 2020
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
Saturday December 21, 2019
In this episode, Michael Redmond reviews his game with the legendary Ishida Yoshio 9P. This game started Redmond’s winning streak earlier this year; up to this game Redmond had never won against Ishida.
A student at the legendary Kitani Minoru go school, Ishida’s fellow students included Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Kato Masao, and Takemiya Masaki. He joined the dojo at a young age like his fellow students and became a professional in 1963 when he was 15. His dan rank grew quickly because of the Oteai. He would go up the ranks faster than rules allowed after winning the first 14 Oteai games when he was being promoted from 6 to 7 dan. He reached 9 dan in 11 years, faster than most other players. Ishida was given the nickname “The Computer” because his yose play and counting skills were far more accurate than other pros.
Click here to see the video, produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy and Andrew Jackson.
Sunday December 8, 2019
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock will livestream game commentaries on the AGA’s Twitch channel on Monday, December 9 and Wednesday, December 11, both at 7P EDT. “The live streaming brings these commentaries to a broader audience and enables fans to interact with us in real time,” said Garlock. The popular Redmond Reviews returned to the AGA’s YouTube channel last Friday with a commentary on AlphaGo vs AlphaGo Game 32, after a 6-month hiatus. ” The wait for this is so freaking long, as if I was waiting for an Avenger movie!!!” commented Nguyen tuan anh. Added Sami Helen, “Yesterday I was just about to go on your previous video in this series and ask if you’re still alive. Guess the telepathic communication works after all.” Be sure to follow the channel and get notified of live streams.
Friday December 6, 2019
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.
Wednesday November 27, 2019
Korean Go champion Lee Sedol has officially retired. “The 36-year-old, who scored 18 victories in international competitions and 32 victories in domestic events, submitted his letter of retirement to the Korea Baduk Association (KBA), which oversees Go professionals in South Korea, on Nov. 19, terminating his legendary 24-year career,” reports the Yonhap News Agency. In an interview with the Korean news agency earlier this week, Lee attributed his desire to retire to the rise of AI and the invincibility of programs such as AlphaGo, stating that “with the debut of AI in Go… even if I become the number one, there is an entity that cannot be defeated.” Lee’s retirement and his AI-based reasons were reported internationally by the media with American media such as Vice, the Guardian, Business Insider, and others reporting the story.
Wednesday August 21, 2019
The AGA will broadcast the 2019 China Securities Cup World AI Go Open live from the Chinese Weiqi Congress in Shandong, China this week. “This is a brand-new challenge for us as we take our production to Asia for the first time, and we will do our best to entertain you and provide you with some fresh perspectives on the AI games,” says the E-Journal’s Stephen Hu.
The broadcasts will take place on the official AGA Twitch channel, hosted by Stephen Hu (@xhu98) and joined by various commentators from China TBD. The following schedule* will be promoted on the Twitch front page:
*all times converted to UTC; actual start times might be subject to delays at the venue, although we try our best to start commentary at the earliest availability. Note: We will not be commentating on the preliminary rounds – however, feel free to follow the games on Yike Weiqi. In the semifinals and finals, all the games will be played out regardless of the series outcome.
| August 22, ca. 01:30-03:30 | (China Securities Cup) Quarterfinals |
|---|---|
| ca. 05:00-06:30 | Human + AI Pair Go Exhibition, QF |
| ca. 07:30-09:00 | Human + AI Pair Go Exhibition, SF |
| ca. 10:00-11:30 | Human + AI Pair Go Exhibition, Final |
| August 23, ca. 01:30-03:30 | Semifinals, Game 1 |
| ca. 04:30-06:30 | Semifinals, Game 2 |
| ca. 07:30-09:30 | Semifinals, Game 3 |
| August 24, ca. 03:00-05:00 | Final, Game 1 |
| ca. 06:00-07:30 | Final, Game 2 |
| ca. 09:30-11:00 | Final, Game 3 |
| August 25, ca. 01:30-03:00 | Final, Game 4 |
| 04:30-06:00 | Final, Game 5 |
AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo; Game 36: The ladder game
Friday February 14, 2020
Chocolates and flowers are popular Valentine’s Day gifts but what go players really want is another AlphaGo game commentary and Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock deliver with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 36 of the series, going up on the AGA’s YouTube Channel at noon today, a bit earlier than the usual 6p release time.
“The most interesting thing to me about this game is the way AlphaGo handles ladders,” says Redmond. “Earlier versions seemed to have some trouble with them, but not AG and in this game, AlphaGo devises some original ways to handle them.” Redmond poses a number of problems for Garlock to solve, and the Twitch audience — the commentary was originally streamed live on the AGA’s Twitch channel — gets involved. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.
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