Chess blogger Michael Bacon — the “Armchair Warrior” has recently published some posts on go, including “AlphaGo and the Hand of God,” “The Surrounding Game” and “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess.” In addition to being well-written, thoughtful – and sometime provocative — explorations, Bacon’s posts are well-illustrated with photos and videos. 
“AlphaGo and the Hand of God’ is about the “AlphaGo,” documentary, which Bacon calls “poignant,” adding that “While watching the movie the thought crossed my mind that what I was watching was a watershed moment in the history of mankind, analogous to Neal Armstrong’s ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’”
In “The Surrounding Game,”Bacon reminds readers that not only was Edward Lasker – attributed in the film as the source of a famous quote about go – an International Master, not a Grandmaster, as identified in the film, but that there is a dispute about the quote itself, with some attributing it to former World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker, a distant relative. However, Bacon clearly likes the film, which follows the lives of several top American players, Ben Lockhart and Andy Liu, competing to become the first Western professional. “Despite their diverging paths, Ben and Andy face the same question: is a lifetime dedicated to Go truly worth living?”
And in “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess”, Bacon contrasts chess and go in politics, popularity and player personalities. Noting that “Chess appeals to people who like to attack and who savor the win over the process,” Bacon says that go “is a game of patience and position. It appeals to very bright people who don’t expect to win quickly but who are willing to earn success one small step at a time. GO players enjoy the process as much as the win.” He also argues that “AlphaGo has done for the game of Go in America what Bobby Fischer did for the game of Chess when he defeated the World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky, in 1972… In a very short period of time the game of Go will be unrivaled, leaving all other board games in its wake.” Further, he suggests that “It could be that the people of the planet are moving away from the brutal, war like, mindset of a war like game such as Chess and toward a more cerebral game such as Go.”
June 1 AlphaGo video commentary, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock. “But, also as usual, they all come back to life, and the game is pretty close.” “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead,” said Meijke Balay, picking up on “The Princess Bride” reference in the video. “Mostly dead is slightly alive.” “Feels like my favorite so far,” adds Zak Smith, “even though I might feel this way after every video.”
AlphaGo Zero vs. AlphaGo Lee: Game 2
Wednesday June 13, 2018
Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock, reviews the second game of the new AlphaGo Zero vs.
AlphaGo Lee series. “In this game, AG Zero has black,” Redmond notes. “This is the 20-block version of Zero, and it’s pretty unique, especially in the way it plays with black: it really likes to play the 3-3 points. Zero likes to take territory up front and then reduce its opponent’s moyo, but it does so in a different way. In fact, the opening techniques used by Zero have become quite popular among some young professionals, showing AG’s effect on the game, which I’ll be talking about.”
Click here for Redmond’s video commentary, and see below for the sgf commentary. To support this content, please consider joining or renewing your membership in the American Go Association; click here for details.
Video produced by Michael Wanek and Andrew Jackson. The sgf files were created by Redmond, with editing and transcription by Garlock and Myron Souris.
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