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NYT Story On Go Programs And AI
mykej writes: "The NYT (registration required, blah blah) has a story on Go, the hardest game for computers to play. From the article: 'Programmers working on Go see it as more accurate than chess in reflecting the ineffable ways in which the human mind works. The challenge of programming a computer to mimic that process goes to the core of artificial intelligence, which involves the study of learning and decision-making, strategic thinking, knowledge representation, pattern recognition and, perhaps most intriguingly, intuition.' There are a few throwaway lines about Nash from 'A Beautiful Mind,' although they don't mention the game he invented after getting frustrated with the inconsistencies of go."
Try this site.
It also has instructions on how to teach Go, if you're interested.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
>Go in its pure form is played on a 19x19 board as supposed to an 8x8 board
So? What has the size of a board got to do with it? In chess you can move pieces around, in GO you cannot.
>Chess's famous plays, games and styles have all been archived, whereas Go's strategies are largely abstract and can only be learned by repeated play .sgf files that you can study to your hearts content. THere are many clasic moves to make in certain positions, etc.
Not really true. There are masses of games available as
>The game only begins to take structure after 30 to 50 moves.
Again, not really. THere are masses of standard opening patterns (fuseki), and also many standardised plays (joseki) that can go on during a game. A whole lot goes on in the first 20 - 30 moves to shape the rest of the game.
Go is a great game, it doesn't need imbalanced comparisons with chess to prove it, you just need to play the game a while to realise that. Maybe you should try.
A more in-depth article on go programming, from the point of view of a programmer and a player, originally published in The Sciences: http://mechner.com/david/compgo/ Click on "All Systems Go".
For those of you interested in learning more about Go, here's some links to resources I've found helpful since starting to play 3 weeks ago.
k5 had an article about go which is what initially piqued my interest and got me started in the game.
Kiseido Go Server is my favorite place to play online, and very newbie friendly.
Some great introductions are available from Kiseido The Interactive Way to Go and Tel's Go Notes
Uligo and Goproblems.com are great places for learning how to play in common situations.
If you prefer a phyiscal board and stones check out Samarkand and Kiseido
Also, anyone in the Chicago area should check out the Evanston Go Club
A word of caution, if you decide to learn go, expect to lose most of your first 50-100 games. It's a long road, but once you start making progress, you'll grow quickly. I know I sure have. Anyone who's up for a game look for 'jjarmoc' on KGS.