Go game review #4: AlphaGo 9d vs Lee Sedol 9d

Who?

In the very recent years there has been an interesting event that has taken the go world by surprise. That is the go playing computer, AlphaGo. AlphaGo was developed by DeepMind Technologies which is a part of Google in America. Up until now it was said that go is the only board game where a computer cannot beat a professional human player and that computers have an easier time playing chess than go. That has since changed as AlphaGo the AI has now beaten world champion go players.

The opposing team or player in this game is Lee Sedol of South Korea. He is a very talented player and was only twenty one when he became 9 dan. He is now enjoying an early retirement.  

The game:

This game is the 4th game between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol. There were 5 games in the Google DeepMind Challenge Match. This game happened on March 12, 2016 and in Seoul, South Korea. There was prize money involved and guess how much it was? 

AlphaGo is black and Lee Sedol is white. 

Opening:

This is a careful opening. Both sides are marking out and defending their territories without a full on battle yet. 

After mid-game:

Things look pretty even with just the middle of the bottom to be decided. AlphaGo plays at P14 and watch what happens.

Bam! What a nice capture by Lee Sedol. I don't care how high level a go player is, that is going to feel GOOD.

End result:

White wins by resignation. They did not even reach the endgame. With white's capture of those eight black stones, white's right side and corner territory is too big. White now just has to invade black's bottom middle territory which is the only place left on the board to be decided and the game is his.

Congrats to Lee Sedol for defeating AlphaGo even if he lost the five game match. Truthfully, he is still young and to be able to play the game as well as he does at his age(not even 40!) is a real blessing. How many people can say they can do the same? If he ever decides to come out of retirement and continue on his journey as a professional, I believe he will beat AlphaGo in a match someday. It was proven in this game that he can. He has years ahead of him to improve and become a true master at the game of go. Just like the masters before him. Good luck, Lee Sedol!