Eighty-Three Moves: Fukuoka Kotaro Demolishes Iyama Yuta to Earn a Second Title Shot
Japan’s youngest-ever Honinbo needed less than five hours to dismantle the most decorated player of his era — and set up a rematch with the man he dethroned in July. Professional Go games are usually long. Two players, three hours each on the clock, a board with 361 intersections to argue over — a serious […]
Ten Years After AlphaGo, the World’s Best Human Took Two Stones — and Still Lost Game 1
Ten Years After AlphaGo, the World’s Best Human Took Two Stones — and Still Lost Game 1 Shin Jinseo’s showdown with the open-source AI KataGo is a snapshot of how far the machines have come. Games 2 and 3 are this week. In March 2016, AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol and changed Go forever. This week […]
A 20-Year-Old Just Won Go’s Oldest Title — and Broke a Record That Stood for 55 Years
Fukuoka Kotaro becomes the youngest Honinbo in history, dethroning Japan’s top player in a deciding fifth game. On July 1, in the city of Kofu at the foot of Japan’s southern Alps, a 20-year-old sat down across the board from the strongest Go player in Japan — and stood up a few hours later as […]