Master is a version of DeepMind's Go software AlphaGo, named after the account name (originally Magister/Magist) used online, which won 60 straight online games against human professional Go players from 29 December 2016 to 4 January 2017. This version was also used in the Future of Go Summit in May 2017. It used four TPUs on a single machine with Elo rating 4,858. DeepMind claimed that AlphaGo Master was 3-stone stronger than the version used in AlphaGo v. Lee Sedol.
DeepMind released a version of AlphaGo Master in December 2017 that serves as a teaching tool analyzing the win rates of 6,000 Go openings from 230,000 human games.
Matches Online games The software was first used to play games against professional players on 29 December 2016 on the Tygem Go server, under the account name 'Magister' (shown as 'Magist' at the server's Chinese version). The account name was changed to 'Master' on 30 December. After playing 30 games on Tygem, it was moved to the FoxGo server on 1 January 2017.
Master played at the pace of 10 games per day. Many quickly suspected it to be an AI player due to little or no resting between games. After winning its 59th game it was revealed in the chatroom that Master was controlled by Aja Huang of the DeepMind team. On 4 January 2017, after these games were completed, Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of DeepMind, confirmed that Magister and Master both played using an updated version of AlphaGo and said, "We're looking forward to playing some official, full-length games later [in 2017] in collaboration with Go organizations and experts".
Gu Li, a 9-dan player and co-founder of FoxGo, offered a bounty of 100,000 RMB (14,400 USD) to the first human player who could defeat Master. However, no one took the bounty since Master's final online record was 60 wins and 0 losses, including three victories over Go's top ranked player, Ke Jie, who had been quietly briefed in advance that Master was a version of AlphaGo.
Master's adversaries included many world champions such as Ke Jie, Park Jeong-hwan, Yuta Iyama, Tuo Jiaxi, Mi Yuting, Shi Yue, Chen Yaoye, Li Qincheng, Gu Li, Chang Hao, Tang Weixing, Fan Tingyu, Zhou Ruiyang, Jiang Weijie, Chou Chun-hsun, Kim Ji-seok, Kang Dong-yun, Park Yeong-hun, and Won Seong-jin, and also included national champions or world championship runners-up such as Lian Xiao, Tan Xiao, Meng Tailing, Dang Yifei, Huang Yunsong, Yang Dingxin, Gu Zihao, Shin Jinseo, Cho Han-seung, and An Sungjoon. All 60 games except one were fast-paced games with three 20 or 30 seconds byo-yomi. Master offered to extend the byo-yomi to one minute when playing with Nie Weiping due to his old age. No. Date Player (dan during the game) Time control Moves Master color and result1 29 December 2016 Pan Tingyu (1 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 146 White won by resignation2 29 December 2016 Zhang Ziliang (1 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 174 White won by resignation3 29 December 2016 Ding Shixiong (3 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 151 Black won by resignation4 29 December 2016 Xie Erhao (4 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 222 White won by resignation5 29 December 2016 Yu Zhiying (5 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 113 Black won by resignation6 29 December 2016 Li Xiangyu (3 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 131 Black won by resignation7 29 December 2016 Qiao Zhijian (4 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 163 Black won by resignation8 29 December 2016 Han Yizhou (5 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 104 White won by resignation9 29 December 2016 Meng Tailing (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 275 Black won by 4.5 points10 29 December 2016 Meng Tailing (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 148 White won by resignation11 30 December 2016 Chen Hao (5 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 170 White won by resignation12 30 December 2016 Ryu Suhang (5 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 144 White won by resignation13 30 December 2016 Wang Haoyang (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 136 White won by resignation14 30 December 2016 Yan Zaiming (3 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 129 Black won by resignation15 30 December 2016 Park Junghwan (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 150 White won by time16 30 December 2016 Lian Xiao (7 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 122 White won by resignation17 30 December 2016 Lian Xiao (7 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 164 White won by resignation18 30 December 2016 Ke Jie (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 228 Black won by 5.5 points19 30 December 2016 Ke Jie (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 128 White won by resignation20 30 December 2016 Park Junghwan (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 255 Black won by 5.5 points21 31 December 2016 Chen Yaoye (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 270 White won by 5.5 points22 31 December 2016 Chen Yaoye (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 277 White won by 4.5 points23 31 December 2016 Kim Jung-hyun (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 135 Black won by resignation24 31 December 2016 Park Junghwan (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 223 Black won by resignation25 31 December 2016 Park Junghwan (9 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 261 White won by 0.5 points26 31 December 2016 Yun Chanhee (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 217 Black won by resignation27 31 December 2016 Fan Tingyu (9 dan) three 30-second byo-yomi 215 Black won by resignation28 31 December 2016 Meng Tailing (6 dan) three 20-second byo-yomi 163 Black won by resignation29 31 December 2016 Mi Yuting (9 dan) three 30-second byo-yomi 311 White won by 0.5 points30 31 December 2016 Tang Weixing (9 dan) three 30-second byo-yomi 186 White won by resignation31 1 January 2017 Li Qincheng (9 dan) 1 minute + three 20-second byo-yomi 179 Black won by resignation32 2 January 2017 Gu Li (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 154 White won by resignation33 2 January 2017 Gu Li (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 191 Black won by resignation34 2 January 2017 Dang Yifei (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 149 Black won by resignation35 2 January 2017 Jiang Weijie (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 280 White won by 1.5 points36 2 January 2017 Gu Zihao (5 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 209 Black won by resignation37 2 January 2017 Park Yeong-hun (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 173 Black won by resignation38 2 January 2017 Tuo Jiaxi (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 239 Black won by resignation39 2 January 2017 Yuta Iyama (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 135 Black won by resignation40 2 January 2017 Meng Tailing (6 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 274 White won by 2.5 points41 2 January 2017 Kim Ji-seok (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 170 White won by resignation42 3 January 2017 Yang Dingxin (4 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 125 Black won by resignation43 3 January 2017 Kang Dong-yun (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 165 Black won by resignation44 3 January 2017 An Sung-joon (7 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 260 White won by 2.5 points45 3 January 2017 Shi Yue (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 167 Black won by resignation46 3 January 2017 Lian Xiao (7 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 144 White won by resignation47 3 January 2017 Tan Xiao (7 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 191 Black won by resignation48 3 January 2017 Park Junghwan (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 270 White won by 1.5 points49 3 January 2017 Won Seong-jin (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 222 White won by resignation50 3 January 2017 Ke Jie (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 178 White won by resignation51 4 January 2017 Chou Chun-hsun (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 118 White won by resignation52 4 January 2017 Fan Tingyu (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 202 White won by resignation53 4 January 2017 Huang Yunsong (5 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 133 Black won by resignation54 4 January 2017 Nie Weiping (9 dan) 1 minute + three 60-second byo-yomi 254 Black won by 7.5 points55 4 January 2017 Chen Yaoye (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 267 White won by 1.5 points56 4 January 2017 Cho Han-seung (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 171 Black won by resignation57 4 January 2017 Shin Jin-seo (6 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 139 Black won by resignation58 4 January 2017 Chang Hao (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 178 White won by resignation59 4 January 2017 Zhou Ruiyang (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 161 Black won by resignation60 4 January 2017 Gu Li (9 dan) 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi 235 White won by 2.5 points
Future of Go Summit
The Master version also participated in the Future of Go summit in May 2017. It defeated Ke Jie in a three-game match by three to zero and beat a human team with five top Go professionals.
Innovative moves Go experts were extremely impressed by Master's performance and by its non-human play style in its online games. Ke Jie stated, "After humanity spent thousands of years improving our tactics, computers tell us that humans are completely wrong... I would go as far as to say not a single human has touched the edge of the truth of Go".
Master played many innovative moves and inspired professional players.
In the 23rd online game Master invaded the 3-3 point at a very early stage. Online game 23, Master (black) v. Kim Jung-hyun
In the 24th online game Master played six stones along the second line. Online game 24 Master (black) v. Park Junghwan
Operator errors On 20 January 2017, DeepMind team members Fan Hui and Aja Huang disclosed that Master's operator accidentally entered a move other than AlphaGo's choice in two situations during the online games.
In the 9th online game, Master recommended point a for Move 107. Online game 9, Master (black) v. Meng Tailing.
In the 39th online game, Master recommended point a for Move 99. Online game 39, Master (black) v. Yuta Iyama
Example game
Online game 30: Master (white) v. Tang Weixing (31 December 2016), Master won by resignation. White 36 was widely praised.
First 99 moves Moves 100-186 (149 at 131, 150 at 130)
References