Zhang Rui — Mysterious Go 'Master' turns out to be new AlphaGo

Go is a strategy game similar to chess but with many more moving parts.

The mysterious "master" that has been beating elite Go players online has revealed its true identity as an updated version of AlphaGo, Google's London-based AI firm DeepMind announced.

The player registered with an ID of "Master" on Chinese online board game platforms eweiqi.com and foxwq.com and has won 60 fast-paced online matches since Dec. 29 against a group of elite Go players, including Lee Sedol's compatriot Park Jung-hwan, Japan's Iyama Yuta and China's top players Ke Jie, Nie Weiping and Gu Li, triggering interest in its identity within the professional Go circle.

"Master" identified itself as AlphaGo after beating Gu Li on Wednesday. "I'm AlphaGo's Doctor Huang," the user "Master" wrote on foxwq.com, according to screenshots from media reports. Taiwanese developer Aja Huang is a member of Google's DeepMind team, via whom AlphaGo played the game with.

DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis later revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that "Master" was a new prototype version of AlphaGo....

China.org.cn
Mysterious Go 'Master' turns out to be new AlphaGo

Zhang Rui