by scribe | May 9, 2018 | current news, off-topic, ruminations
The countdown to my book’s launch is on in earnest now: only six more days! Such metaphors as “countdown” and “launch” seem very apropos to me, because I feel like an astronaut strapped in his chair, with only ten minutes to go until...
by scribe | Dec 6, 2017 | current news, literature, openings, ruminations
Today, like many people, I was shocked by the news in my Facebook new feed. AlphaZero beats Stockfish! For those who (like me) had never heard of AlphaZero, let me explain that it is a new deep-learning algorithm created by the same folks who gave you AlphaGo, the...
by scribe | Feb 5, 2017 | current news, off-topic, ruminations
Last year I wrote a couple posts about AlphaGo, the computer go program developed by a team at Google that beat Lee Sedol (one of the world’s top players), 4-1, in a five-game match. If you’ve forgotten, you can read my post-match thoughts here. For...
by scribe | Mar 17, 2016 | current news, off-topic, people, ruminations
My ISP had server problems the last couple days, so I wasn’t able to post in a timely fashion and the “news” is no longer news. The match between Lee Sedol, the top human go player, and AlphaGo, a new computer program developed by Google, ended in a...
by scribe | Mar 9, 2016 | current news, off-topic, people, tournaments
I am completely unqualified to talk about anything go-related, but still chess fans might relate to this news. In the first game of the match between AlphaGo (Google’s deep neural network-based AI) and Lee Sedol (generally considered the strongest go player in...
