Go master Cho Chi-hoon to play a match with Japanese AlphaGo

Professional 9-dan Go master Cho Chi-hoon will have matches with the Japanese version of AlphaGo.

According to the Japanese media on Thursday, Cho will play three open Go matches with DeepZenGo, an artificial intelligence developed in Tokyo on Nov. 19, 20 and 23. Since March, DeepZenGo has been developed by Japanese Go software developers and Tokyo University scientists to compete with AlphaGo that beat 9-dan Lee Se-dol. It is said that the Japanese artificial intelligence has excellent Go playing capabilities based on a deep learning technology that mimics human brains like AlphaGo. “It has reached the level where it can play against a professional Go player,” the development team said.

To test the AI’s capabilities, the team successfully arranged a match against Cho who has the largest wins in Japan. “I saw its (DeepZenGo’s) records and it’s very strong,” Cho said. “I was kind of bored with playing Go with humans, and I’m excited to play a match with a computer.” Hideki Kato, a developer, said with confidence that if DeepZenGo takes advantage of the strength of software, it will have a good chance to win.

Cho, the legendary Go master in Japan, went to Japan at age six and was trained under 9-dan Minoru Kitani and became one of the youngest professional Go player in Japan at 11 years and nine months old. As of now, Cho has retained the largest wins. In June, he became the “honorary honinbo title” holder, one of the most prestigious titles in the Japanese Go community.

AlphaGo beat Lee with four wins and one defeat in Seoul in March. If AI defeats Cho as well, AI will dominate the Go board.

Won-Jae Jang peacechaos@donga.com