News / Articles

Seattle Plans AlphaGo-Lee Sedol Watch Parties

The Seattle Go Center is planning to host watching parties for the upcoming AlphaGo-Lee Sedol 9P 5-game match, March 7-15. "We did something similar for the Jubango between Lee Sedol and Gu Li in 2014, although those games were longer," reports club manager Brian Allen. "It was great fun. You can also play casual games at the same time." The first game will happen in Korea on March 9, which will be Tuesday, March 8 Seattle time. "We plan to watch it at the Go Center with our video projector," says Allen. "The game starts at 8 p.m., and is expected to run 4 or 5 hours. Dennis Wheeler will be the host. Lee Sedol 9P, winner of the Jubango between Lee Sedol and Gu Li, and representing the human race, is confident that he can beat the version of AlphaGo that beat the 2 dan pro Fan Hui in October of last year. The big question is: how much has AlphaGo improved since then?" Allen sent along the Harry Belafonte version of “John Henry” the "steel-drivin' man" who so famously took on the steam engine. Check the Seattle Go Club's calendar for the dates of the other games, which they'll also be watching. If other clubs plan similar events, please let us know at journal@usgo.org photo: Frank Lam and Andrew Jackson (r) following the first Jubango game at the Seattle Go Center; photo by Brian Allen