The second volume in Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock’s 4-volume series
on AlphaGo has just been released.
“AlphaGo to Zero: Undefeated, Vol. 2: the Games of AlphaGo Master” includes all of Redmond’s detailed game commentaries on the startling 2017 Master games, plus the video series he and Garlock did, along with new insights enabled by access to AI analysis tools.
“The Master games had an immediate effect on the way professionals play go,” says Redmond, in Volume 2’s introduction. “AIs are actually sort of jump-starting professional analysis,” says Redmond. “These days, players start with an evaluation of the move, and they can move on from there and make variations and investigate complicated variations of the joseki. It's the same process.”
From the historic AlphaGo-Lee Sedol showdown in Seoul in March 2016 to the release of AlphaGo Zero in November 2017, Redmond and Garlock have had a front-row seat, commenting, analyzing and reporting as the AlphaGo AI upended thousands of years of human history. In this unique 4-volume series, they’re providing a comprehensive record of this astounding development, with extensive game commentaries, personal insights, photos, and videos.
Volume 1 covered the AlphaGo-Lee Sedol match in detail; Volume 2 explores the thrilling series of games that occurred in early 2017 when the mysterious player Master appeared and easily defeated dozens of top players, in a classic man vs. machine challenge.
“The pandemic gave us a chance to really go deep into a series of games that are both accessible and fascinating,” says Garlock. “To see top pro after top pro try to take down Master is both inspiring and instructive and Michael is once more an indispensable guide for go players of every level.”
AI is “going to continue to improve the game,” says Redmond. “And at the top levels, interesting things are happening because some players have their favorite openings, which they research and they have secret weapons; it’s really exciting.”
On iPhone, iPad, and Mac, download the SmartGo One app to read the first chapter and buy the book using in-app purchase. You can also buy the book directly at gobooks.com and read the book as EPUB on Android or Windows. Wherever you buy it, you can register your email in the app to get your in-app purchase as EPUB or access your online purchase in the app.