On September 12, Deepmind announced an explanation of Li Shishi and AlphaGo's human-machine battle against AlphaGo from the perspective of Fan Hui, technical guidance from Gu Li and Zhou Ruiyang, and editing by Huang Shijie. The five chess games are titled Dawn, Creativity, Revolution, Never Give Up and New Era. Fan Hui shared many of his feelings at the first scene of the man-machine battle. Below are some excerpts.

Game 1: Daybreak

　

March 9, 2016

I sometimes suffer from insomnia before some important games. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to play, so I sleep pretty well. When we came to the restaurant in the morning, everyone showed a little nervousness, but I was no longer so skeptical.

At 12:35 noon, I came to the game room 25 minutes early. In addition to me, there were several staff members. Because it was a live broadcast, the makeup artist put a little powder on my face to prevent reflection. Everyone seems to be very busy, but the reason for the busyness should be waiting.

At 12:40, Lee Sedol, his wife and daughter came to the arena. When Li Sedol sat in front of the chessboard, his daughter sat next to him curiously and looked at him, as if it was the first time she had seen his father play. Li Sedol smiled.

After the staff introduced some details of guessing and live broadcast, Li Shishi left the game room. As he left, for some reason, I suddenly felt a bit of pressure, not the pressure of victory or defeat, but some kind of time pressure. I couldn't explain it, but no matter what, this moment was coming.

The game room is actually not small. In addition to the game board and the referee's table, there is also an area with some chairs. This is an exclusive VIP area, which is mainly used to allow staff and important people to experience the game up close. There is also a TV screen diagonally above them. This area is unknown because there are no cameras.

At 12:47, two Korean referees entered the game room. One is a Korean professional eight-dan chess player. His main responsibility is to announce the start of the game and the result of the game. The Korean referee will be changed every game. The other is a woman, said to be an amateur chess player, mainly responsible for timing and countdown. Like me, she was present at every game. I have only one task. When the chess game ends, if necessary, I am responsible for counting the pieces and relaying the results to the Korean referee. Due to the language barrier, everyone just nodded to each other, but from the eyes of the Korean referee, it can still be seen that he has absolute confidence in Lee Sedol.

Since it was the first game, everyone was a little nervous. After all, a Go match of this scale is unprecedented. Although Google has no experience in organizing Go competitions, their serious attitude is something I have never seen before, from the entry order of the competition, camera angles, broadcast time, to subsequent press conferences, etc.It is worth learning from us Go practitioners. From them I seem to see the source of all good things: enthusiasm and sincerity.

At 13:00 noon, as the countdown on the big screen returned to zero, Lee Sedol and Aja entered the arena and took their seats. After guessing first, Li Shishi chose black. Judging from some data, AlphaGo is more inclined to win white pieces, although there is only a very slight difference.

……

When the white chess piece was placed 186, Li Shishi picked up the two black chess pieces and gently knocked on the chess box, making a crisp sound. It was as if time stood still at that moment, and I knew Lee Sedol was about to admit defeat. Later, many people asked me, you should be the happiest person the moment Li Shishi surrendered, because this can completely prove the strength of AlphaGo. But the fact is that at the moment when Li Shishi knocked on the chess box, my mind went blank. Although I knew this day would come sooner or later, when it actually happened, it felt so far away from me. It was like being thrown into outer space, floating in nothingness.

Li Sedol gave up and I was pulled back. After the Korean referee announced the result of the game, a historical moment came. From then on, we humans are no longer alone in exploring the mysteries of Go. We have a new partner to explore the mysteries of Go with us, AlphaGo!

Second Game Creativity

AlphaGo's victory in the first game was undoubtedly shocking, but for the Go community, it seems that many people find it difficult to accept this fact. After all, Lee Sedol's performance in the first game was not ideal, and AlphaGo did not show anything special. Maybe the result of the first game was just an accidental phenomenon? Although some voices on the Internet are shaken, the vast majority of chess fans still believe that Lee Sedol will win the next victory.

At the competition venue, the number of media who came to interview was significantly more than in the first set. However, as the number of media increased, Lee Sedol's pressure also increased. After all, almost all predictions before the game were that Lee Sedol would win 5-0 or 4-1.

I came to the game room 15 minutes before the game, and Demis came too, but it was much more relaxed than yesterday. Four minutes before the game, Lee Sedol and his daughter came to the game room together. Having my daughter by my side seems to bring good luck, and I can relate to that as a father myself.

According to convention, at the beginning of the game, the media has a few minutes to take photos. Different from the first game, the media who came in today were obviously moreThere were more games in the first game, which to some extent reflects the media's attention to this game.

Today AlphaGo is in black, and everyone is curious about what layout AlphaGo will choose. After all, this means that the black layout chosen by AlphaGo is what it thinks is the best. Maybe this will also lead a trend?

……

Before the end of the game, Lee Sedol kept counting, as if waiting for a miracle to happen, and the whole world already knew that AlphaGo was going to win the second game. After a long countdown, Li Shishi surrendered at move 211. The moment he surrendered, he was so unwilling, and the regret in his heart was completely revealed on his face.

At the press conference, Lee Sedol's voice was choked with sobs. He was shocked by the constant repetition of AlphaGo's near-perfect performance in this game. It seemed that the whole world was on his shoulders at this moment. Although the power of AlphaGo has been fully revealed to the world, the game is not over after all. Behind Li Sedol's trembling voice is a kind of determination, "Although I lost the second game, I will try my best to play the third game well."

At this time, the entire chess world is immersed in surprise and confusion. We may need to re-recognize ourselves and AlphaGo.

The Third Game Revolution

Although the competition only lasted for two days, the shock to the chess world was unprecedented. According to the rules of the game, there will be a rest day after every two games. For Lee Sedol, it is crucial to use the rest day to adjust his mentality. After all, the third game will usher in the match point of the game. For the team, a rest day can temporarily take everyone away from the entire tense atmosphere. At the same time, for many people who have come to South Korea for the first time, it is also very pleasant to change their mood and experience the city of Seoul.

At 10 a.m. on March 11, the whole team set out to visit downtown Seoul. The moment we walked out of the hotel, I realized that except for eating, I had never really left the hotel. Let go of your mood and try your best to feel the surrounding scenery, but you are always pulled back to the game by your consciousness unknowingly. After all, everything that happened in the past two days is so shocking!

A small episode occurred during the visit. When the team passed by a shop selling dragon beard candy on the street, we were curious to see the production process of dragon beard candy. The hospitable vendor introduced the production process and history while chatting with us and askingWhere are we from? One of the team members replied that he was from the UK. The vendor hesitated for a moment and then said "AlphaGo?" When he got the affirmative answer, his excitement was overwhelming and he kept repeating: "It's incredible, AlphaGo is incredible." Although it has only been two days, AlphaGo has become a household name in South Korea.

It may seem like a relaxing rest day, but in fact everyone’s mood has never left the game. After all, we are about to usher in the historic third game.

Back at the hotel in the evening, I saw the comments online. My previous optimism about Lee Sedol was gone. All I had was ideological support and strategic advice. Looking at it, I seemed to feel that Lee Sedol was carrying the whole world on his back to compete with AlphaGo. Our teachers have taught us since we were young: To play Go, you need to be calm and focused to play the highest quality game. In such an atmosphere, how could Lee Sedol do it?

At 1:00 noon on March 12, the third game begins. According to the rules of the game, Lee Sedol played black first in the third game.

……

The final robbery was tragic, and it also shattered the rumor that AlphaGo cannot commit robbery. After white's 176 move, Li Shishi admitted defeat.

The score of the game became 3-0. Although AlphaGo had won the game, according to the previous agreement, regardless of the result, both sides must play a full 5 games. At the press conference, Lee Sedol said that his current goal is to win at least one game of chess, but now the entire chess world is very desperate for this goal.

On the other hand, after the second game, many professional chess players gradually disappeared from the view that AlphaGo may have a bad impact on Go. Faced with failure, people seem to suddenly understand that we have not lost to machines. In fact, humans have surpassed ourselves once again! The attention this competition has received around the world is unprecedented, and it is a good thing for the promotion of Go in Asia and even the West.

We don’t need to regard AlphaGo as an opponent. After all, AlphaGo has no concept of winning or losing. We can treat it as one of our partners to explore the mysteries of Go together.

Perhaps Lee Sedol had a "let go" mentality and the fourth game became particularly exciting.

Never Give Up

When I came to the game room in the morning, everyone seemed to be relaxed. After all, the big score of the game has been determined. No matter what, AlphaGo has won this challenge, but the entire game is not over. As a chess player, regardless of the result, playing every game well is always what we pursue.

Li Shishi came to the game room more relaxed than yesterday. Let go of the burden of victory and defeat, find yourself again, forget everything around you, and play this game of chess for yourself. Lee Sedol will never give up.

It seems that there are fewer reporters in the media room than the previous two days. Probably because many people think that the essence of this game has been exhausted, and the final result should be fixed at 5-0. During the game of chess, the information is completely transparent, but the result is often unknown. After all, everything is possible before the chess is played.

……

The chess game reached 180 moves, and AlphaGo gave in. The progress of this game could no longer affect the outcome.

When Li Sedol entered the press conference, thunderous applause sounded. At this time, Li Sedol finally smiled, a simple and simple smile. Although it was not earth-shattering, isn't the meaning of life just such a simple smile?

The Fifth Game New Era

With Lee Sedol's victory in the fourth game, the entire world's attention to this event reached a climax! Many Western mainstream media such as CNN and BBC participated in this follow-up report, which has never happened before. More and more people are hearing about Go and starting to try to understand Go, and the number of visits to official Go websites in Europe and the United States has increased tenfold or even dozens of times.

At this time, South Korea was at the center of the entire craze. Almost all Korean media are reporting on this matter, and even the top three news items must have information about this match. After winning the fourth set, Lee Sedol was regarded as a hero by the entire country. Lee Sedol himself also showed the style of a master. At the press conference after the fourth game, Lee Sedol expressed his hope that he could play black in the fifth game. The reason is very simple. Although we already know that playing white may be more advantageous against AlphaGo, Lee Sedol believes that since he has won one game with white, he should now play black again.Winning a game, this winning spirit deeply moved the entire AlphaGo team. The answer was of course yes, so there was no need to guess in the fifth game, Lee Sedol would play black.

Because of the fourth game, people seem to have seen the possibility of defeating AlphaGo. Although AlphaGo has won the game, the importance of the fifth game has surpassed the result of this game. After all, if Lee Sedol wins again, it may prove that he has found the key that can open AlphaGo. Then the result of this game may not be as representative as before.

On the rest day, more and more media arrived at the scene from all over the world. Many media regretted their inaction. On the morning of the fifth game, the entire media room was already overcrowded.

Because the game was held in South Korea, many European fans had to get up at 5 a.m. to watch the live broadcast in order to watch the live broadcast. It really felt like a World Cup.

……

The long game made this game the longest game of the game, and even AlphaGo entered the countdown for the first time, but the outcome was decided early.

Just when I thought I, the counting referee, was finally going to count the pieces, on the 280th move, Lee Sedol threw in the pieces and admitted defeat. The moment he cast his son, he was helpless.

The final score was fixed at 4-1, AlphaGo won.

The whole week of man-machine battle was unforgettable. To this day, when I think of some scenes during the game, I can still feel the excitement at that time. And I think what this game brings us is not only the victory or defeat, but also our reflection on Go and ourselves.

Let us end this observation with the words of Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt at the pre-match press conference, "No matter what the final result is, the winner is human beings."