Master (software)


Master is a version of DeepMind's Go software AlphaGo, named after the account name used online, which won 60 straight online games against human professional Go players from 29 December 2016 to 4 January 2017. This version was also used in the Future of Go Summit in May 2017. It used four TPUs on a single machine with Elo rating 4,858. DeepMind claimed that AlphaGo Master was 3-stone stronger than the version used in AlphaGo v. Lee Sedol.
A version of AlphaGo Master is used as a teaching tool, released by DeepMind on 11 December 2017, to analyze winning rates of different Go openings, unable to play real games. The teaching tool collects 6,000 Go openings from 230,000 human games.

Matches

Online games

The software was first used to play games against professional players on 29 December 2016 on the Tygem Go server, under the account name 'Magister'. The account name was changed to 'Master' on 30 December. After playing 30 games on Tygem, it was moved to the FoxGo server on 1 January 2017.
Master played at the pace of 10 games per day. Many quickly suspected it to be an AI player due to little or no resting between games. After winning its 59th game it was revealed in the chatroom that Master was controlled by Dr. Aja Huang of the DeepMind team. On 4 January 2017, after these games were completed, Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of DeepMind, confirmed that Magister and Master both played using an updated version of AlphaGo and said, "We're looking forward to playing some official, full-length games later in collaboration with Go organizations and experts".
Gu Li, a 9-dan player and co-founder of FoxGo, offered a bounty of 100,000 RMB to the first human player who could defeat Master. However, no one took the bounty since Master's final online record was 60 wins and 0 losses, including three victories over Go's top ranked player, Ke Jie, who had been quietly briefed in advance that Master was a version of AlphaGo.
Master's adversaries included many world champions such as Ke Jie, Park Jeong-hwan, Yuta Iyama, Tuo Jiaxi, Mi Yuting, Shi Yue, Chen Yaoye, Li Qincheng, Gu Li, Chang Hao, Tang Weixing, Fan Tingyu, Zhou Ruiyang, Jiang Weijie, Chou Chun-hsun, Kim Ji-seok, Kang Dong-yun, Park Yeong-hun, and Won Seong-jin, and also included national champions or world championship runners-up such as Lian Xiao, Tan Xiao, Meng Tailing, Dang Yifei, Huang Yunsong, Yang Dingxin, Gu Zihao, Shin Jinseo, Cho Han-seung, and An Sungjoon. All 60 games except one were fast-paced games with three 20 or 30 seconds byo-yomi. Master offered to extend the byo-yomi to one minute when playing with Nie Weiping due to his old age.
No.DatePlayer Time controlMovesMaster color and result
129 December 2016 Pan Tingyu three 20-second byo-yomi146White won by resignation
229 December 2016 Zhang Ziliang three 20-second byo-yomi174White won by resignation
329 December 2016 Ding Shixiong three 20-second byo-yomi151Black won by resignation
429 December 2016 Xie Erhao three 20-second byo-yomi222White won by resignation
529 December 2016 Yu Zhiying three 20-second byo-yomi113Black won by resignation
629 December 2016 Li Xiangyu three 20-second byo-yomi131Black won by resignation
729 December 2016 Qiao Zhijian three 20-second byo-yomi163Black won by resignation
829 December 2016 Han Yizhou three 20-second byo-yomi104White won by resignation
929 December 2016 Meng Tailing three 20-second byo-yomi275Black won by 4.5 points
1029 December 2016 Meng Tailing three 20-second byo-yomi148White won by resignation
1130 December 2016 Chen Hao three 20-second byo-yomi170White won by resignation
1230 December 2016 Ryu Suhang three 20-second byo-yomi144White won by resignation
1330 December 2016 Wang Haoyang three 20-second byo-yomi136White won by resignation
1430 December 2016 Yan Zaiming three 20-second byo-yomi129Black won by resignation
1530 December 2016 Park Junghwan three 20-second byo-yomi150White won by time
1630 December 2016 Lian Xiao three 20-second byo-yomi122White won by resignation
1730 December 2016 Lian Xiao three 20-second byo-yomi164White won by resignation
1830 December 2016 Ke Jie three 20-second byo-yomi228Black won by 5.5 points
1930 December 2016 Ke Jie three 20-second byo-yomi128White won by resignation
2030 December 2016 Park Junghwan three 20-second byo-yomi255Black won by 5.5 points
2131 December 2016 Chen Yaoye three 20-second byo-yomi270White won by 5.5 points
2231 December 2016 Chen Yaoye three 20-second byo-yomi277White won by 4.5 points
2331 December 2016 Kim Jung-hyun three 20-second byo-yomi135Black won by resignation
2431 December 2016 Park Junghwan three 20-second byo-yomi223Black won by resignation
2531 December 2016 Park Junghwan three 20-second byo-yomi261White won by 0.5 points
2631 December 2016 Yun Chanhee three 20-second byo-yomi217Black won by resignation
2731 December 2016 Fan Tingyu three 30-second byo-yomi215Black won by resignation
2831 December 2016 Meng Tailing three 20-second byo-yomi163Black won by resignation
2931 December 2016 Mi Yuting three 30-second byo-yomi311White won by 0.5 points
3031 December 2016 Tang Weixing three 30-second byo-yomi186White won by resignation
311 January 2017 Li Qincheng 1 minute + three 20-second byo-yomi179Black won by resignation
322 January 2017 Gu Li 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi154White won by resignation
332 January 2017 Gu Li 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi191Black won by resignation
342 January 2017 Dang Yifei 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi149Black won by resignation
352 January 2017 Jiang Weijie 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi280White won by 1.5 points
362 January 2017 Gu Zihao 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi209Black won by resignation
372 January 2017 Park Yeong-hun 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi173Black won by resignation
382 January 2017 Tuo Jiaxi 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi239Black won by resignation
392 January 2017 Yuta Iyama 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi135Black won by resignation
402 January 2017 Meng Tailing 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi274White won by 2.5 points
412 January 2017 Kim Ji-seok 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi170White won by resignation
423 January 2017 Yang Dingxin 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi125Black won by resignation
433 January 2017 Kang Dong-yun 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi165Black won by resignation
443 January 2017 An Sung-joon 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi260White won by 2.5 points
453 January 2017 Shi Yue 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi167Black won by resignation
463 January 2017 Lian Xiao 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi144White won by resignation
473 January 2017 Tan Xiao 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi191Black won by resignation
483 January 2017 Park Junghwan 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi270White won by 1.5 points
493 January 2017 Won Seong-jin 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi222White won by resignation
503 January 2017 Ke Jie 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi178White won by resignation
514 January 2017 Chou Chun-hsun 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi118White won by resignation
524 January 2017 Fan Tingyu 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi202White won by resignation
534 January 2017 Huang Yunsong 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi133Black won by resignation
544 January 2017 Nie Weiping 1 minute + three 60-second byo-yomi254Black won by 7.5 points
554 January 2017 Chen Yaoye 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi267White won by 1.5 points
564 January 2017 Cho Han-seung 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi171Black won by resignation
574 January 2017 Shin Jin-seo 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi139Black won by resignation
584 January 2017 Chang Hao 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi178White won by resignation
594 January 2017 Zhou Ruiyang 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi161Black won by resignation
604 January 2017 Gu Li 1 minute + three 30-second byo-yomi235White won by 2.5 points

Future of Go Summit

The Master version also participated in the Future of Go summit in May 2017. It defeated Ke Jie in a three-game match by three to zero and beat a human team with five top Go professionals.

Innovative moves

Go experts were extremely impressed by Master's performance and by its non-human play style in its online games. Ke Jie stated, "After humanity spent thousands of years improving our tactics, computers tell us that humans are completely wrong... I would go as far as to say not a single human has touched the edge of the truth of Go".
Master played many innovative moves and inspired professional players.
In the 23rd online game Master invaded the 3-3 point at a very early stage.
In the 24th online game Master played six stones along the second line.

Operator errors

On 20 January 2017, DeepMind team members Fan Hui and Aja Huang disclosed that Master's operator accidentally entered a move other than AlphaGo's choice in two situations during the online games.
In the 9th online game, Master recommended point a for Move 107.
In the 39th online game, Master recommended point a for Move 99.

Example game

Online game 30: Master v. Tang Weixing, Master won by resignation. White 36 was widely praised.