"Chess is the greatest game mankind has invented, game designer Alex Randolph once said. Go is the greatest game mankind has discovered. Something about the ancient Chinese duel, where players place stones on a grid, trying to capture territory, feels fundamental—inevitable, even. Chess had fallen to the robots nearly 20 years earlier, when DeepBlue beat Kasparov, but Go, with its vast decision space (there are far more legal board positions than atoms in the observable universe) remained a plucky holdout."
"Over five matches, watched by more than 200 million people globally, DeepMind won four games to one. After his third loss, Lee Se-dol apologised: I, Lee Se-dol, lost, but mankind did not. The real winner was DeepMind and its CEO, Demis Hassabis."
"Hassabis was unusually bright from an early age. He started playing chess—and beating adults—at four. By five, he was competing in tournaments, sitting on a phone book on top of two stacked chairs so he could see the table. By nine, he was captain of the England under-11 team. By 13, he had achieved the rank of chess master and was the second-strongest player in his age group globally."
In March 2016, DeepMind's AlphaGo defeated South Korean Go champion Lee Se-dol in a historic five-match competition watched by over 200 million people globally. Go, an ancient Chinese game with vastly more possible positions than atoms in the universe, had remained unconquered by artificial intelligence long after chess fell to computers. AlphaGo's victory represented a watershed moment in AI development. Demis Hassabis, DeepMind's CEO, emerged as the architect of this achievement. Hassabis's journey to this pinnacle began with extraordinary early talent in chess, becoming a master by age thirteen and captain of England's under-11 team. His background reflects remarkable personal narratives, with parents who overcame significant hardship to build successful lives.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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