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Herald Tribune/AsahiAsahi Weeklyfrom SiliconValley

Computers outwitting ancient mind battles

11/07/2005

The 81st birthday is known as hanju in Japan, as the strokes in the Chinese character for han can be broken up to read 81 in Chinese numerals. In Japanese chess jargon, however, the 81st birthday is called banju because there are 81 squares on the ban, or shogi board.

The Japan Shogi Association will celebrate its banju in November in Osaka.

This autumn, the hottest topic in the world of shogi is that the association has forbidden professional players from playing matches with computers.

According to a notice sent to all association members in October, anyone who plays a match against a computer at a public place without the association"s permission will face expulsion.

Shogi software has been around for three decades.

The first version, developed in 1974 by a group of Waseda University students, was no better than a complete beginner and required as long as 30 minutes to make a single move.

But thanks to years of work, software today is as good as any amateur who holds the sixth dan, or rank.

During a shogi festival in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2003, a computer even won a team tournament--much to the surprise of organizers.

Lately, shogi software designed inNorth Korea and Britain is catching up with Japan programs.

"In regard to the final moves before checkmate, computers have already surpassed human players," says Takenobu Takizawa, a Waseda University professor and computer shogi expert.

"Except for holders of the highest ranks, humans are no match for computers anymore."

Even champion Yoshiharu Habu, who holds four championship titles, is said to use a computer after matches to check his final moves.

Computers, however, have a clear weakness. A human player can throw his or her computer opponent off by deliberately playing a defensive game and resorting to unorthodox moves in the middle game.

In other words, computers do fine against aggressive, straight forward opponents, but lose their cool, so to speak, to those who are less predictable.

Shogi programs can perhaps be compared to Sasaki Kojiro, the legendary swordsman who lost to his cooler rival Miyamoto Musashi after a long wait for the duel.

Shogi and chess are said to have their roots in an ancient Indian board game. Humans have spent the last few millennia refining their skills, but it took IBM only 50 years to create an artificial intelligence that could beat a flesh-and-blood chess champion.

Some people predict the same could happen with shogi within the next 20 years.

That humans are said to be superior to machines in the Japanese game of go as well as poker brings some relief.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 3(IHT/Asahi: November 7,2005)



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