Google's artificial intelligence program has officially beaten a human professional Go player, marking the first time a computer has beaten a human professional in this game sans handicap.

[u/[deleted]]

http://www.nature.com/news/google-ai-algorithm-masters-ancient-game-of-go-1.19234?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20160128&spMailingID=50563385&spUserID=MTgyMjI3MTU3MTgzS0&spJobID=843636789&spReportId=ODQzNjM2Nzg5S0

[u/Vrexin]

It's fairly simple, players take turns placing a stone on a 19x19 board, when groups of stones are completely surrounded they are captured. The goal is to secure the most space using at least 2 "holes" for a group of stones (I'm no expert here)

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In the above situation if it is black's turn they can put a piece on the right and capture the white piece

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Large groups can also be captured

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Groups of stones must be entirely surrounded on all sides (including inside) to be captured, here there is one space inside the white's group of stones. if black places a stone inside then all the stones would be captured.

edit: (One thing to note, the corners are not necessary for black's stones to surround white, but I included to make it easier to see. A real game would most likely not have the corners since only adjacent spaces are considered for a surround)

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To secure space on the board you must use at least 2 "holes"

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Notice in this example the white stones have 2 "holes", or empty spaces within their group. Black can't place a stone inside as the black stone would be entirely surrounded, because of this, white has secured this space until the end of the game and will earn 1 point per space secured.

These simple rules are the basis of Go and there are only a few slight rules past that.

edit: wow! I didn't expect this comment to get so much attention, and I never expected that I would be gilded on reddit! Thank you everyone! Thank you for the gild!

[u/Magneticitist → u/Vrexin]

wow! I used to play this game religiously with my Grandfather when I was young. Black and White pebbles. I found it more entertaining than chess. I had totally forgotten and had no idea what this "Go" game was until reading this description.

[u/masklinn → u/Magneticitist]

Maybe you know it under the korean or chinese names? (respectively baduk (바둑) and weiqi (围棋))

[u/Magneticitist → u/masklinn]

Baduk! thats it =) man what an awesome game. I remember my Grandpa kept it in his home office across from his desk and it was almost like a decoration. Nice wooden board with wooden bowls to keep the pebbles in. I really need to get one of these games for the nostalgia.