This is a new World Computer Go Championship organized by
Seoul National University college of engineering and Korean
Baduk association. It is sponsored by Garosu.com.
The competition was well-organized, with lots of computers
and student game monitors. The organizers paid for 3 days
stay in a Korean style hotel at SNU.
There was a preliminary competition on the first day, and
a full round robin of the 8 finalists on the second day.
To finish so many games in the time allotted, many programs
played two games simultaneously.
Prize money (in Korean Won) was:
1: 15 Million (about 13,000 US dollars)
2: 10 Million
3: 5 Million
4: 3 Million
5: 2.5 Million
6: 2 Million
7: 1.5 Million
8: 1 Million
28 programs applied to the competition, but only 18 actually participated.
There should be more next year. KCC Igo, from North Korea, was invited,
but chose not to participate, since there was not enough time to prepare.
The tie breaker is unusual. The first tie breaker is the result of the
head-to-head game, which breaks any two way tie. In the case of a
three way tie, the total time used by the program in all matches was specified.
For the preliminary competition, programs were divided into 4 groups. Six programs
were seeded, and the rest had groups chosen by drawing lots. The top two programs
in each group advanced to the finals. Unfortunately, 6 seeds in 4 groups meant
that
only the unseeded programs that were lucky enough to draw groups 1 or 2 had
a shot
at the final competition.
Seeds were:
1: Michael Reiss, Go4++, group 1
2: Chen Zhixing, Goemate, group 2
3: Lei Xiuyu, Wulu, group 3
4: David Fotland, Many Faces of Go, group 4
5: Fun Goo Park, Fungo, group 4
6: Kawa Ryuichi, Haruka, group 3
Results of the preliminaries:
Group 1:
1: Michael Reiss, Go4++, 4 wins
2: Zhang Lianpeng, Northern star, 3 wins
3: Won-ho Jee, GoMaster, 2 wins
4: SNU1, 1 win
5: SNU2, 0 wins
Group 2:
1: Chen Zhixing, Goemate, 4 wins
2: GMS, 3 wins
3: Shinichi Sei, Katsunari, 2 wins
4: Tamura Yukio, Image, 1 win
5: Yong-kyun No, Paduk Invincible, 0 wins
Group 3:
1: Kawa Ryuichi, Haruka, 3 wins
2: Lei Xiuyu, Wulu, 2 wins
3: Tristan Cazanave, Golois, 1 win
4: Lu Jinqiang, Gostar, 0 wins
Group 4:
1: Fun Goo Park, Fungo, 3 wins
2: David Fotland, Many Faces 2 wins
3: Martin Mueller, Explorer, 1 win
4: Feng Shaomin, Topgoer, 0 wins
The final competition result was:
1: Chen Zhixing, Goemate, 7 wins
2: David Fotland, Many Faces of Go, 6 wins
3: Michael Reiss, Go4++, 5 wins
4: Kawa Ryuichi, Haruka, 4 wins
5: Lei Xiuyu, Wulu, 3 wins
6: Fun goo Park, Fungo, 2 wins
7: GMS 1 win
8: Zhang Lianpeng, Northern star, 0 wins
Goemate was the same version as in last November's Ing competition, since his
current version is a little bit weaker. It was clearly the best program.
Seo Bongsu, 9 Dan professional, played a 9 stone game with Goemate, and
granted it a Korean 9 Kyu diploma.
The next 5 programs are very close in strength. Many Faces beat Go4++ by only
7.5 points. Haruka lost to Go4++ by 0.5 points and beat Wulu by 0.5 points.
In the Haruka-Wulu game, Wulu's last move was an unneccesary reinforcement,
losing a point. Haruka would have beaten Go4++ with a 5.5 komi instead of the
6.5
komi used. Many Faces beat Haruka by only 6.5 points. Go4++ only beat Fungo
by
9.5 points. In most of the games between these programs, the lead changed
several times.
The last two programs generally lost their games by large margins.
-David Fotland
Some of the SGF records are available here.