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Humans vs. computers: The ancient pastime

of strategy games
A computer called AlphaGo is competing against human South Korean Go champion Lee
Sedol this week. Here's how strategy games came about thousands of years ago - and
where humans are weakest.

Date 09.03.2016
Author Janina Martens / kbm
All galleries in Media Center
Keywords AlphaGo, Lee Sedol,
strategy games, chess, Go, lifestyle,
digital culture
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Permalink http://dw.com/p/1I9su

Pop hits that conquered the

globe
This analysis of the German pop
scene's success abroad is
unprecedented in scope.

Chess: King of games

The word chess is derived from the Persian "shah," which means king. The board was developed between
the third and sixth centuries in India and is comprised of 64 small squares. Only two players can play
against each other, using 16 pieces each. The aim is to checkmate your opponent by threatening their king in
such a way that it cannot escape or be freed by another piece in the next move.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Games of strategy are nearly as old as humanity itself. The game Wei-qi, for example, was a favorite
among intellectuals 4,000 years ago in ancient China. It later evolved into Go, which has become a

RADAR
Each week our Arts.21 reporters
scour Germany's cultural scene and
present you with a selection of their
best finds.

popular pastime in Japan and Korea.

For a long time, this complex strategy game involving 361 black and white tiles was restricted to the

realm of human minds. Again and again, software developers failed to develop a computer version that
could handle the countless combinations possible in the game - and keep up with people.
But in January, Google subsidiary DeepMind had a breakthrough and its artificially intelligent
program AlphaGo beat European Go champion, Fan Hui. Now, from March 9-15, AlphaGo is
challenging South Korean Go master Lee Sedol in an event being streamed live on YouTube.

Computers better at strategy than humans

Charlie Chaplin museum

opens in Switzerland

Man against machine - when it comes to strategy games, that's nothing new. The chess supercomputer
Deep Blue beat the reigning human champion Garry Kasparov 19 years ago. In strategy, artificial
intelligence is frequently superior to humans. The reason is fairly simple: Strategy games have nothing
to do with chance.
Instead, success is dependent on long-term planning throughout a game, and not individual moves.

He shook up the silent film world

by playing the tramp and was
banned from the US for two
decades. Now a museum is opening
at Charlie Chaplin's former villa in
rural Switzerland - complete with a
cinema.

Math plays a bigger role than intuition or luck.

Nevertheless, strategy games are deeply ingrained in human cultures. Even thousands of years ago,

people challenged each other to prove their tactical skills and strategic prowess - all over the world.

Some of the world's oldest games

The oldest known strategy game is mancala, which involves
redistributing stones or beans in small indents carved out into a
board. Played both in Africa and Asia, the game eventually made
its way to Western cultures in the form of kalaha, which was

That Shakespeare Rhythm

developed in the mid-20th century in the US and is also known in

Is it possible to translate
Shakespeares incomparable
English into incomparable
German? Frank Gnther manages
it better than any other. He gets it
all right: the feel, rhythm and
sound of the Bard's powerful
words.

Europe.
Kalaha was marketed as the "oldest board game in the world" even though its exact origins are unclear. Though makers claimed
the game was 5,000 years old, that seems to be a myth.
The first written reference to mancala appeared in an Arabic text
Chess champ Garry Kasparov

in the 10th century. The oldest known game boards, dating back to

famously lost to the computer

between the sixth and eighth centuries, have been found in

Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, among other places.

Just as old - or perhaps even older - is the best known strategy game in the world: chess. For decades,
experts debated the true origin of the game, until in 2002 Munich-based cultural historian Renate
Syed brought forth convincing evidence that chess was developed in India around the year 450 BC. The
game arose from the military simulations of Indian scholars.
At some point, the scholars put their tactical exercise onto a board with 64 squares, known in India as
astapada, which is not far from our modern-day chess board.
Simulated war tactics have not only led to chess, but to many other strategy games as well, particularly
in the digital age. "Dawn of War," "Command & Conquer," "Age of Empire" - the titles of some of
today's popular computer games ring of armed conflict. Since the 1980s, war has been an integral part
of the computer game industry. In the meantime, calmer ancient classics like chess and checkers have
also welcomed digital cousins.
Soon even the cleverest strategists won't have a chance against computers - at least not when it comes

Aerodrums Drumming
without drums
First came the air-guitar, now there
are Aerodrums. A British start-up
has mated a high-speed camera
with a computer program to turn
out licks without ever even
touching a drum.

to pure strategy games. But when luck and chance are involved, humans still have the upper hand.

AlphaGo: a computer program so close to human intelligence it's far from artificial
As Lee Se-dol, the Go world champion, prepares to face Google DeepMind's computer program AlphaGo, in a five
game match starting Wednesday, his chances look slim. AlphaGo is almost human. (08.03.2016)

AI program beats three-time champion at Go

In a stunning feat that shocked its creators, a computer program has masterfully claimed a victory at the complex
game Go against a human. DeepMind's chief executive said the program's strong victory was not expected.
(27.01.2016)

Finding video games with added cultural value

Avantgarde Shakespeare
Two very exciting Germanlanguage Shakespeare productions
can currently be seen at Berlins
Schaubhne theatre. We interview
the man behind them, director
Thomas Ostermeier.

Computer games combine film, music, literature and more. Some emphasize quality visuals and a good story.
DW reporter Ananda Brunig went looking for those at the Gamescom and the Platine festival. (06.08.2015)
D

10 strategy games that are good for your brain

T A

L T

Date 09.03.2016
Author Janina Martens / kbm
Keywords AlphaGo, Lee Sedol, strategy games, chess, Go, lifestyle, digital culture
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Print

World chess champion

Magnus Carlsen: 'The
computer never has been
an opponent'

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A T

Lee scores first victory

against AlphaGo 13.03.2016
South Korean Grandmaster Lee
Sedol has won the fourth game of
Go in the five-match duel against
the Google-developed
supercomputer. The human Go
champion said he managed to find
weaknesses in the software.

World chess champion Magnus

Carlsen will be defending his title
this fall against his Russian
challenger, Sergey Karjakin. The
25-year-old Norwegian tells DW
how he wants to make chess more
accessible to everyone.

Game Over! AlphaGo

defeats S. Korean
grandmaster at Go 12.03.2016
A computer program has claimed
victory over another pre-eminent
Go champion after winning its
third consecutive game.
DeepMind's executive hailed Lee
Sedol's "incredible genius" despite
the Go champion's loss.

10 strategy games that are

good for your brain 09.03.2016

From chess to StarCraft, here are

10 classic strategy games that will
challenge - and strengthen - your
brain.

Your favorite subjects on

Euromaxx!
This week you revealed to us what
you like to watch most on
Euromaxx. To find out which lucky
participants will receive a small
"thank you", click here:

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