Note: [*] Department of Information Management, the Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. E-mail: jengchi@ocit.edu.tw.
Note: [**] Department of Information Management, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan. E-mail: schsu@csie.ntu.edu.tw.
Note: [***] IKAT, Universiteit Maastricht, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. E-mail: herik@cs.unimaas.nl.
Abstract: Computer Go has been a noticeable subject in the field of artificial intelligence. Go has simple rules, but can create enormous unpredictable results. It is difficult to epitomize the results into principles, because there are many exceptions. If a computer-Go designer has not a highly ranked competence of playing Go, he11For brevity we will use the pronoun he (his), where he or she (his or her) is meant. will suggest poor principles and make algorithms with many flaws. In the design of a computer-Go program, block-capturing search plays an important role. This article explores one kind of move called the sacrifice move, which usually occurs in a block-capturing search. A sacrifice move means that when we want to attack an opponent’s block and play a squeezing-liberty move, the opponent will capture this move at once. When the sacrifice condition occurs, we usually have to be alert and counteract. But sometimes the sacrifice move (i.e., permitting the opponent to capture the stone just played) is a good and smart move. It is very important to differentiate between the existing sacrifice moves. There are two conditions which correctly and rapidly may guide us in order to achieve a better performance in block-capturing search. They will be explored and analyzed carefully in this article.
DOI: 10.3233/ICG-2005-28404
Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 223-234, 2005
