Go grandmaster Shin defeats AI KataGo with a two-stone handicap

On July 17, South Korean Go grandmaster Shin Jin-seo faced off against the world's premier artificial intelligence Go engine, KataGo, in an official three-match series. The series finale took place on July 21, with Shin emerging victorious, defeating KataGo by a decisive 11.5-point margin after 221 moves. This historic win marked Shin as the first human to defeat a state-of-the-art AI engine under a two-stone handicap, a condition considered the absolute boundary for human competition against modern AI.

Shin, ranked nine-dan, the highest achievable Go rank, learned valuable lessons from his earlier matches against KataGo. Initially copying AI moves led to heavy losses, but he realized that building the board according to his own style proved more effective. During the third and final match, Shin focused on defense and territory preservation, launching a measured attack against KataGo on move 80.

The victory came after a tough loss in the opening match, which Shin acknowledged as a step towards understanding the unique challenges of playing against AI. Despite the match being played under handicap conditions, Shin's triumph demonstrated that human players can still push the boundaries of Go in the AI era. His win also secured a performance award of 250 million won ($170,000) and a luxury sedan, a Genesis G90, from Hyundai Motor Co.