棋魂現世? Master橫掃人類頂尖棋手!

A mysterious "master" has been beating elite Go players online, leading some to suspect that it may actually be a top-level computer.

近日網絡上一位神祕"大師"連續擊敗圍棋高手，以至有人懷疑它可能是一臺頂級計算機。

Until recently, even the best artificial intelligence (AI) programs have struggled to beat the world's top Go players - that is until March when a program called AlphaGo beat South Korean Lee Se-dol, one of the world's best.

去年三月，"阿爾法圍棋"程序擊敗了世界最佳棋手之一、韓國的李世石。直至最近，即使是最好的人工智能程序也不太容易擊敗世界頂尖的圍棋手們。

However, a player registered with an ID of "Master" on Chinese online board game platforms and has won 50 online matches since Dec 29 against a group of elite Go players, including South Korean Park Jung-hwan, Japan's Iyama Yuta and China's Ke Jie, triggering interest in its identity within the professional Go circle.

然而，去年12月29日以來，在國內在線圍棋平臺弈城和野狐上，一位註冊賬號爲"Master"的棋手在網戰中輪番挑戰韓國的樸廷桓、日本的井山裕太和中國的柯潔等頂尖圍棋高手，並已連贏50場，引發職業圍棋界對其身份的興趣。

No individual player or AI developer has so far claimed to be playing as Master.

目前尚無棋手個人或人工智能開發者承認自己就是Master。

Originating in ancient China, Go is a game where two players take turns placing black and white stones on a 19-by-19 grid.

圍棋起源於古代中國，下棋時雙方分執黑白，在19x19的棋盤上輪流落子。

Players win by taking control of the most territory on the board, achieved by surrounding opponent's pieces with their own.

棋手通過佔據棋盤上的多數地盤來取勝，用他們自己的棋子來包圍對手的棋子。

Yu Bin, head coach of China's national Go team, said the unidentified player's invincible patterns and speed in taking a move almost every five seconds raise suspicions of an AI program at work.

中國國家圍棋隊主教練俞斌表示，這位身份不明玩家的無敵模式、以及幾乎每5秒就下一棋的速度使得人們懷疑和他們對弈的其實是一個AI程序。

"From its consecutive victories against the world's top human players in such overwhelming fashion, we can rule out the possibility that 'Master' is controlled by a person. It's highly possible that it's the latest version of an AI player," Yu was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

新華社援引餘斌的話說：“從他對弈人類頂尖棋手而勢不可擋的連勝來看，我們可以得出'Master'其實是被某人控制的這一可能性。很有可能那是最新版本的AI。”

Gu Li, another elite player from China, offered a reward of 100,000 yuan ($14,300) to the first human player to defeat Master.

另一名中國精英棋手古力則爲第一名擊敗“Master”的人類棋手準備了10萬人民幣（約合14300美元）的獎金。

"It's not about money. It's about protecting the cultural treasure invented by our ancestors," Gu said on his micro blog account.

古力在他的微博上說道：“這不是錢的問題。這是要保護我們祖先發明的文化瑰寶。”