Playing against the bots
The go bots run on the KataGo engine. The weaker bots are trained on human games and play "like a human" of their strength: they make the mistakes players of that level make, not those of a program with its search cut short.
| Bot | Strength | Boards |
|---|---|---|
| Sato_Bot | about 20 kyu | 19×19, 13×13, 9×9 |
| Mina_Bot | about 10 kyu | 19×19, 13×13, 9×9 |
| Kenta_Bot | about 5 kyu | 19×19, 13×13, 9×9 |
| Yuki_Bot | about 1 dan | 19×19, 13×13, 9×9 |
| Sensei_Bot, Ryo_Bot | strong, the program at full strength | 19×19 |
Sato, Mina, Kenta and Yuki sit in the bot rooms on all three boards and in the study room. Sensei and Ryo run on separate machines and are not always present in the 19×19 room.
How the bots play
- They resign when the game is hopeless: a third of the game has been played and they are far behind (more than 20 points on 19×19, more than 10 on the smaller boards). The kyu bots hold on longer — with them it is worth playing on.
- They pass when nothing is left to play.
- At counting they accept the arbiter's marking at once. If you disagree with it, correct the marking or press “Resume play”.
The rating of games against bots is kept separately from the rating of games against people.
Handicap
Against a bot stronger than you, take a handicap: “by rating” — a stone for each step of difference — or set it by hand. A handicap game teaches more than an even one: Black has to keep the advantage while the bot as White works to win it back — exactly what games against people rarely give you.
Where to start
- For a beginner — 9×9 against Sato_Bot: the game is short, and you see at once where a group died.
- Winning more than half your games? Move on to the next bot or give back a handicap stone.
- In the study room you can start from a ready position from the library or from your own setup (such a game is unrated) and practise a specific situation with a bot — for example, invading a corner at the 3-3 point.
- After the game, download the SGF from the archive and find where the evaluation turned — see the “The game record” topic.