Computer Shogi - Computers Versus Humans

Computers Versus Humans

In the 1980s, due to the immaturity of the technology in such fields as programming, CPUs and memory, computer shogi programs took a long time to think, and often made moves for which there was no apparent justification. These programs had the level of an amateur of kyu rank.

In the first decade of the 21st century, computer shogi has taken large steps forward in software and hardware technology. In 2007 top shogi player Yoshiharu Habu estimated the strength of the 2006 world computer shogi champion Bonanza. He contributed to the newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun evening edition on March 26, 2007 about the match between Bonanza and then Ryūō Champion Akira Watanabe. Habu rated Bonanza’s game at the level of 2 dan shoreikai.

In particular, computers are most suited to brute-force calculation, and far outperform humans at the task of finding ways of checkmating from a given position, which involves many fewer possibilities. In games with time limits of 10 seconds from the first move, computers are becoming a tough challenge for even professional shogi players. The past steady progress of computer shogi is a guide for the future. In 1996 Habu predicted a computer would beat him in 2015. Akira Watanabe gave an interview to the newspaper Asahi Shimbun in 2012. He estimated the computer played at the 4 dan professional level. Watanabe also said the computer sometimes found moves for him.

On 23 October 2005, at the 3rd International Shogi Forum, the Japan Shogi Association permitted Toshiyuki Moriuchi, 2005 Meijin, to play computer shogi program YSS. Toshiyuki Moriuchi won the game playing 30 seconds per move with a Bishop handicap. In 2012, a retired professional lost a match with computer publicly first, and in 2013, active shogi professionals too.