b!Gollem
genetic programming to play the game go
gollem (alt. golem) -- n. In Jewish folklore, an artificially created human being supernaturally endowed with life.
What is Go ?
Go is an ancient game of strategy that is played all over the world.
- Two players take turns placing stones on a 19 by 19 grid of lines. (Stones are placed at the intersections.)
- An empty intersection immediately adjacent to a stone is known as a liberty of that stone.
- Stones of the same color that are directly connected are known as a group. Groups share
liberties, so that two adjacent stones may have six liberties.
- A group that has no liberties (one that is completely surrounded by stones of a different color) is captured and
removed from the board.
- At any point a player may pass rather than placing a stone. Play continues until both players pass on consecutive turns.
- The ko rule forbids repetition of a board position.
- The winner is determined by the amount of territory surrounded on the board and the number of
opponent stones that have been captured (depending on the particular rule-set used).
More information about go can be found at the pages referenced in my go links page.
A screen shot from b!Gollem of a game in progress.
What is b!Gollem ?
Gollem is a genetic programming system that evolves strategies to play the game go.
You can use Gollem to referee a game between two people, you can play against the
computer, you can pit Gollem against itself, or you can watch Gollem "evolve" by
"breeding" new players.
Gollem is a work in progress that is nearing completion. The pages that follow
provide an overview of the design of the system. The pages are organized as follows:
The GUI Interface
A user's guide.
Genetic Components
What Gollem knows, how Gollem learns.
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or my main index.
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