Go game formal revealing by Ising model

TL;DR

This paper models the game of Go using the Ising model to quantify control and predict game dynamics, achieving close alignment with actual gameplay data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the Ising model to represent Go strategies and control, linking physical models with game theory.

Findings

Model accurately predicts game control dynamics

Energy functional correlates with player strength

Close fit between model predictions and real games

Abstract

Go gaming is a struggle for territory control between rival, black and white, stones on a board. We model the Go dynamics in a game by means of the Ising model whose interaction coefficients reflect essential rules and tactics employed in Go to build long-term strategies. At any step of the game, the energy functional of the model provides the control degree (strength) of a player over the board. A close fit between predictions of the model with actual games is obtained.