Game Changer: AlphaZero's Groundbreaking Chess Strategies and the Promise of AI

Perfect gift for chess lovers

I feel less motivated to read other chess strategies books after I started reading this book. Obviously I am not aiming to play like AlphaZero. Just like when I read books by chess masters I know my limitation and can't play like them. But it doesn't mean I can't learn anything from their games. And it is certainly useful to learn about what AlphaZero found to be probabilistically the best strategies. Since I have a background in math and science, the parts about AlphaZero's development and machinery are also interesting to me.

A brilliant and highly topical book written by two excellent authors. One of which is a WIM Natasha Regan who I happen to know personally from Barnet chess club years back - Natasha was crushing often players over 200 ECF in the Herts League and is a great player in her own right as well as amazing mathematician. The other great co-author Matthew Sadler is one of the the UK's strongest ever grandmasters who has done an immensely deep and great analysis of key games of Alphazero showing them in historical context and a great template for how to use the plans in one's own play. Alphazero introduced amazing games to the Chessworld which literally reignited my Youtube channel with mind-blowing games. I later started checking out Leela Chess games with very high priority which is a kind of open source version of Alphazero, and have been fascinated by the Neural Network style of play ever since. This book serves as a wonderful introduction to the style and concepts reiterated or original which Neural Networks have brought to the game. Alphazero by crushing Stockfish 8 at the time really made huge waves in the Chess World which has been revitalised really with the Leela chess project. Our Chess world in terms of chess engines is set for a huge storm and these are the beginnings - Alphazero and Leela Chess.

I bought this book because I was interested in how the architecture of a deep-learning neural-net chess program differs from the tree-search paradigm of existing programs. From my point of view there were some rewarding sections: the introduction by Garry Kasparov the autobiographical chapter by DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, the overview essays by the authors (and chess experts) Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, and in particular chapter 4, a detailed analysis of 'How AlphaZero thinks'. Most of the book, however, is devoted to detailed analysis of games between AlphaZero and the current computer world champion program Stockfish. It is a contest of attacking flair from DeepMind against inexorable nitpicking from Stockfish. Flair beats pedantry pretty much every time in this battle of the AIs. That is not, however, the human experience! Although there are easy-to-read insights for the reader primarily interested in AI, these could be as easily obtained from the Wikipedia article on AlphaZero. This book will be of greatest interest to serious chess players who will want to do as recommended and play the many games analysed in detail on their own boards. It is promised that they will learn a great deal.

The book is a detailed review of the AlphaZero AI program. Although it has a high level view on wider considerations it mostly covers the use as a chess program. I read it twice, once from my mobile phone skimming over the detailed chess analysis and once using a board and pieces as the authors recommend. A quick read is sufficient to pick up the main aspects of AlphaZero's play and how it is different from other programs. A slower read is essential for grasping the detail of why its play is different. Many books offer the promise of improving your play. This may indeed be possible here. The themes brought out such as effective use of a rook's pawn or the meaning of 0.00 on a regular chess engine could certainly help club and tournament players advance their game. There is more detail than I expected to see. For example some of the key decisions made by AlphaZero are subjected to painstaking analysis to try to isolate themes understandable to us humans. I found that some of the variations were a little long for me to find the energy to cover fully but it's nice to have the choice of how deeply to delve. Overall a very enjoyable read with much care and attention clearly put into its preparation.

As a hobbyist chess player with an awful lot to learn about the game, I found this book amazing. AlphaZero seems to be the hottest topic in chess at the moment so to read such a comprehensive review of the subject is really interesting. The authors have taken the trouble to put AlphaZero into the context of computers in chess, and to explain how it works in layman's terms. The bulk of the book describes the themes that make AlphaZero's play so strong, but does so in a way that you don't need to be a grandmaster to understand. The book is very well laid-out with plenty of diagrams throughout the games discussed - most can be followed without the use of a physical board and pieces. I also love the analytical approach taken in evaluating Alpha Zero's styles and strengths, and the use of tabulated data where appropriate. It's hard to imagine a better book on the subject. Congratulations to the authors!

Excellent book on a very interesting topic. This was a real game changer and has completely changed the way I play chess

Very intuitive, very easy to follow, and engaging. A lot of non-trivial observations. Highly recommended!

Sadler es sinónimo de buen escribir en ajedrez. Un libro exhaustivo sobre el tema y que, curiosamente, queda uno con ganas de más

This is a great book for chess lovers. It is very structured and written, and examines a number of games between the new learning AI chess engine Alpha-Zero by Google, against the reigning world-champion chess engine Stockfish. What is most striking is how human-like and intuitive Alpha-zero plays, like a Kasparov on steroids, and the authors really draws this out with great examples. It has already become one of my favourite chess books!

S Teir chess book! I am a chess coach and bibliophile. This is one of the best chess books ever written and the clear #1 on computer and what we can learn from them about chess. Clearly writen and useful for players of all levels. Even if you do not get the very advances topics the ideas on how chess computers changed top level chess are facinating. Read for fun at any level, but best for player 1600 + with a love of chess. Not recomend for new players.

Consiglio questo libro a tutti quelli che si avvicinano al mondo dell’AI e che hanno passione per il gioco degli scacchi.

Me parece un libro bastante bien hecho. Imposible analizar las 1000 partidas que se jugaron, pero hace un análisis muy bueno. Para amantes del ajedrez, y si además tienen conceptos de informática, mucho mejor.