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Wired magazine recently said

Most remarkably, AlphaZero uncovered new approaches to the game that dazzled chess experts.

Just what was unique about alpha zero that was so dazzling?

PhishMaster
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edwina oliver
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    Does this answer your question? [How is Alpha Zero "more human"?](https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/19360/how-is-alpha-zero-more-human) – Ellie Feb 21 '20 at 21:22
  • dont know. Wired did not tell us what Kasparov mean by dazzling which I took to be more than super human. – edwina oliver Feb 21 '20 at 21:27
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    again some coward downvotes a question just because *I* asked it – edwina oliver Feb 21 '20 at 23:00
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    I'm downvoting your question because it's short on details. For example, right now, I could equally write an answer that says "because AlphaZero was the first strong NN-based engine". – Allure Feb 21 '20 at 23:32
  • thanks for a reason even if it is not logical. i gave the details I knew and the question asked for you to fill in the rest. i do not know why kasparov said 'more dazzling' and want to know what was more dazzling about alpha zero to experts as noted by kasparov. note that he said expertS plural indicating it was other than him that was dazzled. – edwina oliver Feb 22 '20 at 01:03
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    1) You didn't link the Wired article 2) you didn't specify what experts they were, they could be chess-playing experts, or chess engine experts 3) with no context, "new approaches" can mean anything from openings to search algorithm. So yeah, -1. – Allure Feb 22 '20 at 01:23
  • What kind of answer are you looking for? Experts are dazzled by AZ's attacking style, disregard for its own pawns (they stand in the way of the more powerful pieces), dominance with the bishop pair, and propendency to play moves such as h4. – user134593 Jun 14 '21 at 11:06

1 Answers1

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I could find nothing that would support that statement beyond that it taught itself in a day. This is speculation, but I believe it explains that line in the article.

After researching the author, I found that he is a technology writer, who got a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kent, and later a degree in journalism from University of the Arts London. He currently writes for "Wired", and previously wrote for the MIT Technology Review. Despite that, I could not find a FIDE rating from when he lived in Europe, nor a USCF rating now that he lives in Cambridge Massachusetts.

I get the sense that it could be a "civilian", meaning a guy, who likes chess, but plays chess very casually, who is trying to write an article, and not really understanding the subject fully. It is akin to watching people on TV try to sound like they know about chess.

I think he was simply using his own words to regurgitate the amazement that we chess players all felt when we heard that AlphaZero taught itself in a day, and already could beat the best program, Stockfish.

PhishMaster
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