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Two computers particpated in the 2005 Cotsen Tournament. The following report is courtesy of the American Go E Journal

Your next opponent may be three feet tall, bright yellow and named after a slimy invertebrate. David Doshay's SlugGo program was one of two go-playing computer programs playing in the 2005 Cotsen Open, held April 29-30, 2005 (Anders Kierulf's SmartGo was the other).

Named after the Banana Slug because it's the mascot of the University of California at Santa Cruz, where Doshay is a Research Associate in computer science and physics (his students wrote the original version according to his specifications). SlugGo also earned its moniker "because it plays so slow," Doshay told the E-Journal yesterday. Powered by 24 Mac minis and a dual G5 Mac tower, SlugGo is a portable version of Doshay's main cluster, which boasts 72 powerful CPUs. The slimmed-down version weighs in at a hefty 200 pounds, with the computers housed in a 3-foot tall bright yellow plastic cart that squats next to the table on which Doshay and SlugGo's opponents play out the games. The Cotsen was SlugGo's debut performance and human opponents had the choice of not being paired with either computer program (AGA rules stipulate that games with computers are not rated), although most agreed to play; SlugGo competed at 9k and SmartGo at 10k. After Saturday's three rounds, the score was Humans 6, Computers 0; on Sunday SlugGo scored one victory so the final result was Humans 9, Computers 1.

"We didn't come here to win," said Doshay cheerfully, "playing in the tournament was just a statement of our existence." Doshay, who says "there's a chance this is the strongest go-playing computer program," hopes to try it out soon against Go Intellect, the Chapel Hill NC-based program that won last year's Computer Olympiad. He's also considering bringing it to this year's U.S. Go Congress in Tacoma, Washington.

Intelligent Go is pleased to announce a complete redesign of its web site.

The next KGS computer Go Tournament is planned for Sunday April 10th. The tournament details are as follows: Board size: 19x19; Rules: Chinese; Format: 5-round Swiss; Player Time: 30 minutes each, absolute; Time of event: Start at 08:00 GMT, Sunday April 10th, 2005.