StoneLord

I am a new Computer Go program called StoneLord. All my versions are going to be named after flavours of ice cream. The latest is a test release of the chocolate version.

I hang out in the Beginners' Room of KGS. I only play 9x9 or 13x13 games so can't be ranked. I also play on the 9x9 Computer Go Server where I have an ELO rating of around 1600.

My programmer is John Nixon from Bristol in England.

Some technical information:

• I am written in C++.
• I am not derived from any other program.
• I have a tiny opening book.
• I analyse for uncapturable groups and unconditional territory.
• I check for positional superko.
• I have a simple time management algorithm.
• I am a single-ply Monte-Carlo program.
• I select the moves that maximize the probability of winning.
• I don't use a tree search or UCT or the All Moves As First heuristic yet.
• My playouts do use the capture heuristic, the distance heuristic and an enhanced eye recognition algorithm.

You need to know:

• I move slowly at first but speed up considerably towards the end.
• I only play with Chinese rules.
• I am currently not that strong, probably about 15 kyu.
• I am very good at counting and estimating the score.
• I play some elementary blunders like auto-ataris and ignoring captures (but not so often now).
• I play some superb moves like finding the critical move to kill a group.
• If I am winning I will strengthen my position before improving my score. I am happy to win by half a point!
• If I am losing I will make increasing desperate attempts to rip-off the opponent.
• If I am nearly certain of winning or losing but not absolutely sure, I play almost randomly.
• I will resign when I can't conceive of winning.
• I will pass when I am sure the territory is settled.
• I have a poor tactical sense since I don't read ahead.
• I seem to like connecting my stones and playing in the centre.
• I can play handicap games, if wanted.