It took AlphaZero only a few hours of self-learning to become the chess player that shocked the world. The artificial intelligence system AlphaZero had been fed nothing but the rules of the Royal Game when it beat the worlds strongest chess engine in a prolonged match. The selection of ten games published in December 2017 created a worldwide sensation: how was it possible to play in such a brilliant and risky style and not lose a single game against an opponent of superhuman strength? For Game Changer, Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan investigated more than two thousand previously unpublished games by AlphaZero. They also had unparalleled access to its team of developers at DeepMind and were offered a unique look under the bonnet to grasp the depth and breadth of AlphaZeros search. Sadler and Regan reveal its thinking process and tell the story of the human motivation and the techniques that created AlphaZero. Game Changer also presents a collection of lucidly explained chess games of astonishing quality. Both professionals and club players will improve their game by studying AlphaZeros stunning discoveries in every field that matters: opening preparation, piece mobility, initiative, attacking techniques, long-term sacrifices and much more. The story of AlphaZero has a wider impact. Game Changer offers intriguing insights into the opportunities and horizons of Artificial Intelligence. Not just in solving games, but in providing solutions for a wide variety of challenges in society. With a Foreword by former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and an Introduction by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.
Matthew Sadler (1974) is a Grandmaster and a former British Champion. He has been writing the famous Sadler on Books column for New In Chess magazine for many years. With his co-author Natasha Regan, Sadler twice won the prestigious English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. In 2016 for Chess for Life and in 2019 for their worldwide bestseller Game Changer: AlphaZeros Groundbreaking Chess Strategies and the Promise of AI.
Natasha Regan is a Womens International Master from England who achieved a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan won the English Chess Federation 2016 Book of the Year Award for their book Chess for Life.
Demis Hassabis (1976) is co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, the worlds leading AI research organisation which developed AlphaGo, the first program to master Go. A child chess prodigy, he is also a renowned computer scientist, neuroscientist and videogame designer.
Chess has been shaken to its roots by AlphaZero, but this is only a tiny example of what is to come. Hidebound disciplines like education and medicine will also be shaken. -- Garry Kasparov
BBC Focus magazine, January 2019, carries an excerpt from new book Game Changer. Its an excerpt from the Introduction by Demis Hassabis, founder of artificial intelligence company DeepMind, the devlopers of AlphaZero - the technology which is the subject of Game Changer. The article points out why this technology is important in a much wider arena than the world of chess!
Most unnerving was that AlphaZero seemed to express insight. It played like no computer ever has, intuitively and beautifully, with a romantic, attacking style. -- Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics at Cornell, New York Times
Quite inspirational. I was thinking at several points during the game [in Round 11 of the 2019 Tata Steel Chess Tournament]: how would AlphaZero have approached this? World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen
I love Game Changer. This is a phenomenal book. -- International Master John Bartholomew, on his YouTube Channel
One of the most important chess books ever written. -- Grandmaster Raymond Keene, The Spectator
I absolutely love it. A fascinating read: provocative, inspiring, instructive and joyful. AlphaZeros style is great fun, some of the things it is doing are incredible. This is just a great book. Grandmaster Daniel King, on his YouTube channel
