epa05202172 A handout picture made available by Google shows South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol (R) making the first move in his highly anticipated showdown with the Google-developed supercomputer AlphaGo at a hotel in downtown Seoul, South Korea, 09 March 2016. EPA/GOOGLE -- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE -- SOUTH KOREA OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
SEOUL: A 3,000-year old Chinese board game was the focus of a very 21st century showdown as South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-Dol kicked off his highly anticipated clash with the Google-developed supercomputer, AlphaGo.
Experts were reluctant to tip a winner between Lee, one of the greatest Go players of the modern era who has topped the world ranking for most of the past decade, and the computer, which has already crushed European champion Fan Hui in a 5-0 whitewash.
