Lorentz_Nemesis.jpgIt attracts just a tiny fraction of the attention its famous namesake commands, and most people have never heard of the games it features. But for some of the world’s most elite—and dedicated—artificial intelligence game programmers, the annual International Computer Olympiad, held this past fall in Kanazawa, Japan, is a big deal, attracting contestants from around the world. And for the last six years, one of the most dedicated—and successful—contestants has been CECS’s own Richard Lorentz, a professor of computer science.

“It’s a labor of love and also a vehicle for finding projects for my students, especially master’s students,” he says. “But it’s more than that too. It’s honest-to-goodness artificial intelligence.” The event, sponsored by the International Computer Games Association, pits computer programs against each other to play games ranging from chess and checkers to backgammon, bridge, Scrabble and the traditional Japanese game Go to more obscure games.

“The goal is to find ways to make computers act intelligently,”
Lorentz explains.

Lorentz_Kenrokuen_Kanazawa.jpgIn the most recent Olympiad, held September 24 to October 10, 2010, Lorentz competed in two games, Amazons and Havannah. “I wanted games that computers can’t play well so I could exercise the artificial intelligence part and also that don’t have major teams at universities and companies,” he says.

As it turned out, he was definitely up for the challenge. Although he attended the competition on his own, his work built on that of some former students, one of whom continued to collaborate with him remotely during the meet. In the end, he proved to have the winning formula, capturing a gold medal for Amazons and a silver medal for Havannah.