PATTAYA – Thirty-two year-old reigning world Connect 4 champion Nuntaporn “Nok” Hansiri bested Deep Green, the world’s most powerful computer, today in a match that promoters had billed as an epic instance of “woman vs. machine.”
Ms. Hansiri won two games out of three to secure her reputation as the world’s foremost Connect 4 mind, making short work of Deep Green in both of her victories. She lost the middle game on a technicality, after leaving the table to go play darts with someone she called only“Handsome Man.”
“You are handsome man,” she was quoted as saying to the man.
“Well, you win some, you lose some,” said Deep Green, who saw his losing streak at the Pattaya Connect 4 Challenge extend to — ironically enough — four. “And in Pattaya, I mostly lose some,” he added.
A small group identifying themselves as engineers protested when Deep Green was apparently rattled during a crucial move in the third game by shrieks from Ms. Hansiri. “Where you go?! Where you go!?” she demanded, as Deep Green contemplated his turn.
Deep Green, playing black in the game, apparantly proceeded to rush the turn, dropping his disk into the inconsequential far-right slot and exclaiming, “Nowhere, okay? I go nowhere — I mean here… oh, whatever.” After the move, the cadre of engineers rose to their feet in audible protest, but were quickly escorted away by large men in tight black shirts.
“I don’t want to say that Deep Green was intimidated,” said Miguel Gedserias, a Spanish Connect 4 grandmaster who was on hand for the match. “But when a supercomputer starts looking at his toes, what else is there?”
“Now I rich,” said Ms. Hansiri after collecting the US$ 100,000 purse. “Now I *@# on your face.”
Deep Green did his best to keep the loss in perspective.
“On the downside, those geeks at Caltech will probably take me apart and rewire my circuits again to improve my intelligence,” said the supercomputer. “On the upside, I’m in Pattaya and I’ve got nothing to do tomorrow. Woo hoo!”
