Champion Go ～Crazy Stone～

The crazy stone engine is not bad, compared to GNU Go, but it's play style is still way too mechanic to be enjoyable. It always tries to win by smallest possible margin, resigning every time it starts to lose, doesn't punish obviously bad moves unless you choose the strongest level. On weak levels it mostly plays random moves and resigns at random, which is really boring. It always opens handicap games in exactly same way: If you play a 2 handicap game on 9x9 against it, it will always start by playing 4-4

It was good but the better one is available. Even the free lite version of its successor is stronger than this dated app. Search for 'Crazy Stone Deep Learning' instead. === Previous review === It's actually a downsized version of one of the best two computer go programs. The other one is Zen but it doesn't have mobile app available. So this app, Crazy Stone, has the strongest AI among mobile device apps without doubt.

Please Add a Play Again button in medal mode with a same setting please, it kills me when everytime I want to play again, and I need to get through several options.

Plays at 2 kyu KGS at the highest android level with komi. Generally plays very quickly. Like most computers it doesn't care how much it wins by so it sometimes ignores a threat in the late game and will respond with dames that are unnecessary instead of protecting if it thinks it is ahead.

This is the strongest go playing program on Android, and at the same time the worst Go app ever written for Android, using a screen resolution and a menu navigation style that hadn't been seen since the 80s.

WOULD IT KILL YOU TO ADD A "PLAY AGAIN" BUTTON? Seriously, having to navigate through several menus every time you start a new game is amateur hour. Other than that, it's OK.

I pay for the sub and expect it to be at least at 5d level... why can I still be able to beat it in the even game when I was only kgs 1d :/,

Amazing app, but does not evaluate seki correctly

Months past and still no HD version..

Good graphics and input method

Very nice, no crashes.

Good way to play go.

Pachi is 2Dan. Champion go is 5Dan.

Here's a tip when sending by email. You don't have to actually send the email, just save it as a draft, then the .sgf attachment becomes immediately available. So you can open in Gobandroid, or other editable Go app! Hope this helps.

But be aware that even with the subscription service you won't get the 5 Dan strength that Crazy Stone displays on KGS. Non-subscription version seems to play at 2-3 kyu sort of level on 19*19 and stronger on smaller boards. Rather predictable moves, small joseki repertoire and plays aji keshi kikashi like a 20 kyu. Can't always identity seki correctly. It also resigns too easily. Hopefully some of these issues could be addressed in future releases.

The crazy stone engine is not bad, compared to GNU Go, but it's play style is still way too mechanic to be enjoyable. It always tries to win by smallest possible margin, resigning every time it starts to lose, doesn't punish obviously bad moves unless you choose the strongest level. On weak levels it mostly plays random moves and resigns at random, which is really boring. It always opens handicap games in exactly same way: If you play a 2 handicap game on 9x9 against it, it will always start by playing 4-4

Strong engine but makes strange plays in the opening sometimes. Also, what was the latest update? No mention if it was bug fixes or the long awaited landscape mode which it was not....clue us in on what we are downloading ffs.

I had been using Go Droid which uses the GNU Go engine, and was beginning to beat it with some regularity. Then I switched to Champion Go which made me feel like a complete beginner again! Today I beat it with a 4 stone handicap and no undo's. It will be a long time before I can beat it without a handicap, and that's a good thing. I like the default tap-zoom interface. As others have mentioned, the rest of the UI is a little clunky and unpolished. Also, I would love for saved game records to be public on the device so that I can copy them when I like. It supports an option to email a game, so there is at least one way to get them. The territory view button is helpful, but the back button should take it down. The Options dialog respects the back button, so the "Back" button there is unneeded. The bouncing animation used for most dialogs is really annoying. Please at least give an option to turn that off. Removing the Options back button will provide enough space for that. I like the idea of an atari warning, but as implemented it is distracting and not helpful. Better would be to use a colored overlay on all ataried stones or perhaps a small yellow triangle. Overall, great app!!

Strong AI (2k?), poor tablet UI, but thats not really a problem.

I have the desktop version too. Android play is 1-2 kyu Interface very functional.

It looks poor on 5.5" screen... But very strong AI indeed...

Pachi is 2Dan. Champion go is 5Dan.

But be aware that even with the subscription service you won't get the 5 Dan strength that Crazy Stone displays on KGS.

Plays a tough game.

Very strong AI

This is the best go opponent I've found for Android. But the UI is pretty bad; the back button is ignored. The menu button is ignored. All text zooms up and becomes painfully grainy on a tablet. The AI passes instead of resigns when it knows it is losing. I can't figure out how to disagree over living and dead stones at the end of the game. To top it off, if you close the app and come back later, it forgets the game so you can't start a game then finish the next day. If the UI gets cleaned up and it learns to properly save a game, this will go to 4 or 5 stars.

AI plays pretty solid. Usually. It feels like AI knows Go well. It fights back if need, wisely uses influence, solves life and death problems. Though from time to time AI plays sudden tenuki. The more complicated situation is, the more frequently it happens. It looks like AI has not enough time to estimate the position so it prefers tenuki. It feels a bit awkward when AI suddenly lefts semiai it won already and just gives up its stones. The other thing is AI often plays very bad yose. It can play moves like 25k or worse. Or it can give you lots of its territory for free at the very end of the game. Surprise! Considering the rest of the game it plays just fine. Taking 3 stones handicap it beat me twice or thrice. The funny thing is I usually beat GNUGo 3.8 giving it 6 handi. And yeah, the Champion Go at Iconia Tab A500 was totally overplayed by gnugo 3.8 at core i3. So I can't tell its rank.

As with most go ai's, gets weaker on larger boards, but the strongest setting on 9x9 is definitely ~3-4 dan. Also to respond to another review here, it actually has an absurdly strong endgame. The reason it plays odd moves at the very end is actually a consequence of this. It's strong enough to know if its winning or losing, so it will either play solidifying moves... making the lead "safer". Or it will make overplays, trying to claw its way back in.

Love it but please provide a move to sd option. I would give 5 stars

Strong at 9x9 go, but weaker on the larger boards. The ai is still pretty good. I'm 5 Dan amateur, and it occaisonally beats me on even at 9x9.

This bot is good with a 24-core computer (like the one on KGS), but on my Galaxy tab 10.1, it's a lot weaker...

Great interface, fantastic ai. Well worth it!

Force closes every single time. :(

I am around 4 kyu and tried all the go apps on the market. Pick this one if you want to improve and play strong. Pick Go Free if you want a polished interface and don't need 19*19 games. Pick GoDroid if you are a beginner and want to play on large board.

Top notch application, the best available for practicing Go on the go for Android users.

Nice))

Pretty decent app. Could.do with playing faster on harder settings

Love this app, if you are in the ranges of 3k+ get this. I only play on max settings when i play GO. This AI can give you some challenge, and with handicap ohh boy. He does take some time to think, but considering you see both timers, when u think on the move 2 min, he thinks like 1:30, kind of makes sense, when the board gets extremely complicated. I recommend this app for any GO player. I took away the star for the monthly subscription to get the Best AI performance :( UI is actually good, i don;t know what ppl are complaining about, maybe old versions. Cheers and keep on Baduking ;)

31mb install, no app2sd, force close on open every time so I've got no idea whether it plays a decent game or not. Might try again when the S3 comes out and I upgrade my phone but for now it's a waste of money, uninstalled. HTC Desire. Sellers of fat apps should at least warn in the market if it can't move off phone - hence 1 star for wasting my time.

As a complete neophyte, the settings to progressively become better aren't useful. The game goes from too easy to too difficult. The aesthetics of the game leave a lot to be desired as well. The game looks like it used very poor graphics and nothing was invested into actual design insofar as usability. Lastly, I tried to get a refund, and didn't realize with google play I only had 15 minutes to do so. I asked the developers for the refund after spending 30 minutes with it, and I was completely ignored.