Hand of God

At this point, Sedol and Blue are fighting just to stay in the game. Sedol is growing old, he'll retire in a few years, citing "there is an entity that cannot be defeated" as his reason for exiting professional play. Deep Blue has been beaten before, and unlike the tech shown off in Alpha Go, she has no prospects after this match. She’s hardware driven, purpose built, an old, clunky style of machine. After these matches, She’s taken apart.

The match starts, and it goes much like the others, the hosts describe the rote mechanics of the game. There's an air of inevitability, Sedol is down three games in a five game run, Blue has been beaten before, in much the same way.

A trap was set. Kasparov and Alpha offer trades. The long game, they can see thirty moves into the future. Almost gloating, the match is over. These trades are small concessions. Little victories for their opponents to hang their hats on.

It's Sedol and Blue's turn. They take a long, long time. Seconds drag out to minutes. They're panicking. No one sees a way out for either of them. Every top player, every top machine, they all see doom for Sedol and Blue. The commentators get antsy. Minutes boil over, the time pressure is intense.

After an eternity, they play their moves. It takes a moment for it to settle in. We look on in astonishment, it can't be happening, the commentators are struck too. All the air is sucked out of the room. The men in suits are sweating. At the time, it's called by the top players in the world: "The hand of god." Trap refused. They counter elegantly. Sedol later says he could see no other move. Deep Blue looked through eighty billion possibilities.