How to play Go, the game that humans keep losing to Google's highly intelligent computer brain

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Go board game

Getty Images AsiaPac

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After seeing Google's artificial intelligence system "AlphaGo" beat one of the best Go players alive last week, I decided to try the popular game myself.

I know how to play the game, but I'm still a beginner. The last time I played Go was almost 15 years ago, so I didn't have any luck beating any of the online gaming systems I played against.

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But playing Go a few times made me realize why Google may be so obsessed with it - and it probably has nothing to do with the game itself.

Here's how to play Go, and what I learned returning to the game after more than a decade.

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