A mysterious "master" has been beating elite¹ Go players online, leading some to suspect that it may actually be a top-level computer.

近日网络上一位神秘"大师"连续击败围棋高手，以至有人怀疑它可能是一台顶级计算机。

Until recently, even the best artificial intelligence (AI) programs have struggled to beat the world's top Go players - that is until March when a program called AlphaGo beat South Korean Lee Se-dol, one of the world's best.

去年三月，"阿尔法围棋"程序击败了世界最佳棋手之一、韩国的李世石。直至最近，即使是最好的人工智能程序也不太容易击败世界顶尖的围棋手们。

However, a player registered with an ID of "Master" on Chinese online board game platforms eweiqi.com and foxwq.com has won 50 online matches since Dec 29 against a group of elite Go players, including South Korean Park Jung-hwan, Japan's Iyama Yuta and China's Ke Jie, triggering interest in its identity within the professional Go circle.

然而，去年12月29日以来，在国内在线围棋平台弈城和野狐上，一位注册账号为"Master"的棋手在网战中轮番挑战韩国的朴廷桓、日本的井山裕太和中国的柯洁等顶尖围棋高手，并已连赢50场，引发职业围棋界对其身份的兴趣。

No individual player or AI developer has so far claimed to be playing as Master.

目前尚无棋手个人或人工智能开发者承认自己就是Master。

Originating in ancient China, Go is a game where two players take turns placing black and white stones on a 19-by-19 grid².

围棋起源于古代中国，下棋时双方分执黑白，在19x19的棋盘上轮流落子。

Players win by taking control of the most territory on the board, achieved by surrounding opponent's pieces with their own.

棋手通过占据棋盘上的多数地盘来取胜，用他们自己的棋子来包围对手的棋子。

Yu Bin³, head coach of China's national Go team, said the unidentified player's invincible⁴ patterns and speed in taking a move almost every five seconds raise suspicions of an AI program at work.

中国国家围棋队主教练俞斌表示，这位身份不明玩家的无敌模式、以及几乎每5秒就下一棋的速度使得人们怀疑和他们对弈的其实是一个AI程序。

"From its consecutive⁵ victories against the world's top human players in such overwhelming fashion, we can rule out the possibility that 'Master' is controlled by a person. It's highly possible that it's the latest version of an AI player," Yu was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

新华社援引余斌的话说：“从他对弈人类顶尖棋手而势不可挡的连胜来看，我们可以得出'Master'其实是被某人控制的这一可能性。很有可能那是最新版本的AI。”

Gu Li, another elite player from China, offered a reward of 100,000 yuan ($14,300) to the first human player to defeat Master.

另一名中国精英棋手古力则为第一名击败“Master”的人类棋手准备了10万人民币（约合14300美元）的奖金。

"It's not about money. It's about protecting the cultural treasure invented by our ancestors," Gu said on his micro blog account.

古力在他的微博上说道：“这不是钱的问题。这是要保护我们祖先发明的文化瑰宝。”