Lee Sedol's 'Divine Move' that Defeated AlphaGo... Sold for 250 Million Won

Lee Sedol vs AlphaGo match / Photo by Korea Baduk Association

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] The NFT (Non-Fungible Token) of the Go match in which 9-dan Lee Sedol defeated the Go AI 'AlphaGo' was sold at auction for approximately 250.2 million KRW.

On the 18th, blockchain startup '22nd Century Media' announced that the NFT capturing the 4th game of the five-match 'Google DeepMind Challenge Match' between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo was finally sold for 60 Ethereum (about 250.2 million KRW) on the world's largest NFT auction site 'OpenSea'.

An NFT is a type of 'digital certificate of authenticity' issued and stored on a decentralized blockchain, making ownership of a specific digital file tamper-proof.

On the 11th, 22nd Century Media issued the 4th game between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo as an NFT on the Ethereum network and held an auction on OpenSea until 10 a.m. that day.

In the match held on March 13, 2016, which remains the only game where a human defeated AlphaGo, Lee Sedol won by resignation after 180 moves.

This NFT is known to include a photo and signature of Lee Sedol taken against the background of the game record showing black and white stones placed alternately on the Go board during the match, highlighting the 78th white move, which is regarded as the 'Divine Move.' The winning bidder’s OpenSea ID is 'Doohan_Capital'.

Earlier on the 11th, Lee Sedol stated in a press release, "The concept of NFT, which allows something you want to commemorate to be created and owned in digital form using blockchain, is truly interesting, and I believe this NFT issuance could become an intriguing event not only in the Go community but also in our era."

He added, "If the NFT capturing my 25-year Go career symbolized by the match against AlphaGo can be recognized as a collectible with artistic value, I would be very pleased," and said, "If the auction winner wishes, I would like to invite them to play Go together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.