Stratego AI beats champion by inferring hidden pieces

Researchers’ Ataraxos system won 15 of 20 Stratego games against champion Pim Niemeijer, losing one and drawing four, Ars Technica reports on a Nature study. A second neural network estimates hidden pieces to support its searches, using much less computing than an earlier system. The result demonstrates performance within the game; wider real-world usefulness and explanations for its decisions remain research questions.