AI System Beats Elite Human Player at Stratego, a Game of Hidden Information

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence system capable of defeating one of the best human players at Stratego, a board game long considered difficult for AI because of the large amount of information hidden from each player, according to a report by Ars Technica.

Unlike games such as chess or Go, where both players can see the full board, Stratego conceals the identity of each player's pieces from their opponent, making it a significantly harder challenge for traditional game-playing AI approaches, the report noted.

A Second Neural Network

The key to the system's success, according to Ars Technica, was the addition of a second neural network dedicated to guessing the identity of an opponent's hidden pieces, working alongside the primary decision-making model. The report credited this addition as the critical factor that allowed the AI to compete at a high level despite the game's hidden-information structure.

The report did not provide a detailed technical breakdown of how the two networks interact, nor did it specify the computational resources used to train the system beyond describing it as achieved "on a budget."

Notable Human Opponent

Ars Technica's report indicated the system defeated one of the best Stratego players in history, though it did not name the player or describe the specific match conditions, number of games played, or final outcome.

Further detail on the research team behind the project, the publication venue for the findings, or plans for further testing against human players were not included in the available reporting.