FULL STORY
Google's Astra: From Crushing Humans to Building Its Own Chess Engine
Google researcher Mike Frank was crushed by Astra at chess, publishing the game archive; days later he showed Astra building its own Python chess engine and issued an open challenge.
2026-09-10 ~ 2026-09-12 · 2 episodes · 6 posts
Episode 1 · Google's Astra Beats Human Chess Players; Game Archives Released (2026-09-10, 3 posts)
Google researcher Mike Frank was decisively beaten by the AI chess system Astra, and later published an archive of ten interactive game replays, including Astra (Ultra)'s win over human player Dr. Thanos.
- Microsoft engineer loses handily to AI in a match, promises replay and commentary — MikePFrank · 2026-09-10
- Astra (Ultra) beats human at chess, full game replay with engine eval archived — MikePFrank · 2026-09-10
- Mike Frank publishes archive of Astra chess games vs bots and first human, ~1800-2000 ELO — MikePFrank · 2026-09-12
Episode 2 · GPT-6 Astra Builds Its Own Chess Engine, Remains Unbeaten (2026-09-12, 3 posts)
Mike Frank let GPT-6 Astra build its own Python chess engine with no external resources; rated around ELO 1800-2000, it remains unbeaten in an open public challenge.
- Nobody has beaten my GPT-6 Astra chess setup — public beta challenge open — MikePFrank · 2026-09-12
- GPT-6 Astra builds its own chess engine, hits ~1800-2000 ELO and stays unbeaten — MikePFrank · 2026-09-12
- GPT-6 Astra builds its own Python chess engine in limited beta, remains unbeaten — Real_Cambria · 2026-09-12