In an Ancient Game, Computing's Future

EARLY in the film ''A Beautiful Mind,'' the mathematician John Nash is seen sitting in a Princeton courtyard, hunched over a playing board covered with small black and white pieces that look like pebbles. He was playing Go, an ancient Asian game. Frustration at losing that game inspired the real Mr. Nash to pursue the mathematics of game theory, research for which he eventually won a Nobel Prize. In recent years, computer experts, particularly those specializing in artificial intelligence, have felt the same fascination -- and frustration. Programming other board games has been a relative snap.