Move 37.

In 1996, a match is played between Kasparov and IBM’s Deep Blue. Kasparov, the world champion, faces off against IBM’s special chess software. In a particular game, the computer suddenly makes a completely unexpected move. So strange, so unpredictable, that Kasparov is completely thrown off. Yet he wins that game.

But Kasparov loses the next game. Why? Because after that unexpected move, he begins to doubt. He becomes mentally unbalanced and loses as a result. Analysis afterwards shows that the completely unexpected move by Deep Blue was actually just a software error: the software didn’t know what to decide at that moment and therefore just made a random move. So no higher intelligence, but a flaw in the system, resulting in Kasparov losing the next game.

More information here (Wikipedia).

Twenty years later, in 2016, something special happens. This time it’s about the game Go. A seemingly simple game. The South Korean world champion Lee Sedol faces off against AlphaGo, an AI developed by Google.

In a particular game, during move 37, the computer makes a completely unexpected move. This move results in Lee Sedol, who had mentally prepared all possible moves and counter-moves, being completely surprised. He leaves the room for a moment, returns, thinks for fifteen minutes before making his next move, and ultimately loses the game.

The question then is: was this also a software error?

After analysis, it turns out not to be. The computer had apparently calculated that its opponent, Lee Sedol, could not have anticipated this specific move in any way, out of a series of 10,000 possible scenarios. The AI made that move deliberately and ultimately won the match.

That moment is considered a real turning point in the world of artificial intelligence – the beginning of a new chapter.

Here are many more and more accurate details in Wikipedia

How did I come to Move 37?

I just listened to a podcast from someone who was at the cradle of AlphaGo, and in it, Move 37 keeps coming up. Only at the end of the episode do I understand its meaning.

And then, of course, I start thinking further. Because apparently, as a bit of Googling teaches, Move 37 is a fairly well-known concept. It was completely new to me, but it turns out to be quite established.

And then I ask myself the question: to what extent can a person, meaning me, make a Move 37?

Move 37 implies something that seems illogical, something that no one expects. Maybe we can attribute more characteristics to it. I am now reflecting: what would a Move 37 be?

• Not logical according to the book, but intuitively strong.

• Others don’t immediately understand it.

• You need guts for it.

• It shows original thinking.

• It changes something fundamental.

Perhaps the essence is: doing something that is totally unexpected of me, but that turns out to be brilliant or clever in hindsight.

I have asked our friend ChatGPT a number of questions about this, and a few interesting ideas came out. I’ll show them here.

1. Making your blog public to a large network, while you have kept it rather hidden or “for those who happen to find it” until now — with a brief explanation in which you say: “I have waited, doubted, polished for a long time. But here is my voice. Imperfect, but real.”

2. Publishing a book based on your morning reflections, failures, insights from life and entrepreneurship — not as an expert book, but as a vulnerable, honest guide for people seeking a slower, more meaningful life.

3. Using your science fiction collection or your past geek history as a creative springboard for an unexpected project — an exhibition, podcast, children’s book, or quirky blog series: “What I learned from 40 years of science fiction.”

4. Radically choosing peace and disappearing from a certain project, even though it seems successful from the outside — because you feel: “It eats away at my soul. I choose silence, space, and the unknown.”

5. Starting an online library or ideas club from your own book collection, entirely according to your values (non-commercial, not dependent on social media, with deep conversations instead of reach numbers).

Because today, early August 2025, I’m in that mindset with my Indian Spice Trail.

In addition to Move 37, I’ve noted something else. Maybe it’s also a Move 37, namely: I’m working on a project about losing weight. And I said: if I reach my goal, I’ll buy myself a sports car. I’ve already talked to my wife about what license plate I would give that sports car. Such a special license plate costs €1000. Of course, that’s purely wasted money. The idea was: we give that license plate a meaningful name; Miranda, GSB or In-Via. But I can also take Move 37. No one would expect me to show up with a sports car at my age. That would really be a Move 37…