When choosing between two moves that are both judged to win the game with 0.9999999 alpha go not choosing the move that maximizes points suggest that it does not use patterns about what optimal moves are in certain local situations to make it’s judgements.
I nitpick/object to your use of “optimal moves” here. The move that maximizes points is NOT the optimal move; the optimal move is the move that maximizes win probability. In a situation where you are many points ahead, plausibly the way to maximize win probability is not to try to get more points, but rather to try to anticipate and defend against weird crazy high-variance strategies your opponent might try.
I nitpick/object to your use of “optimal moves” here. The move that maximizes points is NOT the optimal move; the optimal move is the move that maximizes win probability. In a situation where you are many points ahead, plausibly the way to maximize win probability is not to try to get more points, but rather to try to anticipate and defend against weird crazy high-variance strategies your opponent might try.