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Go (board game)

image:Go-small.png
GameGoprogress

Goan ancient strategic board game originatingChina between 2000 BC200 BC. Ithighly populareastern Asia,play onInternet has servedgreatly increase its popularity throughoutrest ofworldrecent years. In China itcalled 圍棋 wéiqí (way-chee),Korea its name바둑 baduk,in Japan 囲碁 igo (ee-go), which gave rise toEnglish name Go fromJapanese character 碁.

Tablecontents
1 Philosophy
2 The essential Go rules
3 Nature ofgame
4 The Go world
5 History
6 Mathematical theoryGo endgames
7 See also
8 External links

Philosophy

Go's legendary historythatwas used asteaching tool, when an ancient Chinese Emperor designedgamehis son, who he thinks needslearn discipline, concentration,balance. The son goes onbecomefirst great player,good emperor, andbalanced human being.

Godeep, as playing against any stronger player will show. With each new level (rank) comesgain ofdeeper appreciation forsubtlety involved,forinsightstronger players. Beginners always start by randomly placing stones onboard, as ifweregamechance —andinevitably loseexperienced players. But soon, an understandinghow stones connectform strength develops,shortly afterwardfew basic joseki (corner sequences)understood.

Further experience yields an understanding ofboard,importance ofedges, thenefficiencydeveloping (incorners first, then walls, then center). Soon,advanced beginner understands that territoryinfluencesomewhat interchangeable —but there needsbebalance: One must develop more-or-less atsame pace as their opponent,both territoryinfluence —this intricate strugglepowers makes each game highly dynamic.

The essential Go rules

This isessence ofgo game. Formore detailed treatment, see Go rules.

Ingame between playersunequal strength,handicapused:weaker player starts out withnumberstones onboard. See Go handicap fordetails.

International Chess Master Edward Lasker once observed that "The rulesgoso elegant, organicrigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere inuniversealmost certainly play go."

Nature ofgame

Image:go_pros_and_amateurs_small.jpg
3 Japanese professional Go players observe some younger amateurs asdissectlifedeath problem incorner ofboard. FromUS Go CongressHouston, 2003. (Larger Version)

AlthoughrulesGovery simple,game itself can be extremely complex. Go iscomplete-knowledge, deterministic, strategy game like chess, checkers,reversi, although its depth exceeds even those games. Its large boardlackrestrictions allows great scopestrategy, as decisionsone part ofboardinfluenced byseemingly unrelated situationdistant parts ofboard,moves made early ingame can shapenatureconflict hundredsmoves later.

The game emphasisesimportancetensionsbalance on multiple levels. To secure an area ofboard, itgoodplay moves close together; butcoverlargest area one needsspread out. To ensure one does not fall behind, aggressive playrequired; but playing too aggressively leaves weaknesses undefended that can be exploited. Playing too low (close toedge) secures insufficient territory; yet playing too high (far fromedge) allowsopponentinvade. Many people findgame attractiveits reflection ofpolarities foundlife.

See Go strategytacticsan introductory explanationhowplay well, andGo demonstration game.

Itcommonly said that no game has ever been played twice. This may be true: On19×19 board, thereabout 3361×0.012 = 2.1×10170 possible positions, mostwhich areend resultabout (120!)2 = 4.5×10397 different (no-capture) games, fortotalabout 9.3×10567 games. Allowing captures gives as many as 107.49×1048 possible games, mostwhich lastover 1.6×1049 moves! (By contrast,numberlegal positionschessestimatedbe between 10431050,physicists estimate that therenot more than 1090 protons inentire universe.)

ComputersGo

Although attempts have been madeprogram computersplay Go, successthat area has been moderate at best. Evenstrongest programsno better than an average club player,would easily be beaten bystrong player even gettingnine stone handicap. Thisattributedmany qualities ofgame, including"optimising" nature ofvictory condition,virtually unlimited placementeach stone,large board size, andhigh degreepattern-recognition involved. For this reason, many infieldartificial intelligence consider Gobebetter measure ofcomputer's capacitythought than chess. See computer Go articledetail.

Usecomputer networksallow humansmeet, discuss games,play one another, although generally considered inferiorface-to-face play,becoming much more common. Thereserverssoftwarefacilitate this; see Additional Resources belowmore information.

Other board games commonly comparedGo

Go appearsstand apart among gamesits rulesgameplay; itdifficultfind another board game which could be considered ofsame "family" as Go. However, on learning aboutgame, people will attemptcomparewith other gamesmay already have experienced. This isnon-exhaustive listsome games thatoften comparedGo.

Traditional Go game equipment

After move 40round 1 of1989 Meijen tournament

Although one could play Go withpiececard forboard andbagplastic tokens, Go players pride themselves on their game sets. The traditional Go board (calledgobanJapanese)solid wood, about 15-20cm thick, preferably fromrare golden-coloured Kaya tree,stands on its own attached legs. Players sit on reed mats (tatami) onfloorplay. The stones (go-ishi) comematching solid wood pots (go-ke) andmade outclamshell (white)slate (black) andextremely smooth. The natural resourcesJapan have been unablekeep up withenormous demand fornative clamsslow-growing Kaya trees; both must besufficient agegrow todesired size,theynow extremely rare atagequality required, raisingpricesuch equipment tremendously.

In clubsat tournaments, where large numberssets must be maintained (and usually purchased) by one organisation,expensive traditional setsnot usually used. For these situations, table boards (ofsame design as floor boards, but only about 2-5cm thickwithout legs)used, andstonesmadeglass rather than slateshell. Bowls will often be plastic if cheap wooden bowls cannot be had. Plastic stones can be had, butconsidered inferiorglass as theygenerally much lighter,most players find them too unpleasantjustifydifferenceprice.

The dimensions ofboard (traditionallygrid45.45cm long42.42cm wide,space beyondallow stonesbe played onedgescorners ofgrid) often surprise newcomers: itnotperfect square, butlonger than itwide, roughly inproportion 12:11. Two reasonsfrequently giventhis. Onethat whenplayers sit atboard,angle at whichviewboard givesforeshortening ofgrid;boardslightly longer betweenplayerscompensatethis. Another reasonthatJapanese aesthetic finds any structure whichperfectly symmetricalbebad taste, andboardnot madeperfect squarethis reason.

Traditional stonesmade so that black stonesslightly largerdiameter than white; thisprobablycompensate foroptical illusion created by contrasting colours that makeswhite stones appear larger onboard than black stones. The differenceslight,since its effect ismakestones appearsame size onboard,can be surprisingdiscover theynot.

The bowls forstonesofsimple shape, likeflattened sphere withlevel underside. The lidloose-fittingis upturned before playplace opponent's stones captured duringgame. The bowlsusually madeturned wood, although small lidded basketswoven bamboo or reeds make an attractive cheaper alternative.

Thereeven an artplacingGo stone, held betweentips ofoutstretched indexmiddle fingersstrikingboard firmlycreatesharp click. Many consideracoustic properties ofwood ofboardbe quite important. The traditional goban will usually have its underside carved withpyramid calledHeso recessed intoboard. Tradition holds that this isgivebetter resonance tostone's click, butmore conventional explanation isallowboardexpandcontract without splittingwood. A boardseen as more attractive when itmarkedslight dents from decades -- or centuries --stones strikingsurface.

The Go world

Ranks

In countries where Gopopular, ranksemployedindicate playing strength. The Japanese formalisedteachingrankingGo,modelledsystem after their existing martial arts schools.

Players whocompetentranked starting at 1 dan, through9 dan which ishighest rank (inJapanese Edo period, only one player held this rank attime,was called Meijin). Approaching 1 dan,player first progresses through kyu ranks,1 kyu beingrank below 1 dan, andgreater kyu ranking indicatinggreater distancestrength from 1 dan. Since beginners will commonly progress through elementary concepts quickly, itdifficultsetlower bound tokyu ranks, but nominal starting points20, 25 or 30commonly used.

The distinction between each rank is, by definition, one handicap stone. In other words,differencerank between two playerstheoretically equal tonumberhandicap stones requiredeach playerhave an even chancewinning. Beating this handicap consistently isindicator thatplayer's strength has improved,his rank should be adjusted upward by one stone, thus changingnumberhandicap stones required.

In China, JapanKorea, theretwo distinct ranking sets, oneprofessional players (who receivefeeeach gameplay, bonuseswinning,feesother related activities)oneamateur players. InJapanese professional ranking system, distinction between ranks was traditionally consideredbe 1/3 ofhandicap stone (makingdifference 3 pro dan equalone amateur dan). Strengthnew professionals (1 dan) was usually comparablythat ofhighest ranked amateurs. Currentlyprofessional ranksassumedbe more bunched together, covering not much more than two amateur dans; so that pro 1 dans win some games against 9 dans. Therealsonumberamateur players acknowledged as having pro 6 dan understanding ofgame.

In Japan, amateur ranksonly recognised up8 dan (beforeyear 2001, only amateur ranks up7 dan were recognised). Within European Go Federation, ranksrecognised up7 dan.

Player pools that do not regularly mix (such as different countries, or online versus real-life player groups) often resultdivergent playing strengths forsame rank level. Players askedgive their rank will therefore often qualifywith "in my country" or "on this Internet server".

Top players

Althoughgame was developedChina,recent centuriesstrongest players inworld have come from Japan. However, top players from China (since1980s)South Korea (since1990s) have reachedsame or an even higher level. Nowadays, top players from these three countriesof comparable strength, although top Korean players seemhave an edge, dominatingmajor international titles. All three countries havenumberprofessional Go tournaments. The top Japanese tournaments haveprize purse comparablethatprofessional golf tournaments inUnited States. TournamentsChinaKorealess lavishly funded.

Players from other countries have traditionally been much weaker, exceptsome players who have taken up professional coursesone ofAsian countries. Thisattributable tofact that details ofgame have been unknown outsideAsiamost ofgame's history. A German scientist, Otto Korschelt,credited withfirst systematic description ofgame inWestern language1880 AD;was not until1950s that Western players would take upgame as more thanpassing interest. In 1978, Manfred Wimmer becamefirst Westernerreceiveprofessional player's certificate from an Asian professional Go association. It was not until 2000 thatWesterner, Michael Redmond, achievedtop rank awarded by an Asian go association.

See also: Go players

History

The origins ofgameunknown, butoldest surviving references come from China in6th century BC. Exceptchanges inboard sizestarting position, has essentially keptsame rules since that time, which quite likely makes itoldest board game still played today. It had reached Japan by7th century,gained popularity atimperial court in8th. Bybeginning of13th century,game was played ingeneral publicJapan.

Early in17th century,then best playerJapan, Honinbo Sansa, was made head ofnewly founded Go academy (the Honinbo school,firstseveral competing schools founded aboutsame time), which developedlevelplaying greatly,introducedmartial-arts style systemranking players. The government discontinued its support forGo academies1868 asresult offall ofTokugawa shogunate.

In honour ofHoninbo school, whose players consistently dominatedother schools during their history, one ofmost prestigious Japanese Go championshipscalled"Honinbo" tournament.

Historically, Go has been unequaltermsgender. However,openingnew, open tournaments andrisestrong female players, most notably Rui Naiwei, hasrecent years legitimisedstrengthcompetitivenessemerging female players.

Around 2000,Japan,manga (Japanese comic)anime series Hikaru no Go has popularized Go amongyouthstartedGo boomJapan. In January 2004,Hikaru no Go manga also began running inAmerican periodical Shonen Jump,an attemptsparksimilar following inUnited States.

Mathematical theoryGo endgames

Elwyn BerlekampDavid Wolfe have developedmathematical theory oflate endgameGo based oncombinatorial game theoryJohn Horton Conway. Itoutlinedtheir book, Mathematical Go (ISBN 1568810326). Whilst notgeneral utilitymost play,greatly aidsanalysiscertain classespositions.

See also

External links


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