Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
I wasn't quite sure which forum to post this on but for me Go is a discipline so I thought I'd post here

For those that don't know Go is an ancient chinese game. Written records go back to Confucius Analects at around 500BC, though all he says about it is that it's better to play games like go than be a complete waster.

The game was imported to Japan in the Edo period along with Buddhism and became very popular.

Go is a game for two players played on a 19*19 board, the players take it in turns to place a stone down. The aim of the game is to capture territory but if some of your stones become surrounded then they die and the opponent can remove them from the board. Stones do not move once placed, they can only be removed if captured.

the Chinese name is Wei-Chi, literally "Surrounding-Game", the japanese name is Igo from which the western name "Go" is derived.

Go is the best game there is, If this thread generates any interest you can be sure I will write a list of reasons why go is the greatest game.

I was just wondering if anyone else plays or wanted to learn.

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
i've played go only a few times - keep meaning to get a board but never get round to it redface



backgammon is a favourite of mine and i'm itching to ghet hold of a set of 'the royal game of ur' ubblove



link: https://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Royal-Game-Ur.htm





cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


Mr ChutneySILVER Member
Tosser
1,712 posts
Location: Bristol,UK


Posted:
I have a Go board- I have played a bit online and had a bit of tutorial from BovrilMonkey.I will learn, one day.

jemima (jem)SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,750 posts
Location: london, United Kingdom


Posted:
I have never heard of go, but somehow I recognise the board. I like backgammon myself, its easier than chess ubblol


cole, you can start practicing then here

Never assume
Always Acknowledge


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
I;ve never played but i've been facinited with it for years.

Would love to hear some more about it...

a

Love is the law.


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
sweet!

thanks jem! hug


cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


Chronofracture333Hobo Gaylord
329 posts
Location: I am worldwide and lush


Posted:
Amazing game. ubblove

You can learn so much about about a person just by playing them once.

*no moves there are no moves there are no moves there are no moves there are no moves there are no*

"Oooh, what a shiny new move!"


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
https://kgs.kiseido.com/en_US/applet.jsp

ubbrollsmile


cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


borganiqueBRONZE Member
member
154 posts
Location: Cornwall, United Kingdom


Posted:
i'm gonna have to play this now... just read about go in howard marks' book and here are hoppers talking about it. will post back when i've found out what it is smile

Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
If you want to learn Go then there are some good books available-

"The Magic Of Go" By Cho Chikun
and
"Teach Yourself Go" By Charles Matthews
are the best beginner books

For the more advanced/precocious
"Lessons in the fundamentals of Go" By Kageyama
is a lesson in humility- classic harsh Japanese teacher, but very good.

He says things like "The man who would play like this should not be allowed to play Go".

The elementary go series is also good intermediate stuff, Tesuji by James Davies and Attack and Defence by James Davies and Ishida Akira

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
A good Go site;

https://senseis.xmp.net/

also

www.goproblems.com

if you already know what you're doing

I'm glad someone posted KGS as well- thats definitely the best international Go server.

Unfortunately not very many people play so if you want to play a lot against diffrent opponents you have to go online.

I'm mattscott on KGS, who else has an account?

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


_Clare_BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)


Posted:
I played Go in Cambodia, but found it fairly difficult to get my head around, elements of chess kept sneaking in there...

Ah well... nice thread smile

Getting to the other side smile


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I used to play Go with someone I worked with, but when we both left I pretty much stopped.

Mainly because of all the muppets on msn who, when I started a game saying that I was a beginner, would say 'yeah, me too', then proceed to resoundly kick my arse.

I still enjoy playing, but not with people who lie about how good they are to get an advantage.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


ickleMattenthusiast
242 posts
Location: L.O.N.D.O.N.


Posted:
Go is indeed the king of all board games; it ended my part time affair with chess. Unfortunately sometimes Go players are thin on the ground, and so is enough time to play a whole game (sometimes 2 hours!)

Luckily one of the times of the year where I get to play Go is coming up: Bristol Juggling Convention. So I should brush up with a few games against Goban - a simulator for the Mac (and Linux I think). It's not really like playing a human but you start to realise what it is to make a bad move.

Oh and if you ask me, playing over the internet is making a socially poor past time practically anti social.

TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
True, using the internet turns a lot of things anti-social.

However, as you said, Go players can be thin on the ground so sometimes the internet is the only chance of playing at all.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
the internet is being done down a bit here. These forums show the internets ability to foster social interaction, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't for the internet. I always discuss the game with my opponent afterwards, and I have several friends on KGS (Kiseido Go Server) much as I have friends on HOP.

Also the internet provides as many players as you could wish to play, and guarentees that the game wil be close by giving everyone a grade.

there is no "lying about your ability" or confusion between grading systems online.

having said all that, playing a person is better where possible. Check out https://www.britgo.org/
(the british Go association) to find a local go club in England.

Go is in some ways not the most social game anyway. A friend of mine put it like this "If you want to play people, poker is a good game, if you want to play the game Go is the best game there is". A good go game is usualy about an hour of silence and concentration. It's exhillarating watching the battles rage and the fight go backwards and forwards, straining youself looking for a countermove, a weakness in your opponents formation. A lot of Go is like argueing with the opponent over what is reasonable and if a particualr strategy is a good idea. My opponent plays a move and my response might say "You went in too far my friend, now I will kill you", it might say "Fair enough, you can have that", it might say "Thats not important, this is more important" if I ignore him and play elsewhere it might even say "OH NO AAARGH errr I didn't see that at all".

You can learn a lot about someone from the way they play, how aggressive they are, how much they value slow solid developement, and to what extent they can be intimidated.

Go isn't perhaps very social but then neither is juggling or poi per se

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


[noodles]*Property of Pigeon Wigeon*
893 posts
Location: Locked In Pigeons Chimney


Posted:
Damn. I just lost frown (tee hee)

Could somebody stop the room please... I'd like to get off


Mascotenthusiast
301 posts

Posted:
Wohoo

I reached 1 Dan yesterday on KGS.

For those that don't know 1 Dan is a grade used in Karate, many other martial arts, and Go. Roughly speaking It makes me a blackbelt at Go.

I can't wait be cornered down a dark alley and say "before we begin I must warn you that I am a Shodan". That'll scare them oh yes.

The proverb says it takes 1000 games to reach Shodan. A game a day for 3 years.....thats actually pretty accurate. I don't quite play daily, but I've been playing for 5 years now. I recon I've played roughly that many games.

It's very satisfying to finaly be a Dan-ranked player

Walls may have ears but they don't have eyes


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
I like that royal game of UR and Ilike the soundof this Go,I used toplay a bit of chess and I like tactical games, I'm not great but they help the mind grow and teach forward thinking and problem solving

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.



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