Go

Go is a two player space control game invented by the Chinese. It is not known exactly when Go was invented, but it is believed to existed in 2000 BCE. The name Go is actually the Japanese name for the game; the Chinese name is Weiqi, which means 'surrounding pieces' in Chinese. Fortunately, this game has been well documented and has remained mainly unchanged for it 4000 years of existence; it is the oldest game played in it's original form. A Go board is played on 361 points made by 19x19 intersecting lines that make squares and has 181 black stones and 180 white stones. The object of Go is to control the most territory on the board. The pieces are used as markers to represent ownership of the territory on the board. Players alternate turns and place one piece

every turn aiming to gain territory and prevent the opposing player from gaining territory or capturing their own. By surrounding, as the Chinese name suggests, the opponents marked territory the player can gain it as their own. Rather than capturing pieces the game focuses on 'creation', by acquiring territory, instead of 'destruction'; the game rewards patience and balance instead of aggression and greed. It is generally said that Go's rules are pretty simple and can be learned quickly, but the game takes a lifetime to master. The strategies involved in Go can be highly complex and for many Go is a way of life used to learn concentration, balance, and discipline.Rules

Starting

Go can be played in three different dimensions, 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19 ; smaller dimensions are usually used to teach beginners and the largest dimension is used in official tournaments. The weakest or least experienced player always plays as first and uses black stones, and receives a handicap. There are 9 highlighted handicap points and the number of stones are placed on them in the following way:

- 1 stone handicap - on a corner star point

- 2 stone handicap - on opposite corner star points

- 3 and 4 stone handicap - on 3 or 4 corner star points

- 5 stone handicap - 4 corner + 1 side star point

- 6 stone handicap - 4 corner + 2 opposing side star points

- 7 and 8 stone handicap - 4 corners + 3 or 4 side star points

- 9 stone handicap - all 9 star points.

After handicaps are set, the players will alternate turns, starting with black, putting stones on vacant points (not inside the

squares, but on the points created by the intersecting lines). The black player will then play first and the white player and they will continue to alternate turns until the game is ended.

The Object

The primary object of the game is to encircle as much territory as possible.

Legal Moves

A stone that is joined by a line to a vacant point has a liberty. So if a stone is placed on a vacant board it had 4 liberties, 3 if on an edge, and 2 if in a corner.

The liberties of the stones marked with the triangles are shown below; the white stones liberties are the x's and the whites are the y's:

A player can make a chain or group by placing stones around a lone stone in surrounding liberties, however a chain is not made if a stone is placed diagonally across from another. If a player's stone(s) is surrounded by the opposing player by 3 sides they would only have one liberty, and one opportunity to make a chain.

In the example below white has two chains consisting of 3 stones each and black has one chain consisting of two stones:

Gaining Territory

The key to gaining territory and keeping it is what is called an eye. An eye is an empty point that is surrounded by pieces of the same color. An eye prevents the opposing player from capturing that territory because they cannot cut off all of the groups liberties, because if the player was to place a piece in the middle of the group it would be captured. Creating eyes at the corners and edges of the board is easiest. While it is pretty difficult it is not impossible to capture a group with one eye; but a group with two eyes is impossible to capture. A group that cannot be killed is called a living group.

The points marked m and n are the eyes in the black group, this group is a living group because white can never have a stone in both m and n because it would be suicide to put a stone in either:

Capturing Stones

A chain or group of stones is captured by the opposing team when the chain has no remaining liberties. So to steal territory from the opponent player, a player must surround the enemy group leaving them with no liberties in that group. When the stones are captured they are removed from the board, placed in a pot and the player loses that territory.

In the example below white could capture black by placing a stone on the points marked x or y which are the black groups last remaining liberties:

The Rule of Ko and The Suicide Rule

In the game Go suicide is forbidden; a player cannot play in a place that would deprive it of all its liberties and hence be immediately captured.

For instance a white stone could not be played in the space marked with the x because it would be suicide:

The Rule of Ko says that you can never make a play that returns the board right back to where it was the play before. This prevents the game from going on forever and allows the game to go forward.

In the example below if white were to play a stone on the point marked with the x and capture the black stone marked with the triangle, the black player cannot on the next turn capture the white stone that was placed on the x, according to the Rule of Ko:

Finishing and Scoring

The game ends when both player agree that there is no more territory to be won. A player can pass at any time and if both players pass in succession then the game ends. When an end is agreed upon, each player gets one point for each point of territory enclosed and 1 point per enemy piece captured, and the difference of the two determines the victor.

History

The Origin of Go, Lore, and Go in the Ancient World

While Go has been extremely well documented its exact origin is still not known, but there is much lore concerning the origin of the game. According to legend, the Emperor Yao invented Go to help his 'intellectually lacking' son Tan-Chu become smarter between 2357-2256 BCE. A practice of the divine in which one would cast black and white stones on a board representing Earth and the Heavens and then interpret them could also be related to its invention. With 10 out from the center in all directions it is thought by some to be a possible predecessor to the abacus. It could also have been a fortune telling game, with the stones representing yin and yang. Go is thought by some to be a game as well as a way of life. Some think that one's game play reflect who they are and is "a mirror of the mind". It was used in ancient China and Japan to teach values and discipline.

Here a historian from the first century AD discusses certain philosophy and symbols associated with Go:

The board has to be square, for it signifies the earth, and its right angles signify uprightness. The pieces (of the two sides) are yellow and black: this distinction signifies the Yin and the Yang--scattered in groups all over the board, they represent the heavenly bodies. These significances being manifest, it is up to the players themselves to make the moves, and this is connected with kingship. Following what the rules permit, both the opponents are subject to them--this is the rigour of the Tao.

Confucius held Go to extremely high esteem; it is mentioned in the Analects of Confucius, sixth century BCE, as one of the "Four Accomplishments", along side brush painting, poetry, and music, that must be mastered by the Chinese gentleman. It is also mentioned by Mencius in the second century BCE; he speaks of the game's antiquity and of the discipline and masters that exist in the game play and its philosophy. Go is mentioned prominently in The Tale of Genji, which was written in about 1000 CE. Weiqi entered Korea and Japan through trade and contact in the first millennium BCE and gained its more popular Japanese name, Go.

Go Today

While the Go is relatively unknown in West today, it is still widely popular in Asia with over 100 million players. Go is an huge part of Asian culture in which there are Go magazines, high stakes tournaments, regular newspaper coverage on tournaments, top players are celebrities, and there are even television stations completely dedicated to Go. Go has extremely complex strategy involved and a computer has never been able to beat a master Go player. Many people are fascinated by this because it is one of the only games where a human can beat a computer, computers can even beat humans at Chess. There are regular competitions to create a computer that can defeat a pro Go player.

Quotes on Go

While the Baroque rules of chess could only have been created by humans, the rules of go are so elegant, organic, and rigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere in the universe, they almost certainly play go. - Edward Lasker
The board is a mirror of the mind of the players as the moments pass. When a master studies the record of a game he can tell at what point greed overtook the pupil, when he became tired, when he fell into stupidity, and when the maid came by with tea.
- Anonymous Go player

A few moments to learn, a lifetime to master. - Ancient Proverb

Zhang Yunqi lists the qualities required to excel at weiqi, "the tactic of the soldier, the exactness of the mathematician, the imagination of the artist, the inspiration of the poet, the calm of the philosopher, and the greatest intelligence."
- Zhang Yunqi, Weiqi de faxian (Discovering weiqi), Beijing, Internal document of the Chinese Weiqi Institute 1991, p. 2.
Those interested in impressing others with their intelligence play chess. Those who would settle for being chic play backgammon. Those who wish to become individuals of quality take up Go. - Microcomputer Executive and an expert player, when asked to compare Go with other games
Go uses the most elemental materials and concepts -- line and circle, wood and stone, black and white -- combining them with simple rules to generate subtle strategies and complex tactics that stagger the imagination.
- Iwamoto Kaoru, 9-dan professional Go player and former Honinbo title holder

Game Design Elements

Go can be categorized as a space control game or an occupation game. The main object is not to capture pieces, but to control space. The pieces serve as territory markers and become part of a whole, rather than be separate pieces from each other; they are not differentiated because they serve purely as markers and have no rank. Go is has an infinite amount of

choices when it comes to movement; this is possibly why the game is so difficult to master. The timing of the movement of Go, players alternating, allows the player to assess the previous players move and anticipate what they might be trying to do and react accordingly. The player is able to capture the other opponents territory and this adds another huge element that creates conflict within the game. Strategies in Go can become highly complex; it is one of the most intellectually demanding games in existence.

Art

Go has no decorative art on it. However it has be speculated that the colors of the pieces black and white may represent earth and heaven or the Yin and Yang; if this were true the color choice would be symbolic art. It has also been said th

at, in Ancient writing, the board must be square to represent the Earth and the right angles of the intersecting lines the the corners of the board symbolize honor. In writings it is also said the way the pieces are scattered on the board throughout the game symbolizes the heavens. If any of this is true being that these were deliberate choices to symbolize things visually they would all be symbolic art in Go. Some players and spectators even think that the configurations and patterns that are created by the black and white pieces are beautiful and are art in themselves. Also the idea that the pieces on the board reflect ones mind and personality gives the patterns and pieces in their configurations deeper meaning and could be seen as an abstract artist interpretation of the player.

References

- http://www.usgo.org/resources/gohistory.html- The American Go Association

-The Oxford History of Board Games by David Parlett

-The Way to Go by Karl Baker

-http://www.mastersgames.com/rules/go-rules.htm

-http://senseis.xmp.net/?GreatQuotes

-http://www.ukgochallenge.com/quickref.html

-http://www.britgo.org/intro/intro2.html

-http://gailly.net/go.html

Links

- KGS Go Server - Online Go playable game and community site; players watch, play, and review Go games. Play is against other humans. There are also online tournaments and lectures on the game.

-The Interactive Way To Go - In-depth Online Tutorial for Go

-Computer-Go Online - Play Go against a computer.

-Welcome to the American Go Association - The Official Association for Go in the US. You can find information on tournaments, Go news, professional American Go players, and even become a member.

-Sensei's Library- A wiki on Go.

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