I wonder if any one is up for some....

[Phantom]

...open discussion on the game of 'Go'.

[center][img]http://www.firerender.com/misc/go.jpg[/img][/center]

Let me open up the disscussion with a brief synopsis of go for the people who may not have heard of it, or for those who might need a quick briefing about it.

[quote]Go is a game of strategy. Two players compete in acquiring territory by placing markers on a smooth wooden board with a simple grid drawn on it, usually 19 by 19 lines. Each player seeks to enclose territory with his markers (called ?stones?), much like partitioning a field with sections of fencing. Further, each player may capture his opponent?s markers. The object of the game is to enclose the most territory, a simple goal the leads to the elegant and fascinating complexities of go.[/quote]

Simply put, this game is the ultimate in absract strategy and was created in Asia over three thousand years ago. It is still played in basically the same form, with a few exceptions to the rules, which are definately minor.

Besides the growing Asian influence in the western hemisphere, I am frankly surprised that so little a populus actually knows and plays Go.

The main purpose of this thread is to bring this game into the light and what better place to doit than here on OB.

For people who arent in the western hemisphere (lol, a great deal many of the members here are from elsewhere!) Go is still not widely known.

You can play go on Yahoo games but I dont beleive you will get the same learning experiance from it if you try up against people on Yahoo.

I want to try to answer as many questions as I can with my limited knowledge of go, and I want people who DO know more about it to post here and try to offer some insight to beginners (like me hehe!).

I will add some links at the end of this post for people who are interested in learning game.

And to finalize with one more quote,

[quote]Go is essentially a form of harmony... - Mirel Florescu 9dan (kgs)[/quote]

[b]Some links that you might find helpfull.[/b]
- [url=http://learngo.world-go.org/menu.htm]Learn GO![/url]
- [url=http://kgs.kiseido.com]All purpose go link![/url]
The all purpose link is rather simple to understand, click it and you get many options to learn and grow. And also play if you are interested.

MK

[Sara]

[size=1]I have this game...or something similiar...on a CD somewhere...I'm not very good, but I do have a bit of fun with it..[/size]

[Guest Anakin Solo]

D'oh my god...I have played this game. I have never one once. I have played it online, and in person with a friend. I still don't understand the rules that much. I think you have to surround a differnt colour piece with your pieces o nt he adjacent sides or something. So it cant more or something like that.

Hard game. I wish to learn to play it more, and get have fun with it. ^_^

[Guest Hikaru Ichijyo]

If I'm not mistaken isn't this an expanded version on that imported board game called Othello? The concept of the game is oddly similar to that of Othello?

[Guest cloricus]

This looks very similar to a game called Reversi. (Judging by "Go's" age I would say that Reversi was based on it.) Reversi is a lot more controlled; your movements are very restricted. But apart from that the basic rules are the same from what I can gather. Personally I like Reversi better because it promotes quick strategic movements to win.

Eps - My 2c...

[Phantom]

To clear up any mishaps.

Go is most likely the oldest known board game ever invented.

I've played riversi and it is definately not alike.

Riversi is based upongaining territory by choosing to surround lines of the opponent's color. The colors may be the same but reversi plays until there are no longer places on the board to play. Other than that, reversi is played within the squares while GO is played on the line's intersection.

Othello is much more like go however I'm sure the strategy is quite disimilar. :)

And to Cloricus. I prefer Go better because of it's simple rules yet unending complexity of moves. It really is about ballance rather than quick percision. Me, being an impatient person, can find many an advantage to the discipline and patience required to competitively play go! :)

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]My brother has Othello, and I've played it. There, you're putting the pieces in the squares, though, and not on the intersection of the lines. And to capture your opponent's pieces, you just have to put two of your pieces on either end of a line of theirs. (Straight and diagonally, I think). With this game, you have to completely surround your opponent's pieces. Also, pieces in Othello are never removed from the board, you just play until the entire board is filled up. (Meaning pieces can be captured, recaptured, captured again, and so on). From reading the basic rules of Go, it sounds like you remove any captured pieces and you just play until you run out of pieces to place.

So, it's similar, but not quite the same. It sounds just as fun, though. I might have to try it out some time.[/color]

[Phantom]

ah, Othello is basically like reversi.. hehe

Go is much more unique than people figure it is from my synopsis! :-D

I really think the anime Hikaru no Go is a MUST SEE. It's based on this game.