OT: Anyone play Go when not riding?

Seekers,

Go is a remarkable game that originated in China. Go is played by tens of millions in Japan and
Korea. Go is about 3000 years old and still played in its original form. Deceptively simple, go is
elegantly complex yet mindnumbingly deep. It has no direct Western analog. (Chess is not even in the
same league at all but trying to tell that to chess players is like trying to tell upright bikers
that a recumbent is worth trying.)

You may have seen go in the recent films "Beautiful Mind" and "Pi."

For some introductory information about go: www.samarkand.net www.usgo.org www.wingsgoclub.org

I play go online and I'd love to meet up with someone on Cycle Oregon who would like to play in
camp. Drop me a note if you'd like to meet me online at KGS, IGS or NNGS sometime.

david, boise ID

 

"David Bogie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Seekers,
>
> Go is a remarkable game that originated in China. Go is played by tens of millions in Japan and
> Korea. Go is about 3000 years old and still played in its original form. Deceptively simple, go is
> elegantly complex yet mindnumbingly deep. It has no direct Western analog. (Chess is not even in
> the same league at all but trying to tell that to chess players is like trying to tell upright
> bikers that a recumbent is worth trying.)

Sadly, I am too impulsive to play Go well, so instead I just suck at it.

 

I learned a little about Wei Qi (same thing) in China last summer. I just got a decent version for
my Pocket PC, and am learning it slowly. My skills are meager, but I think it's a neat game.

--
David Luecke Ridin' a RANS Vivo (wahoo!) Merritt Island, Florida USA

 

I wouldn't say chess isn't in the same league, but Go is up a notch. A bit apples and oranges as it
takes a some what different thought process. Oddly enough, they were talking about the difference
between eastern and western thought processes on NPR yesterday, and referenced the two games.

I tried to pick it up in high school, but no one seemed very interested. Recently tried playing
against on-line programs, but guess my thinking is too western. But then, I suck at chess too.

 

FWIW: Back in the 1942-43 time frame, some in Life Magazine analyzed Go masters' game techniques and
suggested Go was a match for the Japanese military strategy in their Pacific-wide strategy in WWII.

"breezed" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I wouldn't say chess isn't in the same league, but Go is up a notch. A bit apples and oranges
> as it takes a some what different thought process. Oddly enough, they were talking about the
> difference between eastern and western thought processes on NPR yesterday, and referenced the
> two games.
>
> I tried to pick it up in high school, but no one seemed very interested. Recently tried playing
> against on-line programs, but guess my thinking is too western. But then, I suck at chess too.

 

I have played Go in the past and enjoyed it immensely. Problem is not finding others locally with
the same interest. I know that I could play it remotely via the Internet, but I don't have time to
do it on a regular basis and prefer to have my sorry butt whipped in person. Sorry, Oregon is too
far away for me, but if you were going to the BROL event this summer (see, some recumbent content
here), perhaps we can get some games in. Be warned, I am a rank amateur.

e-v

[email protected] (David Bogie) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Seekers,
>
> Go is a remarkable game that originated in China. Go is played by tens of millions in Japan and
> Korea. Go is about 3000 years old and still played in its original form. Deceptively simple, go is
> elegantly complex yet mindnumbingly deep. It has no direct Western analog. (Chess is not even in
> the same league at all but trying to tell that to chess players is like trying to tell upright
> bikers that a recumbent is worth trying.)
>
> You may have seen go in the recent films "Beautiful Mind" and "Pi."
>
> For some introductory information about go: www.samarkand.net www.usgo.org www.wingsgoclub.org
>
> I play go online and I'd love to meet up with someone on Cycle Oregon who would like to play in
> camp. Drop me a note if you'd like to meet me online at KGS, IGS or NNGS sometime.
>
> david, boise ID

 

I have never played Go. I was more into games that went well with beer and chips like pinochle. But,
I have read a marvelous book about a game played in 1938 in Japan. The book was started in 1945 and
published in 1954. The game is real. The story is a "chronicle-novel", whatever that is. The title
of the book is "The Master of Go". The author was Yasunari Kawabata. Many of his books have become a
quiet joy to me. "The Master of Go" is my favorite by the author.

Gary McCarty, Salt Lake City

"BethF" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
> Sadly, I am too impulsive to play Go well, so instead I just suck at it.

 

You'll outgrow a pocket pc go app in a few hours once you learn the fundamental shapes and
strategies. There is no computer program anywhere on any machine that can play a decent game of
go against even midrange humans. This is one of the aspects of go, weiqi, or baduk that makes it
so damn interesting. Unlike chess, where brute force look ahead move trees can reveal a
reasonable winning path, the permutations in go (361 factorial, a number that defies imagination)
are so immense that a computer simply cannot cope. Several millions of dollars are still on the
table for someone who can write a program that will beat a professional go player. It is intution
-- art, if you will -- that separates human players from the number crunchers or even the best AI
attempts to play go.

I'd be delighted to meet up with you at KGS sometime to play some 9x9 or 13x13 games. Let me know if
this interests you in the least, the client download site is easy to find.

david boise ID

"David Luecke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I learned a little about Wei Qi (same thing) in China last summer. I just got a decent version for
> my Pocket PC, and am learning it slowly. My skills are meager, but I think it's a neat game.