The Game of Go

Around 2300 B.C., the Chinese Emperor Yao invented the boardgame known as go. It became very popular with the Chinese, who called it Wei-ch'I, and most likely first entered Japan around A.D. 500.

Go was a special favorite of warriors. They saw it as a good way to learn and practice strategy, so skill at go was considered to be as important as skill in battle. By the 1200s, a go set was a vital part of a warrior's equipment, and some warriors took sets on military campaigns, to play games between battles.

In the 17^th century, an academy was founded to teach go. Many master players were appointed as professors and the academy's director, Honinbo Sansha, was given land and an annual salary so that he could concentrate on the Academy and not worry about making a living.

The academy awarded ranks, similar to those in martial arts: A player of the lowest rank had the title of shodan, while one of the ninth, or highest, position, was called a kudan. Only nine players have earned the rank of kudan in the last 300 years!

To allow players of different ranks to play each other, the academy devised a system of handicapping. The weaker player was permitted to move first, and, if he played an opponent of much higher rank, he might be allowed to put down two, three, or even four stones before his opponent's initial move. Before 1868, go was played almost exclusively by men, but today anyone can play.

Private go schools were also established, and professional players toured the country, playing exhibition games and teaching. When the rule of the shoguns ended in 1868, the Academy closed. Go went into decline, and many of its masters, previously wealthy and respected men, lost everything and became poor.

By 1880, interest in go had revived. Today, millions of players around the world play it, but the world's best players still come from Japan.

Playing Go

Go is played on a 19" x 19" board. Playing pieces are placed on the "points" where the lines meet - 361 places, to be exact. Besides the board, a go set includes 181 black and 180 white stones. Players take turns putting a stone on the board. A stone may be placed on any vacant point, but never moves once it is on the board, unless it is captured.

The object of the game is to surround more territory than your opponent. When a stone or a group of stones is placed on the board, it has a number of "lives" equal to the number of unblocked lines coming out of it. When all the group's lines are blocked by enemy pieces, the group is captured.

Go players cannot put a stone on any point that would create a repetitive situation. Thus, a game with three kos on the board is often declared a draw and ends immediately. Usually, the game ends when neither player wants to make a move. Each player uses captured stones to fill in the opponent's spaces, and then the players count the points they have surrounded. The player with the most surrounded territory wins.

Although go has few rules, the strategies involved can be very complex. Many games claim they take "a minute to learn, and a lifetime to master," - but in the case of go, it's true!

For more information about go and diagrams of a go board, go to: www.usgo.org/resources/whatisgo.asp.

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Updated: 11/21/09 04:35 pm
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