[TeemFilla]

I used to practice Go quite a bit a few years ago (from a variety of books), but eventually gave up on it due to lack of people to play against. While there is a large following of Go online, it is hard to find people who are equally matched, and even harder to find people who are a bit better than you who don't mind tutoring you during the game.

The game itself is fascinating - the basic principles are easy to do but the game as a whole is impossible to master. Curiously, the human mind is quite well equipped to play Go and is able to see patterns in the game. Even a minor professional can easily sweep the the floor with the best Go programs out there.

Go received a huge publicity boost a few years back with the popular Anime 'Hikaru No Go' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_no_Go) - I can attest to being drawn to the game because of it.

[97dYA9L3]

I used to practice Go quite a bit a few years ago (from a variety of books), but eventually gave up on it due to lack of people to play against. While there is a large following of Go online, it is hard to find people who are equally matched, and even harder to find people who are a bit better than you who don't mind tutoring you during the game.

The game itself is fascinating - the basic principles are easy to do but the game as a whole is impossible to master. Curiously, the human mind is quite well equipped to play Go and is able to see patterns in the game. Even a minor professional can easily sweep the the floor with the best Go programs out there.

Go received a huge publicity boost a few years back with the popular Anime 'Hikaru No Go' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_no_Go) - I can attest to being drawn to the game because of it.

As Can I [yes] - But I don't knock it, As far as I'm concerned, if something an re-introduce people to an old game that might otherwise be overlooked, then good on it (Besides, Sai was cool). I know what you mean about playing online though - I could just never get into it. Wasn't that good anyway but it was much more fun playing someone face to face. I suppose that goes for anything really.

[gWhya5ct]

Yes.. Go. The ultimate painstakingly fun, hard, annoying, insane strategy board game. Any other Go players hanging about?

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

Never heard of it... does it have anything to do with the number five?

[Manteiv]

Never heard of it... does it have anything to do with the number five?

Never heard of Go? It's the boardgame that looks like othello but plays differently. I think.

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

Still not ringing any bells...

[Htb48JBf]

Heh so I was right, it does have to do with Japan.

[Manteiv]

Heh so I was right, it does have to do with Japan.

It's has nothing to do with number five though! [rofl]

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

It's has nothing to do with number five though! [rofl]

But I made an insiginficant (and probably coincidental) connection!

Ok, ok, sorry. If it's anything like Othello (no I didn't read the Wiki site), then I'll probably be bad at it.

[gWhya5ct]

Ok, ok, sorry. [blush] If it's anything like Othello (no I didn't read the Wiki site), then I'll probably be bad at it.

Well, it's actually nothing like Othello. It's an area based strategy game where you try to capture more area from the board than the other player. The rules are simple, but it takes a lot of work to be really good in it. I'm not, hehe. But it's still fun

[97dYA9L3]

I believe Go is actually Ancient Chinese though nobody is quite sure where it originated. It gained popularity recently in Japan with school kids when the Anime series Hikaru No Go hit.

It's basically a game of Teritory control. There are different scoring system but the Black and White tiles take it in turns to be placed on the board. If you surround a tile of the opposite colour then you can take it and you have another point because there is an empty area of board that you surround and therefore control. So the more areas of empty board you surround with your tiles, the more points you have. When neither of you can play any more or it is agreed for the game to end, the scores are totalled up. There are other forms of Scoring, I believe that's the most common one in Japan where as China tends to favour a different one. It's fun though, and VERY hard to get good at. There's still a Million Dollar competition open I think for anyone that can code a really good Go computer because it's so much harder to code a really good simulator than chess.