FullAuto Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 Go, or weiqi as it's known to our epicanthically-folded friends in the Far East is right up there with backgammon as one of the oldest games ever. It's played with black and white stones on a grid, you've probably seen pictures if not actual games.I play chess a fair bit, and after hearing about go for years but being unable to find a set (never mind someone who actually plays the bloody game) I went ahead and bought a set from overseas.The concept of the game is different to chess, the focus being on the capture of territory, not pieces, and the unusual role patterns play in the game intrigues me.I know a little bit about the history of the game and the theory of play, but not much else.Do any of you play, or know anything about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 DragonHawk and I occasionally play Go online. (About once-twice, maybe even three times a week.) We play on the Yahoo games rooms. Drop one of us a line, maybe we could have a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 6, 2005 Author Share Posted May 6, 2005 I may do just that, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 Why don't you send me an E-mail or get a Yahoo messenger if you don't already have one? DragonHawk has been pretty busy this week, so I could use an opponent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 I've been busy, and my dad pwned me so bad the last Weiqi session it left me in physical pain. I'll be on tomorrow night, probably around 0200 GMT playing my father again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I'm bumping the weiqi thread! Thus far, I've been closer and closer to victory, but my father continues to own me. I suspect that he is not yet playing me completely seriously, or that I have 'un-elite tactical genius'. On the other side, I continue to put the smackdown on Strong_Bob. His Americana courage is not enough to defeat my Asian-backed powerhouse technique... or something ilke it. So if you play or are interested in learning more, add one of us three nerds to your list and we can talk. We'll set you up against Bob, easy first target... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Dragonhawk is just mad because I let him win. But yeah, I'm up for any challenges. Even if Dragonhawk wants me to soften them up before he gets to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted August 7, 2005 Author Share Posted August 7, 2005 Forgotten about this! I shall have to get round to playing you two at some point. An arse kicking is always helpful to the learning process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Drop me a line as well - I'm hard to catch online but I have tried a couple of games of Go on Yahoo Games, and having trounced my best buddy I'm up for a trouncing myself. I think we were playing on a small/medium sized board to keep the games short, how about yourselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivory Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 my friend and i kinnda started the learning curve together but aint played for a bit now. the first game was too easy-i think his chess head was too firmly screwed on...after that tho i got my ass kicked quite baddly a few times, and evened out on the others. i think its quite daunting to play, ep if your more used to chess or draughs. sorry tho-cant tell you much abotu it, only thats its a cracking game. If you ever want to play a novice; give me a call Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted August 10, 2005 Author Share Posted August 10, 2005 @JFG: Been playing on the full 19x19 board mostly, but I'd be more than happy to have a go on a smaller board. @Ivory: I had similar problems, to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivory Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 hopping to get a game or two in next time i pop up to visit my friend (thats the problem with living far apart)! if anyone has any good game stratagies that would be helpful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir-roosio Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 played it twice, and still cant get my head round the sheer size of that bloody board! Mind you,in saying that, i did watch my friends play a game, and once i was removed from the action I could start to see patterns and lines emerging, territiry nearly caught etc. etc. But i just get this awe-filled felling whenever i start to play cos I have no idea where to begin! In mentioning backgammon, thats a cracking game that needs to be more popular IMHO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Play on Yahoo. It offers much smaller board sizes. If anyone feels like playing, I have put my Yahoo name in my profile. (Despite how I should've done so a long while ago...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stun Grenade Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I played my neighbour last month!! On a real board except I didn't know what I was doing. I would play you guys but maybe I should read the rules first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir-roosio Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Stun greade, theres some fairly good information and rules here. As a matter of interest, odes anyone know how chinese and japanese go rules differ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted August 12, 2005 Author Share Posted August 12, 2005 Don't start that, for God's sake, I'm not sure I fully understand the game as it is! Don't complicate things more!I think the principal difference is in the way the score is judged, but there are international standard rules, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir-roosio Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 the BGA (british go association) uses the japanese rules, when you count the territory at the end they count the number of empty intersections in your territory, while when i played we counted the number of squares. is this the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted August 12, 2005 Author Share Posted August 12, 2005 I think so. Also, there's differing importance placed on pieces vs territory. In some games, number of pieces captured is only used to determine a winner if the number of territories is drawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 Holy crap! Go players gone mad! It's great to see such a response to this thread. If you're interested in playing, please add the rest of us to your messenger list, preferrably Yahoo since we're currently playing via Yahoo. None of us are veterans of the game, so we don't bite. My intention is to get a group together to learn and develop together, as I personally have lesser interest playing people I have absolutely no connection with (need to work on that aspect of my personality, ha!). To address some of the forum-goers... @Jelly - Smaller boards are good to speed things up, but strategic decisions have a greater effect in larger boards... Small is a good place to start, but I'm hoping to migrate more people to large boards soon enough. @Ivory - Long time no see. Novices are welcome. It doesn't sound like anyone here has too much experience. Strategy is hard to deliver in terms of over forums... playing helps. Play as much as you can before you meet your friend, if you want to advance your and her/his game. @sir-roosio - I hear you on how to start... or how imposing it is to figure out where to play. It looks like it's all the same, but it apparently makes a difference. Not sure about that counting squares though. @Stun Grenade - There are only two rules - you can't play in a stone into a position where it would immediately be removed and you can't repeat a board position. With respect to the more common discussion: Board size is pretty standard: 9x9, 13x13, 19x19. Nice to start off on the 9x9 just to see how to play the tactical decisions I think, and gradually move up to 19x19. It's not so much a matter of national rules but of national scoring. The game is played the exact same way in all countries. Scoring differs due to evolution (or lack thereof). When Japan first imported Go from China, the game was scored the way it is scored in Japan now - only empty intersections counted towards your territory. Eventually though, evolution and research in China (during the Ming Dynasty, I think), they decided to change the system to count the number of points and stones encompassing territory, including those stones in seki, which is sort of a 'conditional life'. There are some deeper, more subtle differences, but the winner doesn't tend to change anyway, so it's no big deal (at this point ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivory Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 good to see you again too x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Just to mention FA found me and we met on the 13x13 field of battle; it took me a good few turns to remember my objectives and another few on how one might achieve them, but I made him work for the second half of his eventual victory. GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir-roosio Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 @ Dragonhawk, any excuse to count squares! Think it comes from eating too many big cadbury's dairy milk bars as a kid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted August 15, 2005 Author Share Posted August 15, 2005 @JFG: I thought you won, mate? By a point only, but a win is still a win. Be happy to play you again now you've got the rules firmly fixed in your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Cadbury milk bars? Over here, I think we just have the Cadbury eggs... I think I know what you mean though, we have a chocolate of similar square-structure here. I think you did win, FA. You had that big chunk in the bottom - JFG would have won except for that. Anyway, a rematch would indeed be interesting. Now, how about the other three, Ivory, sir-roosio, and Stun Grenade? Where you kids at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now