Go: The Surrounding Game
A game of Go in progress on a traditional Goban. Image courtesy of Wikipedia
I am going to start talking about Go on this blog. It’s one of my all time favorite board games and I’ve likely spent more time playing it than any other board game. I’ve started a section on the game where I can share my extremely amateur advice on the game. The first page is simply an introduction but more will follow. I’m already planning one on how patience is a virtue in the game.
I don’t know why I never talked much about Go on my old blog. Perhaps because I was maintaining a separate Go blog on Sensei’s library. Perhaps because I hadn’t included board games as content on the blog. I’m currently involved in a number of online correspondence games which will give me plenty to talk about. While I’m not that good at it it is the only game I’ve ever been good at. That is to say I am better at this game than at any game I’ve ever played but in the world of Go I am very weak.
While I have studied and practiced this game my current rank on OGS is 14 kyu. In Go games can be handicapped by between one and nine stones. The amount of extra stones a strong player gives to a weaker player is the difference in their rank. With a proper handicap you should win half of your games. A 13 kyu would give me an extra stone at the start while a 5 kyu would give me nine. A 5 kyu would get nine stones from a 5 dan. After 1 kyu the ranks move to dan and reserve in order. These are strictly amateur ranks. A professional 1 dan could likely beat an amateur 5 dan but I’m not sure the exact ranking. This should give you an idea of how very bad at the game I am.
Anyone else play Go? It’s a game that’s touched a lot of people even if they’ve only tried it a couple of times. Leave a comment with your experiences. If you are interested in learning read my introduction and follow the links provided to learn about the game. Create an account on the Online Go Server and challenge me to a teaching game. I’d love to play with anyone who reads my blog.
A teaching game sounds fun. I might take you up on that offer sometime, maybe an evening over the holidays.