The Zen of Go

Think chess is complicated? Envision a board game invented in China centuries earlier. A game mathematically more complex by entire orders of magnitude, yet simpler at the same time. A game whose scholars romanticize about how a single match reflects the path of the universe. A game whose masters can successfully predict the exact mind state of their opponents based on the moves they make; are they happy? Angry? Busy? Did they experience recent hardship in their lives?

Friends, I present to you the game of Go.

It is a game of territorial conquest, played on a 19x19 board, with two opponents. One player is black, and the other player is white. Two diametrically opposing forces vying for dominance. The players take turns, placing one stone at a time on the intersections between columns and rows. Completely surrounding a group of stones of the opposite color eliminates that group from the board. When no more moves can be made, tallies are taken of the empty space lying within stone formations for scoring purposes. The winner is the one with the highest combination of territory and captured stones.

A battle of wits within a match.

Historically speaking, the game is a decidedly Eastern phenomenon, having been played by anyone from imperial emperors to shoguns to military strategists. Sun Tzu was a huge proponent of Go. Today, there are entire professional leagues dedicated to the game. A few are popping up in America, though these leagues are most prominent in Asia and eastern Europe. There is a ranking system that directly correlates the skill of the player with the skill of similar players. Beginners start at "30 Kyu," eventually going down to 29 Kyu and further down to 1 Kyu as they get better. Proficient players transition from 1 Kyu to "1 Dan," going up the scale to a maximum of "9 Dan:" the true grand masters.

Professional league practice space.

Culturally speaking, it remains ingrained in the lifeblood of many Asian countries including China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. There are tales of epic matches between historical figures, rivalries between childhood friends, and philosophical schools of thought that arise from Go. Even a manga, Hikaru no Go, about the game was created in Japan and has obtained many awards.

Interested in learning or playing? Here's a website dedicated to online play (entirely free) and a detailed guide with practice examples coded in Java to help you out. Enjoy!