Anyone here plays "Weiqi" ( Chinese meaning surround chess ) or "Go" as it is called in Japanese or "Baduk"  in Korean . It is a game immensely more difficult than chess, Chinese chess or shogi. The famous chess master Lasker was once converted from chess to Go.

That would be Edward Lasker... not the World Champion Emanuel Lasker (for anyone who was confused).

oginschile wrote:

That would be Edward Lasker... not the World Champion Emanuel Lasker (for anyone who was confused).

---

 Thanks oginschile, I should have clarified. Anyway, they were friends - and Edward introduced Go to Emanuel Lasker.See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lasker

I've played GO alot and while I wouldn't say it's harder as a game in itself.

My real difficulty with it is switching from Chess mind to GO mind. It definately requires a totaly different approach as a field of study with a MUCH higher emphasis on expiriance. 

I played it for a while, but I can't find an equal partner to play OTB, and online games require a longer time commitment than a chess game does. 

If you think of chess as a battlefield, think of Go as building a civilization.  The player who ends with the most space wins, and it is possible to win all the tactical battles yet lose the game.

Why is the forum called (Go)

i was looking for the game and i can't find it does anyone have a suggestion on were to get the game "GO"

add wrote: i was looking for the game and i can't find it does anyone have a suggestion on were to get the game "GO"

---

First, try the American Go Association at:

http://www.usgo.org/

 

There you can get an idea of what Go is all about.  They might also have some tips on how to hook you up with some equipment.  Failing that, try Ebay.  I often see Go boards and stones for sale there:

http://toys.listings.ebay.com/Board-Traditional-Games_Go_W0QQdfspZ2QQfclZ3QQfromZR11QQsacatZ113528QQsocmdZListingItemList

Ray_D wrote:

If you think of chess as a battlefield, think of Go as building a civilization.  The player who ends with the most space wins, and it is possible to win all the tactical battles yet lose the game.

---

 Very well said!

 I have tried Go and just cannot get as excited about it as Chess.  Go has always struck me as a much more esoteric game than chess. 

Placing stones on graph paper will never excite me as much as having my knight storming out and launching an attack upon an enemy king.   

I have played go, but I didn't find it as exciting as chess

I played Go once. I was beaten by a 10 year old kid (I was 16). It was embarresing and very difficult.

No need to feel embarrassed, Go is a tough game.  It's just that I find it lacks the...character (for lack of a better term) of chess. 

Go and Chess are two completely varying types of board games.

I learned Go around the same time as Chess, and I can attest that non-casual OTB Chess games take MUCH more time than Go.

To add who was asking about the Go game and where to get it--I see them sometimes at the big bookstores like Books-a-Million or Barnes and Nobel and I thought I also saw it at Toys R Us but I might have that last one wrong.  I played it once or twice but it just didn't hold my attention like chess does.

I play Go sometimes, I already bought the Game set and play it with my friend or some other Go Servers. Go is more challenging than chess, because in chess you already know each piece's movement, you can see the possibilities, but in Go you have you can't easly guess where your opponent might place his stone. of course we can't forget that there are "Joseki" in Go, which is a pattern of predefined movements/sequences of play that brings benefit to both players, but once your opponent is out of Joseki, then you are on your own!

 

 These websites r good, I bought my books from it, and they have Go Client that u can download. http://www.kiseido.com/

http://www.gokgs.com/

 this site sells many board games sets. Good company  

http://www.ymimports.com/

 

I used to play go semi-seriously, read a few instructional books, played alot.  I got my rank up to 9k on KGS.  It's a wonderful game but eventually I realized I don't have time to start a new game.  If I'm going to spend alot of time on a board game, it might as well be chess =)

 

By the way there is a wonderful anime and manga about Go called "Hikaru no go" - you can get this in anime sections of stores.   

Zenchess wrote: By the way there is a wonderful anime and manga about Go called "Hikaru no go" - you can get this in anime sections of stores.   

---

I started learning about "Go" after watching this anime "Hikaru no Go"...

I have all the episodes ...it is one of my favorite animes. can't get enough from it, watch it from time to time..

 oh,, there is a good software that teaches you how to play, it is called "The Many Faces of Go". bought that one too.

 

I played and studied Go for about three years. Almost two years ago, when I learned how top western Go players deliberately modeled chess thinking and training methods in order to improve their play ("Inner Game of Chess" is a Go scene cult-book), I bought another Soltis book, "How to Choose a Chess Move". I had not played chess for a very long time, but when I read "How to Choose...", I fell in love with chess all over again. I find chess no less challenging than Go, but more so, because real competition is more accessible. The non-issue of which is superior -- chess vs Go -- is a false a paradigm. It's a matter of preference and cultural mindset. Chess culture is richer for me. Both chess and Go are zero-sum games that are artistically beautiful and tactically and strategically dynamic. I feel my time learning Go was well spent because it brought me back home to chess.

I do play xiangqi Chinese chess, it's a good game, but I'm only just getting used to it.

789159 wrote: I have played go, but I didn't find it as exciting as chess

---

 lol i played both chinese and international chess until i encountered go due to boredom. After a while i got very hooked onto go so much so that i dun play chess now......I would disagree that go isnt as exciting as chess, it is more strategic than chess and not less tactical than chess either. If u just see go as just stones on a graph paper then go would not appale to you