Play go

I am sorry to correct you, but I have never heard each chess game takes about 45 minutes to play and it is also not true for go. Hope you are joking, although I belive you are not :-)

I am about 7 kyu at cycling and 9 dan at sleeping. I have even beaten no Grandma and I would say I am class A.

In other words I pretend, I do not understand your intend.

You guessed wrong, I am trying to get what you want to state by mentioning your strengths ;-)

I am very surprised(pleasantly) that somebody is asking the information for Go.

I am a Chinese and I play both Go and Chess, so here is my comments:

First of all, the legendary origin of the game "Go" is such: long time ago, a very nice and wise King in China had a dumb, disobdient and probably wicked son. In order to "train" the trouble son, the King invented the game "Go". The story tells the benefits of playing Go: help you grow, make you wise and be respectful.

Second, as you know, the supercomputer has beaten the Chess world champion about ten years ago, however, even today the supercomputer cannot win a top Go player in a town: because "Go" is an art, is not just being smart. Can you imagine supercomputer someday replace Mozart or Shakspear?(If so, that will be great, but I don't believe it and I don't believe a supercompuer in the future can ever beat a top level Go player either.).

Third, "Go" has a nickname in Asia -- chat with hands, which means when you are playing with someone, actually you are chatting with him -- literally. By looking at somebody playing Go, you can know this person so deep--his personality etc.

Last, to play "Go"  well, you need to avoid the attempt to attack your opponent -- the first mental trap. You need to stand high on the board (spiritually), not physically step on the board, which means you need to be nice, forgiven, self-awareness(you don't attach the other, but you make yourself strong so not be attacked or humiliated by him, by doing so, you win at the end). If your action/response on the board is not rightous, the consequence is you will loose the game.

Anyway, Go is very philosophical. I really love it. The "problem" is that a real game (19 x 19) takes a long time, games.yahoo.com has minimized game (9 x 9, 13 x 13). All are fun. But I cannot play it on iPhone.

That's interesting. Thank you. I will try again online or perhaps against the software I have - but definitely on a smaller board.

Go is great! There is a very large version but i have a smaller 19*19 board. The rules are sort of complicated, but they are easy to remember.

I'm also Chinese, but i can finish a 19*19 Go game in 20 minutes, and my dad is a little better than me.

They do have quicker versions of go, useing a time clock much like chess to speed up the game. Most pro games (In Japan anyway) are around 3 hours.

One thing to mention is that the 9x9 and 13x13 games you will play are different than the 19x19 games. There is a different strategy.

9x9 games (and to the same extent 13x13) are battles. The area is so small your attacking your opponent right from the start. These boards get you ready for the battles you will face in the 19x19 that start in the middle/end game.

Its really quite interesting. I encourage anyone interested to read the Manga I linked. Its a good story and will give you an idea of how Go is viewed (at least in Japan). I'm by no means good at Go, I'm still a newbie but I'm slowly learning and thats half the fun!

Computer Go software will be able to play at human strength soon. It is already able to win with 4 handicap stones against professional players and is able to play at 6 Dan Amateur strength on internet servers. This achievment was unthinkable a few years ago.

Computer software support at Go is still at quite a different level to Chess. While I am able to analyze my moves at chess with a computer alone to a reasonable degree, this option is not yet available for my go moves. I still have to discuss my go moves with my friends :-)

One chess strategy I try to introduce to my go playing style, is to look for three candidate moves and only then decide my next go move.

What could the nickname be for chess?

Beginners can play on 9x9 and 13x13 boards too.

Bad idea.

First experience should be on 19 x 19.

GhostyMacry is right. It helps you understand:

Terriorty

Good moves

What a waste move is (i.e. attacking an alive colony)

How to fight to kill a colony (i.e. saccing a piece or two to prevent two eyes)

(Hello from my new account.)

For an absolut beginner 19x19 is pointless. I'm talking about people just learning the rules.