Doc and I are still playing GO. I’m black; here’s the 19th move of the game:

I have several weaknesses, and this is earlier that I had wanted to begin fighting, but it’s still a strong, defensive move. Doc’s moves.

Flickr set

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

Yes, yes - Doc and I are still playing a game of GO. The holidays and the election cycle have pretty busy for everyone, but the beauty of our game is that it is slow and protracted. It gives us time to think.

So, on that note, here’s my latest move in our GO game:

clipped from flickr.com

Black Move 17, N 17

A move to encroach on Doq’s corner

A move to encroach on Doq’s corner

Here are Doc’s moves.

Thanks!

Powered by ScribeFire.

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

In response to Doc’s move at D10, I extend two from L17.

clipped from flickr.com

This is my next move, on the left side, played on the star point. I play here to claim the left side in answer to Dan’s move 7, following the proverb corners, side, then center. My next move depends on where Dan plays and then we get to fighting.

clipped from flickr.com

Black Move 9, H17 - H17 extends the influence from L17. By no means does this move guarantee territory, but it’s good shape, and divides Doc’s two groups. As the proverb says, the third line has special powers. However, another proverb says that the third line is life, the fourth line is victory. So, we’ll see how Doc responds to this.

Black Move 9, H17 - H17 extends the influence from L17. By no means does this move guarantee territory, but it’s good shape, and divides Doc’s two groups. As the proverb says, the third line has special powers. However, another proverb says that the third line is life, the fourth line is victory. So, we’ll see how Doc responds to this.

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

There are Two New Creepy Sleepy Shows - one with the Minister of Intrigue Dan Andrlik about Mahalo, Wikis, Search, and Marketing. You can find it here.

The other is with William ‘Doc ‘ Stodden of the Supernova Earth series of life lessons about Democrats, Global Warming, and GO. The Show resides here.

Thanks!

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

As you know, Doc and I are playing a game of GO. Here’s the progress thus far:

clipped from flickr.com

Black Move 7, R10 - ‘First corners, then sides, then middle’

The Proverb says ‘first corners, then sides, then middle - I’m not yet concerned with Doc’s horse-move at o 17, and placement on the side helps me extend from the corner. The Game of GO progresses here (black), and here (white).

Thanks!

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

“A One-Stone Jump is Never Bad”

- Wei-Chi proverb

Yesterday Doq challenged me to a game of GO.  Doc lives in Carbondale, Illinois, and I live in New York.  While there are many options for online GO, nothing can compare to the aesthetics of playing on a wood board with stones.  Thusly, Doc proposed we play on our respective boards, take pictures, then share them on Flickr.  So, he and I will play a move (or a few) per day, take pictures, then post to sets. 

I’m certain that this will also prompt a discussion the philosophy of GO, it’s proverbs, and techniques.  Way back when this blog was call the Stabby News, I posted a few GO proverbs that help explain the basics. 

Doc has posted a fantastic description of GO and it’s simple principals:

A few simple rules of Go, so you understand what we are talking about here:

1: The goal of the game is to make territory. To do this, you must
use various moves to get your opponent’s stones out of the territory
you have decided to defend while getting your stones into territory
that your opponent has claimed. The player with the most territory at
the end of the game wins.

2: Territory is counted in points. Points are open spaces without
any stones on them. The more stones it takes you to defend your
territory, obviously the fewer points you get to count at the end of
the game.

3: Each stone is worth exactly the same as every other stone. It is
where the stone is placed and which other of your stones back it up
which makes a stone powerful or weak.

4: Each stone counts its “liberties” following the lines leading off
of it to another open point. A stone played in the middle with no other
stones around it counts four liberties. A stone played on a side counts
three liberties and one played in the corner counts two. If one stone
is directly adjacent (via line; diagonals do not count for this) to
another stone of the same color, it is called a group, and then the
group counts all its liberties as if it were one unit. Hence a two
stone group in the middle counts six liberties total (and not four,
because if you count the liberties from the group, you come up with six
lines to another point coming from the group, and not each stone.) It
is rather confusing without an example, but you’ll have to take my word
for it. When a stone has only one liberty left, that stone is in
“atari”, and when it has zero liberties left, it is killed. There are
ways to avoid this fate, and they will be demonstrated in our game.
5: Game play proceeds as follows: Black (which always goes first)
puts a stone down, white puts a stone down. The game continues like
this, going through three relatively distinct phases, until the whole
board is filled either with stones or unassailable territory. At this
point, when BOTH players have passed (because they can’t or no longer
wish to play a move) the game ends and territory is counted.

6: Ko is an infinite fight between stones. Without an example it is
meaningless to talk about Ko, except to say that when Ko is taken, you
cannot immediately replay that same Ko fight. The person who loses a
stone in Ko must play elsewhere first, and then may return to take the
Ko after playing somewhere else first. I will highlight examples of Ko
as they arise on the board.

7: A stone placed into a one point eye (while possible) is suicide, and that is not allowed.

Read more about GO from Doceoptrix Rex here.

Dan’s Set from our GO game

Doc’s Set from our GO game

I have found GO to be both stimulating and relaxing.  While little can substitute human interacting, one of the many lessons of GO is patience.  Playing a long game like this will prove to be both fun experiment, and a learning experience.  No better person for that than the D.O.C.

Stay updated game progress - add the feed.

Doc’s feed.

Thanks!

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

This week’s Go proverb again comes from Sensei’s Library.

The black group has a real eye and a false eye. The false eye is the one at a.
Notice that the marked black stone has an incomplete connection with the rest of the group: a suffers from both marked white stones.

Here’s another false eye which you will encounter frequently in games. Even if the marked stone gets captured, there is no real eye here for Black.

The WC stone is a throw-in, a technique commonly used to destroy eyes.

This proverb cautions one against the presumption of Life, and in turn, checks the tendency to become over-confident in a particular fight. This proverb also teaches the valuable skill of counting liberties. Liberties are the lines that extend from a particular stone or group of stones. A group of stones must have at least two liberties to live; the player who has the most free liberties at the end of the game, wins. By counting free liberties, one will have a better probability of estimating the opponent’s next move.

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!

The following Go proverb is from Sensei’s Library, a nice little Go repository.

“The Go proverb “beginners play atari” is much like the chess saying “patzer sees a check, gives a check”. Beginners often find it difficult to resist the urge to give atari, even when the atari helps their opponent. In particular, one should beware of situations in which an atari may be aji-keshi or a thank you move.

Don’t do something just because you can. Have a reason for doing it. And, no, “to capture the stones” is not enough of a reason. Why do you want to capture those stones?

The Japanese from which this proverb is probably derived is ????????????? (”atari-atari wa hebo-go no mihon”), which has a nuance vaguely different from “beginners give atari”, something closer to “atari-atari is bumbling go at its best”. A variant is ???????????? (”atari-atari wa hebo-go ka na”, “see too many ataris, smell a bumbler”).”

This proverb is significant because it demonstrates the impulsiveness of a novice, something that can easily be identified and taken advantage of by a more experienced player. It also exposes a player’s propensity towards aggression and need to ‘win’ by playing in a overly assertive style. This demonstrates that the player yet understand the subtleties of the game.

Technorati Tags: wei-chi, Go, atari

This site contains blog entries, mobile updates, podcasts, pictures, video, and links - the best way to get all of this is to add the feed. Thanks!