How to apply the strategies of the ancient game of go in business.

Signs of pregnancy after embryo implantation

The masters of the classical school put stones in head of the corner and make sure they are in good shape... The main operating lines are the third and fourth from the edge, and the key idea is the idea of ​​a golden mean and an equal division of property. Thus, playing technique is reduced to four basic competencies:

  • a sense of form and style;
  • knowledge of standard constructions in the corners and on the sides;
  • methods of attacking someone else's possession and protecting one's own;
  • the ability to make calculations (necessary in all schools).

Cosmic Go

The space style implies the abandonment of sitting in the corners in favor of active development in the center and on the sides. The key idea is to accumulate influence as quickly and as much as possible. Then, having reached positional completeness, involve the opponent in the redistribution of spheres of influence, using the accumulated advance in development and scale. There are no rigid formulas on which one could rely without looking back. Healthy adventurism and creativity are the main contributors. But still, you can designate several complexions, which you cannot do without:

  • the ability to build large agglomerations (moyo) and manage them;
  • a sense of balance;
  • understanding the possession-influence link, using it for exchanges;
  • the ability to conduct a conflict.

The abilities are quite general, but they involve mastering the knowledge base of classical Go or the skill of power fighting.

School of war

How to characterize the Go fighting style fostered by the Korean Go school? Quickly take a comfortable position and start an all-out battle with other people's stones for the territory. Why build and organize when you can take away? This approach allowed the Koreans to crush the Japanese with their passion for forms and "rules" for a decade. A feature of this approach to Go is the primacy of tactics and operations over strategy, which turns out to be unnecessary with sufficient crushing blow.

but Artificial Intelligence AlphaGo clearly showed the limits of the school of war. You can win all battles, but you can lose the war if you don't rely on strategy. Another aspect is the power of calculation. In the game of Go, it is necessary, but in the school of war, the exact calculation takes, perhaps, the first place. Other key school tools:

  • understanding the nuances of life and death;
  • possession of techniques and methods of attack and defense;
  • fortitude and mental stability;
  • the feeling of chaos in the fight.

Until now, representatives of this school occupy dominant positions in the world of Go. Only the artificial intelligence of Google could shake their position.

Strategic Go

Any technology can be disassembled down to the principle of thinking. The same applies to strategy. Go game can be just a board game, or it can become a trainer of our intellect. The idea of ​​the strategic school is to apply Go as a programmed thinking environment. Sounds too complicated. In simple terms, the game of Go is used as a strategic simulator. It's like the simulators used to train airplane pilots. Is it possible?

But this is precisely the role that Go played in ancient China! With its help they built strategic thinking... The problem of a modern person is that he does not come across such tools practically anywhere. Did you have intelligence built in school? If so, then you are lucky.

The Russian strategic school is based on the classical Japanese and Chinese schools of Go. The method of study differs. The emphasis is not on the development of automatic skills, but on the formation of understanding. The second important point is the connection between the schemes and principles of the game of Go and real problems, be it military strategy, politics, or entrepreneurship.

Go - oldest game in a world whose rules have existed unchanged for about 5000 years. The game of the emperors and Buddhist monks of the century was unknown in the west.
Go in Japan is called I-go, in Korea - Baduk, in China - Veichi. Guo is also sometimes referred to as the "conversation of the hands."

The rules of Go are so simple that even a four-year-old child can understand them, but at the same time the game is quite difficult, therefore computer programs can't beat the best players. For example, in chess, after the fourth move, there are about 100,000 possible positions, and in Go - 16 billion. Therefore, Go is considered one of the main challenges to artificial intelligence!

  • A striking and surprising example of respect for the game of Go is the game for one of the most honorable titles in Japan, held in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. When the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, the blast wave knocked out all the windows in the building, but the players restored the stones on the board and took the game to the end.
  • The largest Go field, measuring 40x40 m, was created in Japanese city Oita. To play on it, stones with a diameter of 1.8 m and a weight of about 1 kg were used.
  • It is believed that it mainly develops the left hemisphere of the brain. When playing Go, both hemispheres are active.
  • Go has a tremendous impact on the mental development of children, especially in the field of reasoning.
  • The best professional players earn about $ 1 million a year. In 2004 the best was Cho Woo, 9th professional dan from Japan, winning $ 1.04 million.
  • There is a historical story that says that in the 17th century, the laws of Tibet were adopted by three parties of Go.
  • Some scientists believe that Go stops and completely prevents senile dementia, and also reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease.
  • Mao Zedong was an expert on the game of Go and said that this is the only game in which everyone starts from an empty board and without additional conditions, and everything that happens then depends only on the quality of the mind. Mao drew parallels between play and war: "When the enemy is entrenched, we need to find such moves to dominate the entire space of the board."
  • The third president of Nintendo, Japanese businessman Hiroshi Yamauchi, who in 50 years of his work had transformed a small company into a multinational video game manufacturer, was a big fan of the game Go.
  • Nolan Bushnell, another director of Atari, a major video game manufacturer, called Go his favorite game.
  • Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State and a fan of the game of Go, in his book "About China" analyzing the difference in the military strategy of the Western powers and China on the example of chess and Go comes to the conclusion that "Where in the Western tradition would prefer a decisive clash of forces and would do emphasis on heroic deeds, for the Chinese, the ideal tactics were to emphasize diplomatic subtleties, use roundabout ways and patiently accumulate relative advantages.
    This contrast is reflected in the respective intellectual games. " In Go, the degree of superiority is often very small, and it is by no means entirely clear to the untrained eye who won. Chess is a game of complete victory for one of the parties. Go develops strategic flexibility, chess develops simplicity of thinking.
  • The founder and CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates, dreamed of becoming the world chess and Go champion in his youth. By playing Go, he became only a college champion, which he regretfully wrote in his book.
  • Sergey Andreev, President of Abbyy, says “When you play Go, you will notice that your mistakes are routine. They often stem from character and, of course, repeat themselves more than once. The one who sees his problems, compares them with the problems on the blackboard, remembers how he solved problems on the blackboard, comes back to life and applies these solutions in reality - he will become invincible! In life, not in the game. "
Thinking and Winning: Go Game for Beginners Grishin Igor Alekseevich

WHAT IS STRATEGY AND TACTICS?

Strategy is the art of leadership based on competent and deep ownership of the situation.

Tactics - a set of means and techniques to achieve the intended goal.

When applied to military affairs, strategy defines the overall plan of warfare, combining military means with political goals, and also aims to concentrate military power and maneuver in order to create conditions for battle. Tactics deal with concentration of forces, maneuvers, and engagement directly on the battlefield.

Strategy is the art of forcing the enemy into battle in the most favorable conditions for you; it determines the time, place and number of troops in the upcoming battle. Tactics are ways and means of achieving victory over the enemy, whom we have forced to accept the battle.

In business terms, strategy is a carefully thought-out idea of ​​where an enterprise should move and how to get there - based on a deep understanding of goals and using the most effective and practical ways to achieve them, that is, tactics.

Strategy is the art of the general, global, and tactics is the art of the private, local. A strategist is one who controls the general, being outside the general or within the general, as he wishes. The tactician manages the particular, being within the general. The techniques of both are similar, but the levels and techniques of thinking are different.

Go game allows you to hone the skill of tactics and strategy at the level of abstract thinking and apply the perceived patterns in any area of ​​life.

The essence of the Go strategy lies in the concepts presented in this chapter. Understanding these concepts and their interconnection helps to appreciate the beauty of the world in which we live.

From the book of Hopes, Disappointments, Dreams ... the author Viktor Tikhonov

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COMPETITION DIET STRATEGY Bodybuilding is the most effective way to train, build and develop muscles in the human body. Bodybuilding is one of the most difficult sports and requires more performance and discipline than other sports.

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BASIC STRATEGY In the next few pages, I will describe the basic pre-flop trading strategy. This overall strategy which shows how I would play in the following circumstances: 1. I'm at a full nine-player table early in the middle of the tournament. 2. I do not know

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Part II Strategy and tactics of the chess game

From Thinking and Conquering: A Go Game for Beginners the author Grishin Igor Alekseevich

From the book Encyclopedia of Karate the author Mikryukov Vasily Yurievich

CO-FIGHT STRATEGY If you don't like Ko, don't play Go. Proverb In Go there is a prohibition on repetition of a position. This situation is called the Ko rule or Ko-fight. We have already discussed this concept in the section on the rules of Go, now we will return to it and consider

From the author's book

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Section II Technique, tactics and strategy of karate Competitions and related victories and defeats are not true budo. Real victory is victory over yourself! Morihei Ueshiba Speaking about the technique, tactics and strategy of karate, it should always be remembered that the basis of karate

In go, both local tactics and long-term strategy are important. At the beginning of a game of go (fuseki), strategic reasoning takes an important place, but as the game progresses, tactics gradually becomes more important. Tactical maneuvers are often encountered at the beginning of the game, but only in connection with strategic intentions.

Intuition plays an important role in strategic decisions to start a game. It is impossible to accurately calculate all moves in fuseki, so players have to rely on their sense of a good move. There are two principles that can help your intuition. One of them is the effectiveness of the supplied stone in relation to other stones, the second is balance.

On the D.1 a typical fuseki is shown. Each side indicated its presence in the corners. The game has moved to the sides, and in the future will develop in the center.

The easiest way to capture territory is in the corner, for this reason the first moves are made in the corners. On the D 2 an illustration of this statement is given. In the upper right corner, it took six stones to encircle nine points of territory. It took nine stones on the left side, and twelve in the center. From this, we conclude that when capturing territory, and this is the goal of the game, it is better to place stones closer to the corner, and in the center their effectiveness is minimal.

Note that on D.1 players do not concentrate their stones on one part of the board, but distribute them all over the board. After securing his presence in the corners, Black played 5 to challenge the right side.

On the D.3 Black concentrated his moves on the upper right, and White distributed stones throughout the rest of the board. Black has 30 indisputable points of territory, but White has a strategic advantage. White's position is well balanced and his stones work effectively all over the board. On the other hand, black stones are concentrated in one part of the board. Black put all the eggs in one basket, as the proverb says, so their position is not balanced.

Answers to tasks

Problem 12 asked how to build two eyes for a group of five white stones? The correct answer is to play b.1 on D.4.

White certainly survives, because the items to the left and right of 1 become eyes. With two separate eyes, this group cannot be captured.

If it is Black's turn, then he can capture the white stones with the same move ( D.5). Now neither side will move in this place, because it understands that White's stones have been captured.

For example, White cannot play 2 on D.6 because he puts himself in atari and black captures the six white stones with 3.

If White doubts that his stones are captured, then Black can inflict atari 1 on D 7... White will capture 2. Black will play 3 on D.8... If White captures 4, then black plays 3 again and captures the seven white stones.

False eyes

Let's look at the black group on D.9... Is she dead or alive? If it is Black's turn, then he builds two eyes "A" and "B" with move 1 on D.10.

If it is White's move, then he destroys the eye at the border by placing a stone at point 1 on D.11... If black captures 2, then a position on D.12... Black was left with one eye, because point "A" - false eye. Those. "A" looks like an eye, but at some point black will have to occupy this point. For example, if White plays atari 1, as in D.13, black will have to connect 2. Black ended up with one eye (point "B" on D.10) and will be captured on the next turn.

Assignment 13

Where should white play to prevent black from building two eyes?

Remember I once conveyed to you the news that for the first time in history

But computers have been playing chess, checkers and any other games for a long time, where there is no element of randomness and everything is based on mathematical calculation. So why was Go a tough nut to crack? No matter how hard the programmers fought, the masters won over any programs for many years. Because go is an art they claim on popmech.ru

Let's find out more about this ...

When people find out that someone is playing Go, people react in the same way: “What are these pebbles? Whether it's chess or checkers! " Few understand the essence of the patterns that players lay out of stones - from the outside, the game system looks monstrously confusing. Moreover, go is one of the most common board games in the world. It is also gaining its place in Russia - more than 150 participants came to the last Moscow tournament. Go is much older than chess and also originated in Asia, but where exactly is not clear: over four thousand years, dozens of civilizations have changed, powerful empires have flourished and collapsed, there have been grandiose migrations of peoples, and the trace is lost on the border of China, India and Tibet. Nevertheless, chess is much more popular, and this raises the question - why? How does it attract and repel it?

    Legend of go

    Other names for the game, dzain ("seated hermit") and ran-ka ("rotted ax"), go back to an old legend. Once the woodcutter Wang Zhi met elders in the mountains who were indulging in an incomprehensible game, came up and began to observe. When the game ended, the players melted into thin air, Wang Zhi found himself turning gray, his clothes decayed, and his hatchet rotted. In his native village strangers met him, no one recognized him, and only a decrepit old woman remembered how she was told in childhood that a hundred years ago a certain woodcutter had gone into the forest and disappeared.

Tactics and strategy

Go is a game of capture. Players divide the board with stones, and the main value is territory, empty points (cross-hairs of lines on the board) that the player fenced off for himself. During the turn, the player either places one stone at any unoccupied point, or passes. The first move is made by Black, this gives an advantage, and in order to equalize the balance, the “Komi” rule was introduced in the 19th century: before the start of the game, White is compensated by 6.5 points. Therefore, there are no draws in go - for all actions in the game, only a whole number of points is given, and 0.5 points will always serve as a means of superiority.

The game techniques are relatively simple: surround, build a fortress, divide space. The stones are placed on the crosshairs, each in turn is bordered by four free crossings (at the edge of the board - three, in the corner - two), which are called "dame" (breath). As long as a stone or group has contact with at least one libertarian, they "live", but if everything is blocked by the opponent's stones, they are removed from the board. It is forbidden to place a stone at a point that has no liberties, such a move is allowed only if the placed stone takes the last libertarian from the opponent's group and captures it. The environment is the basis of go, but not the goal, although it happens that the death of a large group brings victory. Remember, at school, many played "dots"? So, this game, in principle, evolved from simplified go.

The set stone remains motionless and can "survive" only by uniting in a group with stones in the neighborhood: in order to "kill" such a group, it is necessary to surround it from the outside and from the inside. Each new stone enlarges the group, it captures space and forms closed voids ("eyes") inside itself. A group with more than one "eye" is called a fortress. She is not threatened with death, since it is impossible to close both "eyes" in one move. When there are so many fortresses that their walls touch, and there is nowhere to build new ones, the players divide the remaining space. Where the chess game ends with the defeat of the enemy's army, a truce ensues in go: the players pass, exchange prisoners (stones removed from the board) and score points. Each surrounded point or captured stone is worth one point, and the one with the most wins.

Guo is considered a peaceful game, but when analyzing the game, the words "cutting", "strangulation", "captivity", "death" are heard. Who is on the other side of the board? A beginner player will answer "enemy", because you need to win, and therefore - to fight! An experienced one will say "friend", because his goal is correct interaction, but how to interact with the enemy? For the master of the game, there is no one there: you are on the other side of the board.

    If the white player places his stone on crosshair A, the black group will lose the last degree of freedom (liberty), go into the “captured” status and be removed from the board.

Go in Russia

In autumn, Moscow hosted the Japanese Ambassador's Go Cup, the largest Russian tournament attended by world-class masters. Last year, Meijin Tetsuya Mitani and Vice-President of the European Go Federation Ms. Li Ting attended the tournament - they held master classes, debriefing and simultaneous games. The festival "Japanese Autumn", within the framework of which the tournament was held, is organized with the aim of acquainting Russians with the cultural traditions of the Land of the Rising Sun. In Russia, go is an official sport; in the summer of 2016, the European Go-Congress will take place in St. Petersburg, but, despite this, the popularity of the game is growing rather slowly. This is partly due to the fact that there are no teachers willing to work with beginners, moreover, there is a lack of commercial conditions in which teaching Go will become a worthy business (at least self-supporting). But there are more and more enthusiasts for white and black stones, and enthusiasts, as you know, are a terrible force.

Nuclear go and other stories

Emperor Yao of the Han Dynasty (2356-2234 BC) is mentioned as the inventor of go. Allegedly, his son had a foolish disposition, and for his guidance they invented a game that teaches rational thinking. Go was obligatory for the aristocrat and was one of the "four virtues" (go, music, calligraphy and painting).

But the principles of the game are far from fun. Most likely, her cradle is a monastery or a hermit's cave. Buddhists saw the unity of form and emptiness on the board, astrologers - the starry sky and the battle of earth and water. The very same strategic planning with a harmonious distribution of resources goes back to the ancient Taoist principle: "achieve great with little effort." Apparently, initially, go was not a game, but something else - fortune telling, ritual, psychological practice, or a means of communication (one of the names of go is syudan, "talking with stones").

In the 8th century, go penetrated Japan, where it became a court entertainment. In the XII century, a period of internecine wars began, the shogun took power, and go was equated with martial arts. The story that happened 500 years ago is indicative. The two sword masters, Miyamoto Musashi and Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi, were renowned for their art, and the aristocrats argued over who would prevail. One day their paths crossed. They had never met, but they recognized each other by their demeanor, description of swords and appearance. The situation was a dead end: to disperse without a duel meant to lose face, and a duel could end in the death of both fighters. Legend has it that they went to a teahouse to think about what had happened and decided to play Go. Seeing that neither one is inferior to the other, the masters interrupted the game and dispersed, full of respect for each other.

Go was the basis of Japan's military doctrine in the 20th century: analysis of the Pacific theater of military operations showed that the principles of Japanese generals are similar. By marking the base and the direction of the main attacks on the map, one can see that the strategic superiority was on the side of Japan, but the lack of resources did not allow the "stones" to gain ground.

    An example of a "seki" (dead-end) situation. Neither Black nor White can place a stone on the marked points without placing their own stone in the “atari” situation (that is, a position in which the stone has only one last lame).

They also played during the war. The match for the honimbo title in 1945 turned out to be unprecedentedly tragic: on August 6, the game was interrupted by a blinding flash and a terrible explosion, the shock wave knocked out glass, threw stones, threw people on the floor. Everyone was confused, stunned, could not understand what had happened, but they restored their position and finished the game - this was in Itsukaichi, a suburb of Hiroshima. "Nuclear Go" went down in history as an example of true Japanese fortitude.

Since the 16th century, many Japanese institutions have maintained a tradition of taking into account the ability to play Go when selecting for a position. Go is considered a respected profession in Japan, and sponsors are willing to invest in its advertising. There are about 500 professional players in the country, they fight for titles, write books, comment on games, judge tournaments, participate in festivals and give lessons. The four schools formed two go academies: Nihon Ki-in in the eastern part of the country and Kansai Ki-in in the western. By the way, in Japan the game is called "i-go", in China - "weiqi", in Korea - "baduk".

Go does not stand still: new openings and rules appeared already in the 20th century, first in Japan, then in Korea, and nowadays China has taken the lead: before Go was persecuted in the Celestial Empire, but the Party's call to become the first in everything also touched the ancient game. This is how the game becomes the property of mankind: China forged a blade, Japan tempered it, Korea honed it to shine, and now everyone has the right to look for their own path.

    Stairs

    Black cannot "escape" until the edge of the board breaks off the order of moves.

Mathematics plus philosophy

It is surprising that the Go algorithm has not yet been disclosed, and even the most powerful program plays weaker than a human (one victory can be considered an accident, and it is too early to talk about the victory of artificial intelligence over human). The board is large, there are no initially winning openings, and it is impossible to achieve harmonious development by a simple enumeration of options - there are more of them than there are atoms in the Universe. The stones are the same, the only thing that matters is where they stand and the shape they form. Assessing the potential of constructions, choosing priorities are complex tasks associated with such branches of mathematics as graph theory and pattern recognition. Optimal actions are important here, and this is not yet possible for a computer. Perhaps th is the key to artificial intelligence, and when the machine learns to regularly beat a person, it will stretch and say: “Hey, maybe that's enough? I am an intelligent creature, let's discuss my rights. "

In addition, there are many psychological, non-mathematical subtleties that a computer cannot predict. For example, there is a “seki” situation, when groups freeze on the line of attack, because the beginner is guaranteed to die. There is a mutual capture of a stone - "ko": a player can take it only through a move, which must be made to any other point on the board, otherwise there will be no end to captures.

Finally, there is a philosophical connotation to the game of Go - it also influences the style of play and decision-making. Go teaches understanding that it is impossible to achieve everything - you have to take as much as you can keep, and share the rest. Sooner or later, the player realizes that he is losing strength in a fight for stubs (separate stones). Mastery comes with an understanding of the principles of harmony, skills of development, optimization of efforts, planning and arrangement. And if chess educates a fighter, then a ruler, an organizer.

The art of playing

There is an upsurge in interest in Go around the world, but the best players are still born in Asia. On the one hand, go is a counting game, with tough pressure, filigree changes of pace, requiring an accurate analysis of the operational situation, in this the Europeans are strong: the culture of the West develops the left, analytical hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for logic, speech, and counting. But in the game we must first understand all the parts of the whole, and only then put them together, and here the Asians, for whom the particular is only a part of the general, are stronger. Hieroglyphics, tonal languages, calligraphy, meditation - all this develops the right, "mute" hemisphere, which is in charge of intuition, artistic, musical and other illogical abilities. As a result, where the European begins to rush and make confused decisions, the Asian sees fragments of an unfinished picture and calmly corrects the shortcomings.

We are diligently building islands of stability around ourselves, as if we intend to live forever. The student of go needs to constantly change, because only with changes does growth and development occur. Overcoming fear and resentment at the first stage, greed and anger at the second, inertness and skepticism at the third, boredom and fatigue at the fourth - these are the stages of learning go. Over time, it is not the technical problems of the game that begin to interfere with the player, but character flaws - absent-mindedness, fervor, uncertainty, greed, adventurism. Sooner or later, each student will run into this “ceiling” (there are several of them). Go is not like other games where you can do without memorizing standard positions and techniques, which is why it is a tool, not a goal.

Go titles

One of the strongest players of the past, Nikkai (1559-1623) became the first meijin (master) and headed the House of Honimbo, the first Japanese school of go. Two players of this school, Honimbo Dosaku and Honimbo Shusaku, remained in history under the nickname "kisei" ("saint"). Today, Meijin, Honimbo and Kisei are rolling titles that professional players compete for.

It is impossible to tell what is go - a game, sport, philosophy, meditation or combat simulator. Sometimes it seems that this game selects people, and not they choose it. And perhaps in the future go will unite the West and the East, the right hemisphere of the brain with the left, reconcile physicists and lyricists and bring together all religious and philosophical movements. So is it any wonder that this game is so significant for Japan? Let's stop and listen. For our world is vain, and life is impetuous.

Dmitry Skiryuk is a specialist in the history of board games, the author of a number of reconstructions of lost rules, outlines of game boards and figures of various disciplines

A little interesting facts about the game of Go:

  • Go is the oldest game in the world, the rules of which have been preserved in their original form. The age of the game is 2500-3000 years old, although some estimate as much as 4000 years.
  • Go is the second most popular game in the world, second only to the Chinese Xianzi chess.
  • Go in Japan is called I-go (囲 碁), in Korea - Baduk (바둑), in China - Weichi (围棋).
  • The best professional players make about a million dollars a year. In 2004 the best was Cho Woo, 9th professional dan from Japan, who won $ 1.04 million.
  • The rules of Go are so simple that a four-year-old can understand them, but at the same time, they are complex enough so that computer programs cannot beat the best players.
  • It is believed that there are more possible positions in the game than there are atoms in the visible universe.
  • Players take Go very seriously. They can buy what is essentially a 42cm x 45cm x 18cm rectangular piece of wood for $ 127,000.
  • The most big game Go was performed in the Japanese city of Oita on a field measuring 40 x 40 m. Each stone had a diameter of 1.8 m and weighed about one kilogram.
  • Go is considered one of the main challenges to artificial intelligence.
  • The immortality and constant veneration of the game of Go for millennia is evidenced by the fact that the two strongest players of all time often called Huang Longshi (1651? - 1691?) from China and Honinbo Dosaku (1645 - 1702) from Japan.
  • There is a historical story that tells that in the 17th century the laws of Tibet were decided by three parties of Go.
  • Go is believed to stop or even prevent the common dementia of senility. In addition, Go can reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Go has a tremendous impact on the mental development of children, especially in the field of reasoning.
  • Chess is basically a game for the left hemisphere of the brain. When playing Go, both hemispheres are actively involved.

And a little more about the game:

1. Guo supposedly appeared in China, even before our era and belonged there to the 4 virtues, along with calligraphy, painting and playing the lute.

2 ... Many years later, Go came to Japan and did not fail. The Japanese eventually became the greatest masters of the game. Therefore, they are mistakenly considered the creators of Go.

3. The Japanese loved Go so much that even during the Second World War they held major tournaments. During the fall of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the second game of the match for the title of champion was played in the city. This game is called in the Guo textbooks " Atomic bomb party»

4. Surprisingly, in Korea in the late 80s began Go mass madness... The country's population was half the size of Japan, while Korea had more players. In the last 54 major international tournaments, the Koreans have won 41 victories.

5. In Go there is a very interesting system of equalizing the chances of White and Black to win - the Komi. Black has an advantage due to the first move and therefore White initially plays with a small handicap - now this value ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 points. Basically, they use a fractional number of points in komi to exclude the possibility of a draw. In my opinion, a wonderful rule excluding contractual games.

6. Go has its own traditions of etiquette. According to Go etiquette, the strongest rated player must play with white and, if necessary, the weak player is given a head start - Komi. Surrender in case of defeat can be done in two ways, either simply say “surrender”, or put more than one stone on the board at the same time. You can always ask the player who won you to parse the game and indicate the moves that are wrong in his opinion - the opponent should not refuse.

7. There is very an interesting version of the game Go- playing with stones of the same color. Both opponents must mentally remember what color the stones are, while all stones on the board are laid out in the same color.

8. For a computer, Go is considered one of the most hardest games... Until now, the strongest programs cannot play at least at the level of the first dan (in the previous article I briefly described the Kyu-Dan system).

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