GO
Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:22 am
I was just wondering if anyone else here is interested in this amazing strategy game? I know that Nathan has indicated a familiarity with it, and I was curious to know how many, if any, other Go players we hold in our ranks.
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Go is an ancient precursor of chess, about four thousand years old in fact. And unlike chess, its play is essentially unchanged in all that time. It too is divided into the same basic phases of the game, but where in chess you start with the option of +/- 35 moves, in Go, you have a choice of 361 possible 1st moves.
It’s a deceptively simple game, with only about four real “Rules,” which you can learn in about 10 minutes. All you do is place Black or White stones on a 19x19 grid. The object is to enclose as much territory as possible with your stones. Once placed, the stones are never moved unless captured by the enemy, resulting in patterns of startling complexity.
More popular than chess in Asia, and still relativley unknown in the west, a rich and complex tradition has surrounded it over the millennia.
The strategies and techniques are literally endless, and the Asian devotion to culture has ensured that much of it survives. Records still exist of famous games played over 2000 years ago, and there are Go Dojo’s where people devote their entire lives to understanding the complexities of this easy game.
They say that, like snowflakes, no two games of Go have ever been the same, and as an example of the intricacy of the game, there is a standing prize of one million dollars for anyone who can create a computer program that can defeat even an experienced amateur player.
It is believed that this would be a significant step toward AI. According to a recent article, it would take Deep Blue 18 months to make a single move, and even then, it would have no advantage over a human player.
I still love chess, but in all honesty, Go makes it look like a kindergarten game.
--Avatar
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Go is an ancient precursor of chess, about four thousand years old in fact. And unlike chess, its play is essentially unchanged in all that time. It too is divided into the same basic phases of the game, but where in chess you start with the option of +/- 35 moves, in Go, you have a choice of 361 possible 1st moves.
It’s a deceptively simple game, with only about four real “Rules,” which you can learn in about 10 minutes. All you do is place Black or White stones on a 19x19 grid. The object is to enclose as much territory as possible with your stones. Once placed, the stones are never moved unless captured by the enemy, resulting in patterns of startling complexity.
More popular than chess in Asia, and still relativley unknown in the west, a rich and complex tradition has surrounded it over the millennia.
The strategies and techniques are literally endless, and the Asian devotion to culture has ensured that much of it survives. Records still exist of famous games played over 2000 years ago, and there are Go Dojo’s where people devote their entire lives to understanding the complexities of this easy game.
They say that, like snowflakes, no two games of Go have ever been the same, and as an example of the intricacy of the game, there is a standing prize of one million dollars for anyone who can create a computer program that can defeat even an experienced amateur player.
It is believed that this would be a significant step toward AI. According to a recent article, it would take Deep Blue 18 months to make a single move, and even then, it would have no advantage over a human player.
I still love chess, but in all honesty, Go makes it look like a kindergarten game.
--Avatar