The rule is very simple, white and black points play in turn. whoever occupy the larger area, he/she wins.

The rule is very simple, white and black points play in turn. whoever occupy the larger area, he/she wins.

The RULES are simple, yes.


The GAME is one of the most complex and difficult to master in the whole world. It beat me :hihi:

Do you play that game??
The RULES are simple, yes.


The GAME is one of the most complex and difficult to master in the whole world. It beat me :hihi:

Do you play that game??

I've had the occasional game, and generally been completely annihilated by people who had some grasp of the strategies involved. I've never really taken to it - probably because I don't like getting annihilated. :hihi:

Simple to play, takes a lifetime to master. It's actually true of this game, unlike so many others that claim it.

Totally agree!

Simple to play, time to master!!:thumbsup:


I've had the occasional game, and generally been completely annihilated by people who had some grasp of the strategies involved. I've never really taken to it - probably because I don't like getting annihilated. :hihi:

Simple to play, takes a lifetime to master. It's actually true of this game, unlike so many others that claim it.

The rule is very simple, white and black points play in turn. whoever occupy the larger area, he/she wins.

Yes. My highest rating was 3 kyu when I was at school, but I haven't played regularly for years.

Simple to play, takes a lifetime to master. It's actually true of this game, unlike so many others that claim it.

Spot on. One of the reasons why it's so complex and hard to master is precisely why some would think the opposite. When a stone (the proper term for the 'pieces') is placed on the board, it cannot move (unless captured). The upshot is that a bad move can't be retracted.

The World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik is starting a six game match with the computer Deep Fritz on Friday and the computer is the favourite. I believe computers are still way behind humans in Go. Although I don't know if this is because computer programmers have put less effort into Go?

The World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik is starting a six game match with the computer Deep Fritz on Friday and the computer is the favourite. I believe computers are still way behind humans in Go. Although I don't know if this is because computer programmers have put less effort into Go?

It's probably because the stones can't move. Pieces can move in chess, which, bizarrely, restricts their influence. For instance, although the queen may move in all directions over the board, her movement is constantly obstructed by other pieces. A well placed stone, however, may exert its influence over a part of the board for a considerable part of the game.

Computer programs also don't seem to understand the principle of sacrifice (also common in computer chess, or at least, the ones I've played).

Go is played until a mutually agreed ending, or a resignation. This may, or may not be the true end of the game, but the players CAN agree an end to the game. Chess continues to a finite end, due to the rules, which would result in a win, or a stalemate, which leads to the biggest problem in my opinion wih computer go.

The main problem I've encountered with go programs is a much more fundamental one, being that they will always play until the last move. That might sound reasonable, but in go, you can 'pass'; indeed the game doesn't end until both players have passed.

Suffice it to say, the aim of the game is to surround as much of the board (by counting the intersections on the board known as 'territory') as possible, and then add that to any 'prisoners' (captured stones), or 'dead stones' (stones within the enemy's territory, which will eventually be captured). The computer, however, will try to invade territory with no hope of success, meaning that the human player can quite happily 'pass' as the computer keeps giving him/her further points, as dead stones.

Thus, the program potentially loses a close match, because it can't understand when it should pass.

In chess however, the computer could make an aggressive move, and then retract it following a strong defensive move; you can't do that in go.