major media go sighting

redponey · #1

Here is an interview on CNET with an internet entrepreneur that talks about playing go:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20004110-52.html

redponey · #2

oops, thought I hit the link to post this in general go chat, sorry .... well here kind of works too

Araban · #3

Hehe, "expert-level Go player"...well, he is AGA 5d so I guess that kind of works (his AGAGD card). I could never have the audacity to call myself "expert-level", but good for him to passionately discuss Go in that interview and not just slide by a mention of it. Maybe he's even lurking in this forum!

MountainGo · #4

Araban wrote:

Hehe, "expert-level Go player"...well, he is AGA 5d so I guess that kind of works (his AGAGD card). I could never have the audacity to call myself "expert-level"

The general population is not interested in games deeper than Monopoly, so anyone who spends more than a year studying a particular game seems like an "expert". It's kind of funny, since that's basically like calling someone a psychology expert because they had Psych 101 in college, but everything's relative...

Mcgreag · #5

Journalists have a tendency to distort things after the fact to make things seems better than they are.
A local newspaper interviewed me before the 2008 EGC and in the final article said that I was one of the best players in the county. Technically true but as I was 2kyu at the time it's not like it was something I was touting.

In another interview before the WMSG they claimed I would be playing in pair go when I specifically stated I would not.

tj86430 · #6

Araban wrote:

(his AGAGD card).

OT: I notice that he has gone from 8k to 4d in less than two years. Seems like a fast pace to me.

Jonas · #7

If he had played non-stop while his exchangeyear in japan the progress from 8k to 4d seems resonable.
I really like the interview because he shows that go principles can be converted to daily life.

HermanHiddema · #8

Araban wrote:

Hehe, "expert-level Go player"...well, he is AGA 5d so I guess that kind of works (his AGAGD card). I could never have the audacity to call myself "expert-level", but good for him to passionately discuss Go in that interview and not just slide by a mention of it. Maybe he's even lurking in this forum!

In Chess parlance, an "Expert" is someone with a USCF rating over 2100 (from 2000 onward, they are master). I think AGA 5d is reasonably close to that, close enough to use the term, certainly.

rubin427 · #9

I couldn't help but notice that the bio that refers to him as an "expert level go player" is written in third person. There are 20 such profiles all written in the same style. Could very well be that someone else (a co-worker) wrote them. In addition, when the question is asked, he is clearly surprised by it.

dfan · **#10**

HermanHiddema wrote:

In Chess parlance, an "Expert" is someone with a USCF rating over 2100 (from 2000 onward, they are master). I think AGA 5d is reasonably close to that, close enough to use the term, certainly.

Expert is 2000, master is 2200 (in the US at least).

I have no problem calling a 5d player an expert. In fact I think of 1d as pretty much corresponding to 2000 and thus I'd call any dan player an expert. This may partially be because the word "expert" has a more technical meaning to me (from chess) than to most people.

topazg · **#11**

dfan wrote:

I have no problem calling a 5d player an expert. In fact I think of 1d as pretty much corresponding to 2000 and thus I'd call any dan player an expert. This may partially be because the word "expert" has a more technical meaning to me (from chess) than to most people.

I agree with this. Traditionally, IIRC, dan ranks respond to the various gradations of black belt mastery in an art, so 1 dan upwards can be considered to be a black belt at Go I think. It may only be semantic, but I believe that there's a difference between an expert (black belt) and a master (high end of black belts).

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