I came across this article from Quanta Magazine today (via Slashdot), and thought it might be well received here. It discusses the mathematician John Conway's propensity toward creating and playing games, and includes a non-trivial section on his relationship with Go. The article was written by the same person (Siobhan Roberts) who recently wrote a biography of Conway titled Genius At Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway.

I found the article very interesting, not only for its games content, but also because it demonstrates that Conway found a place where his playful nature and impulsiveness were not inhibited in the name of conformity to a traditional working culture. The very traits that would make him a pariah in the business world are those that allowed him to flourish as a theoretical mathematician.