Possibly Dumb Questions

[VerdeICe]

Yea, Ima newb, I got questions and there probably retarded.

1: Do Go Meigins (I don't know the tittle for Korea if there is a separate tittle for their country)ever have an all out
brawl to decide who is the best of the best in the world?

2: DO the white shell stones taste like fish?

3: Is there a special tittle for da ladies who master the game? Is it Miss Meigin or like lady meigin or queen?

4: I noticed that when I switched to the bigger boards the smaller 9x9 board became boring... after a few months I couldent even play with it and I kept losing on it. Dose that mean my brain is dumb?

5:Do instincts play a role? I noticed that when I play normaly I fail hard, but I feel really drawn to some point on the board
I pull of stuff that I didnt even try to predict and Im like "whoa I just took all dem peacies from dis player who is way better
then me" I mean its like, dude I was losing and then I won on a guess? Is that luck or instincts? I DONT KNOW>

6: Any one else get super excited after a close loss? I just cant help it. Pumps my blood so good when I lose to some one close
to my own skill and the match goes gross at the end. I just want more but the opponent seems to not like me to much....OH WELL>

[EdLee]

VerdeICe, Welcome to Go!

1. Yes, there are many "world championship" tournaments.

2. After all the processing and cleaning, probably what remains is just the calcium carbonates (?). Never tried to taste one, but probably not much taste at all. (Maybe like chalk? )

3. Titles such as the Woman Meijin do exist.

4. It means Go is very difficult, at least.

5. Yes.

6. We can all thank the millions of years of evolution for this involuntary reaction.

[leichtloeslich]

1. There are quite a few international tournaments. For some reason it stuck in my mind that the Samsung Cup may be the most important among them, but that might be completely wrong. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_competitions and
http://senseis.xmp.net/?ProfessionalTournaments

2. Yes, which is why you should always wash your hands after playing go.

3. Well, afaik, there are women-only tournaments, but women can enter in any of the "normal" tournaments.
I guess women-only tournaments are there to motivate female go players, but their existence somehow carries sexist implications. It's not like in other sports where women are biologically handicapped, or at least there is no scientific data one way or another regarding it, again afaik. I'd say gender only matters in go because of the culture surrounding the game.

4. Yes.

Questions 5. and 6. I don't understand. My answer would probably be "yes" to both of them.

[nacroxnicke]

4: Try it when you have less time, they can be fun sometimes.

5: Oh yes, but instincts come after knowing that something is good or because you think that it works better, if you win because you cut everything and the other couldn't handle the giant semeai it's because the position had very bad aji, every unprotected cut or thin position leave aji.

Aji is like the posibilities that you can make from a position if in the future you have some supporting stones, that's why some moves are thankyou-moves because they remove the aji from some positions (Like peeping a cuttable point, it's better to leave it for a cut in the future or having that extra stone but removing the aji? decisions).

6: Oh yes, losing by 0.5 is so rewarding.

[Hong Ny]

2. Yes, which is why you should always wash your hands after playing go.

Seriously? They taste like fish? Eww...

[DrStraw]

2. Yes, which is why you should always wash your hands after playing go.

Seriously? They taste like fish? Eww...

Yes, the white stones in the hand of a strong player taste like sharks.

[cyclops]

Ofcourse there are tittles for the ladies! Except in the USA that is no dumb question.