The clock is ticking... Tic... Toc... Tic... Toc... You've got to think fast! There are only 10 seconds left... 9... 8... 7...
Should you go for the kill? If it works, you're sure to win. But if not... definite defeat. Maybe trying to kill him is too risky. What about playing it out until the end? Maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Can you afford to play it safe? Tic... Toc... Tic... Toc... It's now or never. You've got to make up your mind. You've got to make your move.
These were the thoughts that rushed through my mind last Sunday, during one of the games I played at the Spring Go Tournament at the Go Center in downtown Seattle.
You're may be asking yourself, "Go? What is that?"
The short answer is, "Go is a board game - kind of like chess". But it's much deeper than that - at over 3000 years old, it's the oldest game in the world with the same original rules. Millions of people play it every day, study it, and many devote their entire lives to it.
The game is not so popular in America - many have never heard of it. But in Asia, thousands of kids, starting from before they can even read, study the game for 10 or more hours a day, in hopes to one day become one of the few... One of the elite... professional players.
Young kids skip high school, or even middle school, so they have a better chance of getting strong at the game.
What is it about this mysterious game? Why have these people sacrificed their lives, all for a board game?
Some say it's the simplicity. Just black and white stones, going on the board - one after another. Tic... Toc... Tic... Toc... Yet from this simple origin, a perfect model to simulate the world is born. Go is an elegant game. Because it has very few rules, there is an astonishing depth of complexity in its strategy. You can learn the game in 5 minutes. But you can improve at it for a lifetime.
Go is like a martial art, but for your mind. You may be familiar with the belt system used in sports like Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, and the like. As you learn the sport, you start by earning colored belts - kyu ranks, if you will. And when you've become a master, you earn your first dan black belt, followed by second dan, and up and up and up. The same system is used in go.
A little known fact is that the dan-ranking system was initially created for go by Dosaku in the 1600s. While a sport like Karate can help you to improve your fighting skills, Go challenges you to improve your mind.
Go is about balance - a skill often needed in life. If you're too aggressive, you'll collapse. If you're too passive, you'll be overcome. If you over-stretch yourself, you'll be too weak. If you under-stretch yourself, you won't have enough points.
Go is about efficiency. As in life, every move that you play matters. If you don't make the best of each turn... Each opportunity... That you're given, you'll lose out. But for me, go is about learning about myself. When I review what I've played, I can see my weaknesses. I can see how to improve. I can see how I can be a better person.
Was I too anxious? Was I impatient? Was I careless? Was I lazy? Go is a fair game - not one of chance. So what I see on the board is objective. It's true. It's me.
I've been playing go for about 10 years. And I've never gotten bored. It's one of my passions. It's something I study. It's something I travel the country for. Sometimes I ask myself why I've kept at it for so long? Why didn't I get bored?
After all, some people say that it's just a game.
Socrates once said, the "Unexamined life is not worth living". It's not just better to examine your life - if you don't, it's *not worth living*.
For me, go is a way to examine my life.
It teaches me about myself - my weaknesses - my bad habits. It's a means of continuous self-improvement. Day after day, month after month, and year after year. Tic... Toc... Tic... Toc... Always aiming to be just a little stronger. Always aiming to improve myself just a little bit more.
A reporter once asked legendary professional player Cho Chikun, "Why go? Why spend such effort on a game, when you could enjoy so many other things in life? Why do you work so hard?"
His reply?
"Yes, that's right. Go is just a game.
Even so, it's go."
I play because it's my go.
Because it's my work.
Because it's the world I've been given."
Come see me around noon tomorrow at the Commons for Asian Heritage Month. I'll be giving a demo of the rules. I hope to see you all there.
