Looking for something challenging? Try Go

[Subotai]

I had recently listened to the keynote speakers speech at last year's US go congress where he addressed the question of how to bring go to a wider audience, specifically an American audience. This has inspired me to write a short message that I will post on various message boards where likely candidates may find some interest in go. I hope for people to just become more aware of the game itself, if this pushes people to start playing even better. We all know go is a fantastic game worthy of world wide recognition and play. I am going for a more "nascar" approach as the speaker mentioned that will hopefully peak the interest of our over stimulated generation.

The help I would like from you all is if there are any links or suggestions you have for this message. Like a good website for the rules of go. Various gaming servers, I'm thinking of putting kgs up there for sure. Maybe freeware programs to get people started etc. If the surrounding game ever gets released it would be good to add that link too.

I have never been this sort of shout out loud advertizing type of person, but go definitely deserves it.

Here its:

Pronounced go in Japanese, weiqi in Chinese, and baduk in Korean, go is the most complex and in depth game in the world. Although it is governed by simple rules and principles it's 19x19 board has captured the imagination for millennia. Go is a game of white and black stones where the winner is determined by who controls the most territory at the end of the game. Players wage war where they try to out maneuver their opponent in order to capture enemy stones or surround territory. Long a professional sport in Asia, American and European pro systems have recently been developed. Tournaments with hundreds of thousands of dollars of prize money at stake, great minds face off in a furious battle of wits. Despite using the best artificial intelligence capabilities available computers are still far behind the best human players.

[EdLee]

it's 19x19 board

No apostrophe.

computers are still far behind the best human players.

Not exactly true any more.

Good luck.

[Kirby]

I think your write-up is nice. I'm glad you're trying to promote the game.

I'd like to share a personal experience I recently had in advertising go.

Recently, I hosted a booth at my work to showcase the game for people attending the events for Asian Heritage Month. I actually did it last year, too, around the same time.

Each day I hosted the booth, I adjusted things a little bit. The first day I hosted the booth, I came with several materials. I brought documents explaining whatever I could think of:
* Rules of Go
* History of Go
* Information on Computer Go
* Go Problems
And of course, I had go boards to demonstrate.

As time went on, I realized something: nobody cared about taking copies of the rules of go, the history of go, or even computer go. Some people liked taking the go problems with them.

I thought about it, and the conclusion I came to was that, by and large, the people at my work were not generally interested in go history. Rules, they could look up online - or learn from me during the demo. And computers can do a lot of interesting things, so a lot of people didn't care about those, either.

What did my audience seem to like? Go problems. I guess they liked solving problems.

Taking this into account, by the last day I hosted the booth, I brought only two things:
* Go boards, some having a few problems setup.
* A big sign saying, "Can You Solve These Problems?"

That seemed to do the trick. People walking by didn't seem to care much about go or its history. But they liked solving problems, and this perked their interest. As a result, I was talking non-stop, explaining rules, discussing the problems, and advertising the Seattle Go Center for over 3 hours.

My takeaway from this experience was not to necessarily to advertise go as a puzzle, but rather, figure out what your audience needs, and show them how Go can meet those needs.

[Uberdude]

Some nitpicking/editing:

- It's called igo not go in Japan
- 'Called' not 'pronounced' unless you actually give some pronunciation hints (don't bother) because "weiqi" is not obvious how to pronounce to an English speaker not versed in Chinese romanization.
- 'deep' not 'in depth'
- The empty board seems kinda boring to me. How about something like "The intricate dance of black and white stones across its 19x19 board has captured ..."
- outmanoeuvre one word, or outmaneuver for US.
- "_At_ tournaments ..." or else that's not a full sentence.

More generally you need to tailor your approach to your audience (nice one Kirby!). Some might find it being challenging a turn-on, others a turn-off (see www.britgo.org/files/BadukImage.pdf; many people on boardgamegeek.com who you might think liked hard games actually said go seemed too hard and they weren't clever enough to play it).

[Bill Spight]

- It's called igo not go in Japan

Most people say go in Japan. Igo is a bit high-falutin'.

[oren]

- It's called igo not go in Japan

Most people say go in Japan. Igo is a bit high-falutin'.

Just look at the three publications from Nihon Kiin...

Shukan Go (Weekly Go)
Go World (Japanese like English words too much sometimes)
Igo Mirai (Igo Future, aimed at kyu players more)

So two use "Go" and one uses "Igo". They're mostly interchangeable in conversation, but I expect you would hear "Go" more than "Igo".

[Kirby]

Just look at the three publications from Nihon Kiin...

Shukan Go (Weekly Go)
Go World (Japanese like English words too much sometimes)
Igo Mirai (Igo Future, aimed at kyu players more)

So two use "Go" and one uses "Igo". They're mostly interchangeable in conversation, but I expect you would hear "Go" more than "Igo".

I found this discussed on Yahoo Japan (not sure how much you can trust that source):
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa ... 1221499127

The OP asks whether it's appropriate to use "go" or "igo". The person with the "best answer" says that there's not only one that's correct all of the time. They give some examples of each.

Here are a few times when "go" is more natural:
* 碁を打つ (to play go)
* 碁会所 (go parlor)
* 碁キチ (go enthusiast/enthusiasm)
* 碁聖 (go saint)

Here are a few times when "igo" is more natural:
* 囲碁部 (go club)
* 囲碁人口 (go population)
* 囲碁規約 (go rules)

They say if you interchange "go" with "igo" in a number of cases, it feels somewhat unnatural.

They go on to say that, of course, across the world it's called "go" - good thing it's not called weichi or baduk! (Their words, not mine.)

[DalekSnare]

They go on to say that, of course, across the world it's called "go" - good thing it's not called weichi or baduk! (Their words, not mine.)

I like the name go and it is easy to pronounce, but it's got to be one of the least Googleable names ever, so it's good to have the other names in there for people who want to look it up. Maybe include a link to http://playgo.to/iwtg/en/ too.

[EdLee]

it's got to be one of the least Googleable names ever,
so it's good to have the other names in there

All you need is 'go game'.

No need for the other, much more difficult names for novices.

[DrStraw]

Players wage war where they try to out maneuver their opponent in order to capture enemy stones or surround territory.

I would not put capturing first. I would emphasize the territory aspect with a capturing also being possible - as in a real war.

[often]

They go on to say that, of course, across the world it's called "go" - good thing it's not called weichi or baduk! (Their words, not mine.)

I like the name go and it is easy to pronounce, but it's got to be one of the least Googleable names ever, so it's good to have the other names in there for people who want to look it up. Maybe include a link to http://playgo.to/iwtg/en/ too.

Have you ever googled "go" ?
it's the second hit that links to wikipedia.