Masked Go Tournament

[Kirby]

There's a popular singing competition program called 복면가왕 (King of Mask Singer). Basically, singers head up against one another, but they are wearing masks so their identities are hidden. When someone loses, they have to take off their mask and reveal their identity. You can read about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Mask_Singer

Humorously to me, there is now a tournament in Korea called 복면기왕 (King of Mask Go Player, I guess). http://m.cyberoro.com/news/news_view.or ... num=524484



Can you guess who the players are?

An advertisement for kicks:

And an example game:

I don't know why, but I find the concept amusing.

[gowan]

In the case of the singing contest the mask makes sense because what people hear seems to be influenced by what they see. For example, how a singer moves him/her body can make listeners perceive something that they wouldn't hear in a recording. In the go player case, not seeing the opponent's face can remove a lot of the players' body language seen in the face. The facial expression can affect how the opponent plays. For example showing confidence in a complicated position might make the opponent more cautious. Certainly knowing I am playing Park Jung-whan would make me decide what looks like a mistake by Park is probably not.

[Calvin Clark]

The recorder/timekeeper seems to be re-thinking her life choices.

[EdLee]

The recorder/timekeeper seems to be re-thinking her life choices.

Or perhaps apophenia.

[Kirby]

In the case of the singing contest the mask makes sense because what people hear seems to be influenced by what they see. For example, how a singer moves him/her body can make listeners perceive something that they wouldn't hear in a recording. In the go player case, not seeing the opponent's face can remove a lot of the players' body language seen in the face. The facial expression can affect how the opponent plays. For example showing confidence in a complicated position might make the opponent more cautious. Certainly knowing I am playing Park Jung-whan would make me decide what looks like a mistake by Park is probably not.

Indeed, I recall that one pro player indicated that he had more confidence in his play while wearing a mask. By his own identity, perhaps he felt more self conscious.