Life In 19x19

I've been playing classical chess for a very long time on and off 30 years or so. I've been vaguely aware of igo/baduk/weiqi for a while now but really hadn't been paying that much attention to it. But I purchased my first iPad a while ago and started playing weiqi and I've become hooked to the game...mostly because of the freedom from opening theory that chess suffers from. It's so exhilarating to see creativity from the very first move and having the freedom to place stones on whatever intersection you like...unlike chess. As for my comment about "prearranged chess"...I believe it's true. Chess suffers from heavy analysis after centuries of discussion about opening moves which thanks to computers has caused a glut of draws between players. To me the recent Anand/Gelfand chess championship was a complete embarrassment and very damaging to chess' reputation. I believe Vishy Anand played too cynically and took advantage of the inherent flaws of the game to retain his title by only playing for draws. This wouldn't be possible had he been playing weiqi. The chances of getting a draw is virtually impossible and that's why I love this game. I'm saddened I've wasted my life on prearranged chess (but enjoy chess960) but only now am getting into weiqi.

Welcome! Look forward to your insights and discoveries in Go (versus your experience in chess).

EdLee wrote:Welcome! Look forward to your insights and discoveries in Go (versus your experience in chess).

Thanks. I've been following the games on gokifu.com. There's a recent one by Park Jiyeon that baffles me because she plays very similar to the way Smartgo Kifu does on my iPad...very obscure moves and hardly paying attention to attachments. Just a seemingly random placement of stones that somehow makes sense toward the endgame. I'd rather play against Many Faces of Go (IgoWin HD for the iPad) which is very sensitive to attachments and very much into influence over territory.

Welcome

Glad you found your way to the Go board.