I've been playing on and off (on every chance I get) for almost a year now, but with the amount of practice I get...I still suck. (
) So yeah, I'm a novice...I wonder if theres any pro's here. And for those who don't know:
Wikipedia - Go wrote:Go is a strategic board game for two players. It is known as Weiqi in Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 圍棋; Simplified Chinese: 围棋), Igo or Go in Japanese (Kanji: 囲碁 or 碁), and Baduk (Hangul: 바둑), sometimes Gi(기;棋 or 碁) in Korean. Go originated in ancient China, centuries before its earliest known references in 5th century BC writing. It is mostly popular in East Asia, but has nowadays gained some popularity in the rest of the world as well. Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simple rules.
Go is played by two players alternately placing black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a line grid. The standard size of this grid is 19 × 19, although the rules of Go can be freely applied to any size. 13 × 13 and 9 × 9 are also popular choices for more simple and tactic-oriented games as well as a way to introduce Go to new players. The objective is to control a larger part of a board than the opponent as a result of having placed one's stones such that they form territories that cannot be captured by the opponent. A stone or a group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the opposing color. The game ends and the score is counted when both players consecutively pass on a turn, indicating that neither side can increase its territory or reduce its opponent's.
And for those of you who don't believe Go is a sport and doesn't belong here, your wrong - Go is as much a sport as football of basketball. Go has its own Professional league and many players who make a living off normal tournaments, as well as traditional players and clubs all over Asia and in many other places of the world now too. So, please don't move this anywhere.
~Zeke~ - also, for those wanting to learn more - http://www.usgo.org has alot of knowledge and resources regarding Go in the US, and its one of the best english sites I know of...so...
--by Miko Miko, for KonataChan, of animesuke. *borrows without permission, but with credits* ~_^
