Should You Play Go? A Review 2500 Years Later
Should You Play Go? A Review 2500 Years Later
Should You Play Go? A Review 2500 Years Later
By Jake Frondorf
June 26, 2020
Summary
There is a saying in Go that sets the tone for the game as you begin: lose your first 100 games quickly.
The way most gamers play games today is the opposite of how abstract strategy games have always been played.
Today, most gaming is unfocused by design: you play hundreds of games, some only once, others only a handful more times.
Go isn't just a game with enough secrets for ten years, or even a lifetime: it is a game with enough secrets that humans, 2500 years later, are still learning new and exciting things about the game continually.
You can play peacefully all game, or start a fight on your first turn that lasts all game.
Go is a life style game, but it's not just a game.
I'm not saying that you must play this game seeking life wisdom, or that its even normal to do so, but once you get deep enough into the rabbit hole, it almost seems inevitable that the game teaches you something about yourself, or the world.
Every game feels so different, and has so many possibilities, and that insulates go from most of the memorization that chess players go through.
I read my first book about Go when I was maybe ten years old, and ever since, I've looking for someone to play this game with me regularly, and yet I never really found precisely what I was looking for.
If you're interested in Go, and you don't have any local Go clubs, I recommend buying a Go board, playing capturing races with a friend, then playing games on OGS until you start winning them.
Reference
Frondorf, J. (2020, June 26). Should You Play Go? A Review 2500 Years Later. Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://cardboardmountain.com/go-review-how-it-stands-up-2500-years-later/