An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

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Netherlands Goodspeed
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An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

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Post by Goodspeed »

Tutorial: https://playgo.to/index.html#/en/intro
Play online: https://online-go.com/play

Some of you may not have heard of it, which is a failure on society's part, but thankfully I'm here to right that wrong.

The game was invented in China a majillion years ago, where playing it was considered an art form. It's one of the oldest games still being played to this day. Its unfortunate Western name, Go, is the Japanese name "Igo" shortened, as if that needed shortening. It's unfortunate because when you Google things relating to Go, you will invariably end up with results about CS:GO, Pokemon Go, and, well, going places. It's a mess. But rejoice, there is no need to Google things because now you have this concise introduction to the game and will need no more information about it ever.

This is a Go board:

Image

Stones are placed not in the squares, but on intersections. Because it's more satisfying that way. Roll with it.

The game is typically played on 19x19 (regular), 13x13 (small) and 9x9 (tiny) boards. On 9x9 boards, it's really just one big battle, but on larger boards there are multiple battles going on and you have to try to both win the individual battles and keep the big picture in mind. Imagine playing multiple games of chess at the same time and they are all connected to each other.

The game has literally one rule. Okay maybe two. At most three, but let's not get hung up on the numbers here. It's simple. It's one of the simplest games in existence. Trump could play it. And yet, there is near infinite strategic depth. The simplicity of the rules combined with the unmatched depth is a game designer's wet dream. Therein lies the irresistible elegance of Go.

Whereas in Chess you are always calculating ahead and basing your moves on the optimal sequence in your mind, hoping you didn't miss anything, in Go you are more often thinking strategically. You may have looked ahead and found a move that wins you a small battle somewhere, but is that move big enough? Are there other moves that gain you more territory elsewhere on the board? Does winning this battle gain you influence over that other battle that you are fighting somewhere else? Does it endanger the lives of these stones over here? Does it weaken your opponent's group over there? Wait, if I move here will I be trading this little territory for a big one on the other side of the board? What about the other 300 possible moves I can make?

Constant, humbling uncertainty. Intuition is the only thing you have to go by. "You know what, this move feels right" about sums up how I play Go most of the time. And how else can you play, when as soon as you start trying to look ahead a couple of moves, there are already billions of possible game states? You have to rely on subconscious, intuitive pattern recognition and then apply strategic principles that you have learned throughout your life.

Of course, experience helps. Go has a notoriously steep learning curve. The rules are simple, but don't let them fool you. Having played 5 games, you will think the game is simply too difficult. And of course you won't master it, who are you kidding? The point that is often missed here though is that Go is an incredibly rewarding game to play even if you are utter dogshit at it, which, needless to say, I am. There is no other game where I have so clearly seen myself improve game after game, slowly but surely seeing the board come to life. You may see a mass of stones, I see a war. A war fought with blood, sweat, and tears. Tears for the lost comrades who got left behind enemy lines. Having played 20 games, I think most people will start to see the game take shape in their minds. Of course it's not for everyone but it is at this point that for many of you a whole new world will open.

Having been lucky enough to be taught this game at a relatively young age, I consider it my duty to inform Western society of its existence. Particularly people who like strategy games need to have tried it, because missing out on it entirely in this very short life we have is one of the most tragic mistakes a strategy gamer can make.
Starting on a 9x9 board is recommended.

So how do you play?

The goal of the game is to surround more territory than your opponent. You want map control. It's all about the map control. How do you control parts of the map? By placing your stones there. Here's a cool visualization of how stones "influence" parts of the board.

Why does placing a stone make one control that part of the map? Great question, and this is where the one rule comes into play: When a stone is surrounded by opposing stones, it is removed from the board. Like so:

Image

White played at (1) and the black stone is removed from the board because it has no more "liberties", meaning no more open spaces next to it (diagonal does not count). This works for individual stones as well as groups.

So when you have a lot of stones on one part of the map, that means it's harder for your opponent to play there because he will get surrounded after a few moves. Your stones that you have already placed there can easily connect to each other and thus avoid capture, and then start working on capturing theirs. Building "walls", long series of connected stones, is therefore typically a good idea. Connected stones are both harder to capture, and they exert "influence" over a large area of the board.

Image

This is an endgame state on a 9x9 board. Here we can count the points for black and white by counting the empty spaces that are surrounded by their stones. White has the top left (8p) and the bottom middle (5p), black has the top right (12p), the bottom left (3p) and bottom right (4p). Black wins.
You may ask, why doesn't white simply start placing stones in the black territories? This is because black will then capture these stones, and captured stones also count as a point. So white would not gain anything by trying to "invade" black's territory. On larger boards, invading is often a great strategy, but you need to do it early if you want to stay alive.

So how do you stay alive? This is where the second rule becomes important: You CAN play a stone in an area that is already surrounded by your opponent, but ONLY if that move would surround your opponent's stones. Example:

Image

White CAN play on location i and the black stones are removed from the board. Black CAN play on location j and white's one stone above j is removed. (however white can play another stone on the spot where his stone was just removed to kill all of black's stones).

Black's stones in the following image are ALIVE:

Image

Why? Because how are you ever going to capture them? Good luck playing 2 moves in one turn. Remember, you can move in a space that is already surrounded by opposing stones ONLY IF that would surround them in turn. In this case, that would require 2 moves at once. Black's group is therefore impossible to kill (alive), and any stone connected to the group is automatically impossible to kill as well.

That's it for the rules.


But what the fuck is that in my forum avatar? (not anymore)

In 1846, an up-and-coming 17 year old Go player, Honinbo Shusaku, played against an established top player at the time. Shusaku would later become one of the most famous players of all time. In the first game, he was given a 2-stone handicap (he started with 2 stones already on the board) to make up for the supposed skill difference. He was winning so easily that his opponent resigned and a second game without handicap was promptly started. After making a mistake in the early game and losing a bit of points, Shusaku played very well. The following was on the board after move 126:

Image

The stone marked "1" was Shusaku's next move. It is rare to move into the center like that, because it rarely gives any territory. Such a move is counter-intuitive to most players, and hard to find or take into account. In this case, placing a stone in the center serves many purposes and is therefore valuable. These purposes are hard to explain to a layman, but in short: It expands black's potential territory at the top, supports a black "floating" (alive nor dead) group on the bottom, and sets up a nice way to reduce white's potential on the left.

The move is famous because of the reaction it brought out of Gennan Inseki, Shusaku's opponent. It is said he looked at the board for a moment, and his ears slowly began to redden. The poor lad knew he was in trouble, and against a 17 year old no less. And indeed, the kid ended up winning by 2 points. This "ear-reddening move", it can be safely said, is the most famous moment in Go history.

Now, guys, it really is about fucking time you tried this game. I have been spamming it since before ESOC even became a thing, indeed the Skype group where ESOC as we know it today was founded was at one point named "The official Go Skype group", and yet here I am, still looking for people to play with.
If anyone wants help learning, this is one of those things I will make time for no matter how busy life is.

:flowers:
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Sweden Gendarme
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Gendarme »

Nice post. I didn't really follow how you counted the points here:

Image
This is an endgame state on a 9x9 board. Here we can count the points for black and white by counting the empty spaces that are surrounded by their stones. White has the top left (8p) and the bottom middle (5p), black has the top right (12p), the bottom left (3p) and bottom right (4p). Black wins.

Ok. At the moment of writing this post I realize that you count the empty line intersections.

How exactly did move 127 protect shit?
Pay more attention to detail.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Djigit »

_
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

Gendarme wrote:How exactly did move 127 protect shit?
I don't really understand it myself tbh but it looks like there is an implied connection between that stone and the ones below, above and to its right. It's a "jump", which is where you place a stone not attached to a group but near it while saying "You can't cut these stones off from each other", which is the "implied connection". You do this in order to escape from being surrounded, or to strengthen a certain area.

Move 127 could be considered a jump for 2 endangered groups at the same time, the one to the right of it and the one below it. Specifically the (black) group below it is not going to be ever captured now because it now has 2 routes to safety (the group to its left and the middle stone). White can't close both routes with 1 move.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by edeholland »

I have been spamming it since before ESOC even became a thing, indeed the Skype group where ESOC was founded was at one point named "The official Go Skype group", and yet here I am, still looking for people to play with.


Because of this, I have played a few games of Go. You spammed the Skype group about it every day, especially when someone mentioned chess, so I had to try it out sometime. But that was some time ago, do you have any website which would be a good starting point for learning Go? Maybe one where you can practice against bots? When Googling I find hunderds of websites to play Go online, but I have no idea which one is decent/popular etc.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

https://online-go.com/play

Playing against AI is a great way to start. I would start on 9x9 boards until you grasp the basic concepts, then move on to 19x19 and play ranked against other people. The game is played on all levels including beginner so if you play ranked you'll have an easier time finding games against players around your level. And it's rewarding to see your rank improve, which it will do more quickly in the beginning. Can also just keep playing against AI though, I did that a lot at first.

Image

I'm around 9k on that website, which in the real world would probably be worse.

There is a handicap system. To make up for skill differences, the worse player starts with some stones already on the board, usually 1 stone per 1 rank they differ (so 1k vs 5k, the 5k starts with a handicap of 4). They are placed on the larger dots in the first picture I posted, max 9. If you're consistently winning or losing vs the AI you can use that to even the game out.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

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Nah
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by blackwidow »

Yah

Also great to play during breaks from whatever, because it takes so much focus away from other things it feels like the break was much longer than it actually was, as you usually would be thinking a bunch about that which you are taking a break from (in my experience).
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Amsel_ »

Thanks. I have a friend that occasionally makes me play Go, and I usually have no strategy what-so-ever.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by deleted_user0 »

Read it. If that's the greatest moment, then it seems not worth mah time. I say: It's a noGo.

Also guggle already beat this game.

That said I would be up for some real strategy! One that involves manipulation and incomplete information! Like that time I rekt you and xeelee at diplomacy. I can do another round of that. But please no noobs lol.
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Netherlands Goodspeed
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

I didn't say it was the greatest moment. Just the most famous. There have been better games, better moves for sure.
Did that diplomacy game end? I don't recall it ending
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by deleted_user0 »

Fish. Fash.

Anyweeee, letsh diplomaceeee
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Netherlands Goodspeed
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

Naw
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Gendarme »

Pay more attention to detail.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by deleted_user0 »

Goodspeed wrote:Naw


scared?! Excuses?!

Play now?!
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Netherlands Goodspeed
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

My excuses are:
- It's just gonna fail again because no one plays
- It's time consuming
- Draws are too common
- There are better games
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Gendarme »

How about correspondence Secret Hitler? Could be done rather successfully in a thread here I think.

Edit: Actually, I think I will create one. I am sure there will be enough interest.
Pay more attention to detail.
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Netherlands Goodspeed
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

Play Go, fools. Find someone else on this forum who hasn't (plenty to go around, despite my best efforts), go on OGS and just do it.

I refuse to resign to the apparent reality that these days, people require instant gratification when they play a new game. By discarding things based on initial hurdles, you're going to not only miss out on the best strategy game, but on a lot more good shit in life.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Jam »

Read this thread title and instantly knew what it was about.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

Yes, there is only one greatest strategy game ever invented
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Gendarme »

Goodspeed wrote:Play Go, fools. Find someone else on this forum who hasn't (plenty to go around, despite my best efforts), go on OGS and just do it.

I refuse to resign to the apparent reality that these days, people require instant gratification when they play a new game. By discarding things based on initial hurdles, you're going to not only miss out on the best strategy game, but on a lot more good shit in life.
It just ends up being procrastination for me. I play chess not because it is a good mental exercise, but because I am bored and it is equivalent to scrolling through 9gag (except I am heterosexual and would never visit 9gag). Making it even easier to procrastinate is a bad idea for me, and perhaps many others too.
Pay more attention to detail.
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Netherlands Goodspeed
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

:hmm: If games are just procrastination for you, perhaps you haven't found the right one yet. Or you're just not that into games..
You should still try it. It really is a uniquely beautiful game. Known as an art form throughout Chinese history for good reason.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

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Goodspeed wrote:Play Go, fools. Find someone else on this forum who hasn't (plenty to go around, despite my best efforts), go on OGS and just do it.

I refuse to resign to the apparent reality that these days, people require instant gratification when they play a new game. By discarding things based on initial hurdles, you're going to not only miss out on the best strategy game, but on a lot more good shit in life.


nah, it's just that full information strategy games aren't what I like. I prefer subterfuge, guesswork. Like real generals. FOG OF WAR! Go and chess are just for arm chair theory crafters. Bluegh.

Your excuses for playing diplomacy suck. If you recruit the right players it's kewl. But I'm down for playing a different game as well. Jusnogo.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Goodspeed »

Fair enough. You could join the Secret Hitler crew, though that game lacks a little in depth. TCG's would probably be right up your alley, the upcoming "Artifact" looks pretty promising.
Or you could wait for my awesome AoE card game.
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Re: An introduction to the greatest strategy game ever invented

Post by Gendarme »

Avalon/The Resistance master race
Pay more attention to detail.

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