Does Obama play the strategy board game "Go"?

[bobbieinok]

Go (碁?), known in Chinese as weiqi (simplified Chinese: 围棋; traditional Chinese: 圍棋; pinyin: wéiqí; Wade-Giles: wei ch'i) and in Korean as baduk (hangul: 바둑), is an ancient board game for two players that is noted for being rich in strategy despite its simple rules.

The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a grid of 19×19 lines. Once placed on the board, stones cannot be moved elsewhere, unless they are surrounded and captured by the opponent's stones. The object of the game is to control (surround) a larger portion of the board than the opponent.

Placing stones close together helps them support each other and avoid capture. On the other hand, placing stones far apart creates influence across more of the board. Part of the strategic difficulty of the game stems from finding a balance between such conflicting interests. Players strive to serve both defensive and offensive purposes and choose between tactical urgency and strategic plans.

Go originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago, and although it is not known exactly when the game was invented, by the 3rd century BC it was already a popular pastime, as indicated by a reference to the game in the Analects of Confucius. Archaeological evidence shows that the early game was played on a board with a 17×17 grid, but by the time that the game spread to Korea and Japan in about the 7th century boards with a 19×19 grid had become standard.

The game is most popular in East Asia, but has gained some popularity in other parts of the world in recent years. A conservative estimate places the number of Go players worldwide at approximately 27 million.<1> Go reached the West through Japan, which is why it is commonly known internationally by its Japanese name.
Contents


* 1 Rules
o 1.1 Basic rules
o 1.2 Scoring rules
+ 1.2.1 Detailed description
+ 1.2.2 Comparison of the scoring methods
o 1.3 Life and death

(This info is from Wikipedia.)

My son played the game for a while, and I tried it a bit. I found it intensely frustrating.

Does anyone at DU play Go? If Obama plays the game,the game MIGHT give insight into the way he "plays" politics (primary, campaign, and now presidency).

[smalll]

1. Yes. Three Dimensional Go. /nt

[bigwillq]

2. No, he only plays chess

:rofl:

[eleny]

3. So, chess isn't working out

[Dr Fate]

4. Seems to me like he is playing Sorry.

"Sorry" about not fighting the Blue Dogs over the PO. Sorry about failing to stop the continuing oil spill cover up. Sorry about spending billions on wars based on lies.

I know, I know- pet issues for the far, professional left.

[Arkana]

6. If you hate the man so viscerally, why do you continue to showcase his campaign logo

in your avatar?

[Dr Fate]

7. I voted for & supported Obama in the primary & general, thank you very much.

Donated money and did camapign work for him too.

I leave my avatar up to remind people like you of this.

Please, by all means, search my pre-inaugaration posts and try to find ONE SINGLE SOLITARY negative post about Obama from me.

I dont hate him or anybody- I just hate the fact that he failed to keep BP from rolling over me and my friends in the gulf. (I know, I know- you have an excuse! Dont care.) I hate the fact that he finds time to attack "the professional left" (Does that mean he hates liberals, since he disagrees with them on certain points?)but he cant seem to take on FOX news. (I know, Iknow- he has abn excuse for that too!) Upset about several other things too. (I'm sure you have excuses for all of them!)

I'll leave the Obama icon up. I voted for him. I'll vote for him again. Deal with it.

Maybe you can leave personal comments about me and my avatar choices out of any further debate, and instead explain why I should not be upset about the issues I mentioned. I guess you have gotten tired of listing excuses, and merely accusing people of being haters is easier.

[Hekate]

5. Speculation about Asian influence on Obama abounds. My favorite was from a Buddhist...

I think that one was during the campaign, and it had to do with his calm demeanor and desire to bridge differences. I liked it because it was another instance of how everybody and his cousin was projecting their own needs onto Obama.

Be that as it may, Hawai'i is highly influenced by Japanese culture, but we'll probably never know if young Obama (so interested in basketball, so full of adolescent energy) ever took up the quiet pursuit of a board game like Go.

Hekate