Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

I started playing Go in 2020. I had injured my hands playing too much Taiko Drum Master on my PS Vita slim (tendinitis sucks), and Go is the result of my search for a substitute. I had already heard about the game through the Hikaru no Go manga, but had never given it a fair shake myself.

I must admit, I am still bad at the game after playing for a year. But I simply adore it. Stupidly simple to learn. Impossible to master, no matter how hard you try. It... kinda changed the way I see life. It's deep stuff, man. So many meta lessons you can learn from the game can be applied in every day life. I'm not the first one to say it, though. It's probably the world's most popular board game, even more than Chess.

This made me wonder, does anyone in this crowd have interest in playing the game? 'Tis a weeb game, after all. Here is my profile, if you want to send me a challenge: https://online-go.com/player/416731/. I prefer playing correspondence games, but if we're both available at the same time I wouldn't mind trying a live game with you.

Thanks for passing by.

EDIT: If you haven't seen it, this documentary introduced a lot of people to the game. It's a great watch:

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

Since you have 5 active games on right now imma take the time to brush up on the Switch version and try to get decent before I challenge you, lol.

Tried learning the game this past summer in a push to get good at classic board games (chess, backgammon, Chinese Checkers and this) and found out I am complete dogshit at it---people who never even played the game were beating me lol. I know I just need to play more and learn through the loses but the grind is hard hahac

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

Don't be intimidated. I am playing 5 -correspondance- games. This means there could be as much as a full wek between consecutive moves on a single game. Some of these games will stretch for weeks. :)

Being dogshit is not fun when the goal is to feel good about playing. However, if you can find a way to do your best on every game (even those where your expect to lose), you will start noticing that you're having fun in a new, more relaxed way. You'll know that no matter the opponent, you'll probably be proud of yourself in the end.

Seriously. What an amazing game.

I will await your challenge!!

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

i watched all 75 episodes of Hikaru No Go and i still don't know how territory works lmao

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

It's both stupidly simple and incredibly nuanced. Here's the simple definition:

At the end of the game (when both players passed but no one resigned), you can count as your "territory" all empty intersections on the board that are surrounded by your stones. For example, here is how you would count territory in a finished game (notice in the lower left, there are 2 neutral points since they are not surrounded by a single color):


White won this game.

You might notice in this picture some transparent stones. This is where the nuance comes in. This means they were present when the game ended, but were automatically captured by the stones that surround them. This is because no matter what the player might try, there is no way for them to prevent being captured if the other player responds normally. How can I tell from a glance? It's because such groups cannot find a way to make "two eyes", which is the only type of shape that cannot be captured.

Fortunately, we don't have to go that deep if we don't want to. There is always a way to keep things simple. If at the end of the game you notice stones from your opponent's color in your territory and you cannot determine if it should be auto-captured or not, simply resume play to figure out the final state of the group trying to survive. Indeed, no territory should be counted before both players agree on stones that should be auto-captured.

Hope that makes sense :)

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

What a great explanation MarioNintendo.

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

Thanks Rapta <3

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

mood

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

Are we to assume, that delays are to be expected? ;)

Re: Anybody plays Go/Baduk around here?
 

Touché. I suppose it's now part of the DNA of everything I do.