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Refuse To Take Handicap
   

Well, I don't know whether this ranks among Bad habits, but it gives me the occasion to tell the hilarious tale of a player who used to come and play in our club in the early days. I'll call this man Ernie.

Ernie had just learned to play from a book, and as always, we suggested that he'd start to play on a 9 by 9 board. He saw the others playing on a large board, and decided that there was no reason for us to deny him the real stuff. He wanted to play on a 19 by 19. The best player in Gent at that time was a 6 kyu, and even if that is a modest level, he has been an invaluable teacher, with a Go attitude that I rank top class. I'll call this man Bert.

Bert submitted to the pressure of the newcomer and granted him a "real" game. He kindly offered Ernie to take nine stones in order to compensate for the difference in level, as we all know is very common.

Ernie was offended by this proposal. He started an exposé about the virtues of Zen Buddhism, and that in a Zen spirit, inequality did not exist and was not celebrated by something as tangible as stones. He added that Go was an oriental game, and as such was embedded in Zen spirit, making the idea of handicap stones an utter violation of the true spirit of the game.

Every decent defense we came up with in favour of the handicap system was countered with another chapter of Ernie's Zen library. He concluded: "You can't force me to take a handicap."

The other tables had not remained unaware of this discussion, and another 6 kyu said "That's true. Likewise, you can't force us to play with you."

Ernie now really started to lose his temper, and Bert accepted to play an even game. And off they went. Ernie, who at least had taken Black, played his first stone. It was now Bert's turn. He passed ...

He explained to Ernie that a pass was a legal move. Ernie played another Black stone, looking at his peacefully smiling opponent with an eerie feeling.

Only when 9 Black stones where lying on the table, Bert played his first move.

Dieter Verhofstadt



This is a copy of the living page "Refuse To Take Handicap" at Sensei's Library.
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