Compare Go To Backgammon

   
  • Both games are played with Black and White circular pieces.
  • In both games all the stones are equal to each other.
  • In both games Black and White move alternatingly.
  • A single backgammon game is considerably shorter than a game of go.
  • Both games can be played instead of talking, so they are very suitable for socially anxious persons.
  • In Go you only have to move one stone at a time as opposed to up to four in Backgammon, so Go is by factor 2 to 4 the simpler game.
  • In Backgammon, every capturing move removes one stone, while in Go multiple stones may be captured by one move. The captured stones must be returned to play in Backgammon, but in Go they remain prisoners for the rest of the game.
  • In Go the stones are lens shaped to make them easier to pick up. In Backgammon the cylindrical pieces are picked up basically on every move.
  • In both games the pieces are placed directly on top of the markings on the board, not between them.
  • In both games a piece becomes stronger when it is directly connected to other, same colored pieces.
  • A computer program cannot beat the World Go Champion with a 7-1 score. This is only slightly influenced by the fact that the World does not have a Go Champion.
  • Calculation in Go only includes addition and subtraction, while Backgammon players have to master multiplication and division to calculate probabilities as well.
  • Backgammon is a dice game. There are only so many possible subsequent moves, and one has to include probability to determine which moves are more likely to happen. In Go, you can play where you want.
  • In Go there is a ko rule which prevents repeating the same position over and over again. Its details vary between various rule sets. In Backgammon there is no prohibition about repeating the same position, since the random element makes such repetitions unlikely in the first place.
  • Go begins with an empty board or an initial position of only a few stones. In Backgammon all the pieces are placed on the board in the beginning.

This is a copy of the living page "Compare Go To Backgammon" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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