agro1986 Where can I get an external source for the statement "Go is the second most played game in the world, behind Chinese Chess"? Also, where does Western Chess rank?
http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/orient/go/special/census.html &
http://www.turowski.com/chess/world2007.html
Go in Japanese education for information on children 4 years of age playing go. As for my own thoughts, a little Go might help that attention span.
wikipedia article on Cho has him at 10kyu when he first came to Japan, and losing to Kato Masao with nine stone handicaps in those years. The
bio of Cho at My Friday Night Files makes it sound plausible that the game was not meant so seriously, so it would not have truly tested Cho's strength. (Wikipedia doesn't cite its sources for that section, so it would be quite useful to know if you had concrete evidence contradicting its claims).
Wikipedia...using the Internet to disprove contention that a sufficient number of
monkeys with a sufficent number of typewriters... See Cho's biography section
The Early Years at My Friday Night Files. Complete with a link to his
1962 games and the
game record From the site: One day after arriving in Japan, 2nd August 1962, there is a '100-dan' party for the Kitani school. Cho, taking 5 stones, beats Rin in a game played at that party. There was a huge crowd but he was quite unfazed and took the game very seriously, arms folded and thinking for a long time. Eventually someone had to go up and nudge him into playing quickly. While Rin may have been playing somewhat casually, its clear that Cho was playing in earnest. You might want to play a professional some time at 9 stones to see how strong they actually are. I have played a professional at 6 stones, as one of eight simultaneous games. The professional granted me the game. He did not play complicated or tricky moves, just honte and I managed not to make so large a mistake that he felt compelled to show me my error on the board. I have no illusions that I could play him one on one at six or even nine stones. Go the the
US Go Congress in North Carolina (August 12th - 20th 2006) to see how strong professional are. Its not so far from your location.
dej2; How about this for a fun go page
http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/knowledge-e/index.htm
Robert Pauli: Isn't it interesting to see Nihon Kiin pages with almost no Japanese terms ?
This should be the entrance page to the Nihon Kiin site
http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/index-e.htm
I really like this quote, from the English Nihon Kiin site:
''Go is a game that you can enjoy all your life, from childhood to old age. Strangers can immediately become friends through playing a game of Go.
Communication between people in our modern society is lessening, but Go can make a big contribution to communication transcending the family, teachers and pupils, seniors and juniors. That's because it's a marvellous game in which differences of age or sex or nationality are irrelevant.''
ilan: "Communication between people in our modern society is lessening." That statement is completely untrue. Anyone who posts an opinion to the contrary confirms that I am correct.
ProtoDeuteric: I agree with ilan entirely. In fact, I believe that the trend is going the opposite direction; communication in our modern society is increasing. New forms of communication are created daily and it is possible for several people on one side of the world to speak with several people on the other side of the world. The communication technologies are also becoming increasingly available to more and more people. Go deserves merit for many things, but saving the world from lack of communication is not one of them.
George Caplan Ilan and ProtoDeuteric are obviously talking about the ease of communication via various modern forms, such as the internet. I agree with the original poster (Quicksilvre) this is a beatiful sentiment. I think what they mean by "communication" is making true and deep connections with others in a socially cooperative sense, not in a flame-war nitpicking sense. The greater communication justifiably lauded above often leads, not to greater understanding, but to electronic fiefdoms of staked out positions. And, in that sense, "communication" is lessening because more talking does not necessarily mean more listening.
Zarlan: I agree that a lot of communication on the internet is rather worthless. A lot of it is good though. Still, talking on the internet isn't quite the same as talking in real life. Also I disagree with ProtoDeuteric:
Go does increase communication. In cyberspace and "meatspace" as you communicate with your opponent, teacher, pupil, friend, rival or fellow deshi in go-communities, be it a Go club, a Go server or Sensei's Library.
ProtoDeuteric: Zarlan, we do not disagree at all. We are on the same side.
Brent: I wonder what connotations the Japanese conception of "communication" has? I don't know anything about Japanese culture or language... anyway, I agree that with modern technology, the amount of communication, both potential and actual, has increased dramatically. I am not sure that the quality of human communication has improved, though. But I wouldn't go so far as to say it has gotten worse, mostly because I think it has always been poor to begin with -- we humans seem to have a fundamental fear of relating and communicating on a deep level.
I must say I was somewhat skeptical of the idea of "Go as communication" when I first encountered it (the AGA sent me a frere copy of the book of the same name, by Yasutoshi Yasuda 9-dan), but after reading the book, and watching my own students play and interact, I have to admit there is something to it...
ilan: To get back to the original assertion, I find that statements of the form "Things aren't as good now as they used to be..." are usually made by older people who don't realise that it is they who changed, not the world. Back in my day, people knew this.
ProtoDeuteric: Ilan, I have found different, but not opposite, results from my experiences. Indeed the older people have changed throughout their lifetime, seeing the world differently as a result, but the world has also changed due to technology, use of resources, new discoveries, acceptance of new ideas and the relaxation of morality and social stigmas. Even people's experiences affect not only the people, but also the world itself, for experiences are interactions with the environment around you.
ilan: Agreed that the world changes, but I am referring to those who claim that it is for the worse, when most evidence points to the contrary, along with the underlying implication that the human race is itself is somehow deteriorating.
Bill: I used to think as you do, Ilan, but now that I am older, I know better. ;-)
Morten When I was a child, my dad appeared to be omniscient. When I turned into my teenage years, I realised that there were gaps to his knowledge. Between the ages of 18 and 25, I thought he was the most ignorant man in the world. When I turned 30, I was amazed at how much he had learned in the previous 5 years...
Now that my eldest son is 9, I will of course be able to do better...?
ilan: Apparently, the rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated:
http://www.twainquotes.com/Father.html
Morten Great minds think alike, it appears...
Seriously, I never knew that this saying had been attributed to anyone. Goes to show that even at my age, I can still learn new things. Of course, the things I used to learn used to be much better .... ;-)
Dieter: In those younger days I was less nostalgic.
ilan: Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.