Go (board game)

Go is a strategic, two-player board game originating in ancient China between 2000 BC and 200 BC.

The Go world

Ranks

See main article Go ranks and ratings

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In countries where Go is popular, ranks are employed to indicate playing strength.

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From about the sixteenth century, the Japanese formalised the teaching and ranking of Go. The system is comparable to that of martial arts schools; and is considered to be derived ultimately from court ranks in China.

Related Topics:
Sixteenth century - Martial arts

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Beginning players today start at a rank of between 25 and 30 kyu ?. The kyu ranking then decreases in magnitude as the player becomes stronger, dropping down to 1 kyu or 1k. Since beginners will commonly progress through elementary concepts quickly, it may be difficult to set a solid kyu ranking for new players. Players who have progressed through the kyu ranks and passed the 1 kyu mark are then ranked at 1 dan ? or 1d, sometimes called shodan. The player then could advance through the amateur dan ranks up to amateur 7 dan, which only few players achieve. That playing level is roughly equivalent to where the ranks for professionals start with pro 1 dan going up to 9 dan (also sometimes called ping or p as in 9 p to avoid confusion between a 1 dan professional and a weaker amateur 6 dan). The distinction between each amateur rank is, by definition, one handicap stone. Professional ranks are awarded by professional organizations and though they are less well defined, they are closer, so that the difference between an average 1p and a prime 9p may be three handicap stones (however, tournament games are even).

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In other words, the difference in rank between two players is theoretically equal to the number of handicap stones required for each player to have an even chance of winning.

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Beating this handicap consistently is the indicator that a player's strength has improved, and his rank should be adjusted upward by one stone, thus changing the number of handicap stones required.

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Timing

Like many other games, a game of Go may be timed. There are four typical methods of timing a game:

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• Absolute: a specific amount of time is given for the entire game, regardless of how fast or slow each player is. This is extremely rare.
• Byo-Yomi (Japanese Timing): After the main time is depleted, a player has a certain number of time periods (typically around 30 seconds). After each move, the number of time periods that the player took (possibly zero) is subtracted. For example, if a player has three 30-second time periods and takes 30 or more (but less than 60) seconds to make a move, he loses one time period. With 60-89 seconds, he loses two time periods, and so on. If, however, he takes less than 30 seconds, the timer simply resets without subtracting any periods. This is written as + x.
• Canadian Byo-Yomi: After the main time is depleted a player must make a certain number of moves within a certain period of time. For example, 5 moves within 2 minutes. If 5 moves are made in time, the timer resets to 2 minutes again. This is written as
  //. (The Origins of Canadian Byo-Yomi)
• Progressive Byo-Yomi: usually this is based on Canadian Byo-Yomi, where after main time is depleted the first number of moves must be played in a time, but the next number of moves may be different and played in a different amount of time. For instance, in one amateur tournament the main time of 50 minutes was followed by twenty moves in five minutes, then forty moves in five minutes, then sixty moves in five minutes (the last time period being repeated until the game ended). Thus, this tournament's timing was written 50+20/5+50/5+60/5 (it is common to leave minutes as numbers without units while seconds are usually written in the form 5s).

Japanese Timing is equivalent to Canadian Byo-Yomi when the "certain number of moves" is equal to one.

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Top players

Although the game was developed in China, in recent centuries the strongest players in the world have come from Japan. However, top players from China (since the 1980s) and South Korea (since the 1990s) have reached an even higher level.

Related Topics:
Japan - China - South Korea

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Nowadays, top players from these three countries are of comparable strength, although top Korean players seem to have an edge, dominating the major international titles, for example winning 23 tournaments in a row between 2000 and 2002.

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All three countries have a number of professional Go tournaments. The top Japanese tournaments have a prize purse comparable to that of professional golf tournaments in the United States. Tournaments in China and Korea are less lavishly funded.

Related Topics:
China - Korea

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Players from other countries have traditionally been much weaker, except for some players who have taken up professional courses in one of the Asian countries.

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This is attributable to the fact that details of the game have been unknown outside of Asia for most of the game's history.

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A German scientist, Otto Korschelt, is credited with the first systematic description of the game in a Western language in AD 1880; it was not until the 1950s that Western players would take up the game as more than a passing interest. In 1978, Manfred Wimmer became the first Westerner to receive a professional player's certificate from an Asian professional Go association. It was not until 2000 that a Westerner, Michael Redmond, achieved the top rank awarded by an Asian go association.

Related Topics:
Otto Korschelt - 1880 - Michael Redmond

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Top male players are stronger than top female players on average.

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See also: Go players

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