From Japan to SL

I have been visiting the site every day but seldom found a player. Mizuki kindly played with me. Many friends came to watch the game.




To people who does not know what Go is, here is my interpretation. Many people knows that Go is to enclose as large area as possible. The above is the first game I won in SL. You can see there is a huge white plaza right below.
The area is made by building walls made by a series of stones, but both players put a stone alternatively, so the wall cannot be made at a time. You should put stakes (stones) one by one. A single stake cannot claim an area, so it is important to arrange stakes properly.

One of observers asked whether it is possible to build an area for black in the white area right below. Generally it is possible to secure own area within the enemy’s area, but since the play is alternate, it is hard to build a new wall herefrom within an established area like the above. The stake is piled alternatively trying to build border lines, but also it is a tactic to set a stake close to that of opponents to block up, or to pull out it by surrounding opponent’s stakes. In order to protect stakes from pull-out (killed), it is necessary to build a house with at least two rooms (eyes) inside. In the above case, the left above harf had been Black area, but White extended branch into the Black area through gaps on the wall. There is no gap on White wall. How to set stakes appropriately at the beginning is called Fuseki (stepping stones), and typical way to negotiate opponents stakes is called Joseki (set sequence). Rules of Go are very simple but how to win is so difficult that computers still cannot find the answer. That is why Go is interesting though.

Additional note on 2018/7/21. Later stronger softs based on AI came in and defeated human players. A soft that I have is about 6-Dan level and I need three stones to compete against it, so my level could be about 3-Dan. Please call me if you are interested in a game!



If you do not see where to start in the game board that is too wide, there is a mini-game using 9 by 9 board. It can be done within a short period.



On the last Sunday a tournament was held. It was started 3:00am in Japan time, so I was not able to attend but took some pictures at the end of the tournament. Boards of 15 by 15 were used this time. Regular board is 19 by 19.