囲碁 (Igo)

Well, since I'm in Japan, I decided to try a japanese game. Some people have already recommended me to do it, so I gave it a try yesterday when I discovered that at the Himeji International Exchange Center (well, it's inside Egret building, so I'll just call it Egret from now on) there were shogi and igo lessons available to foreign residents (free of charge!!)

When I arrived at the place, there were only the teacher and other Japanese man. Hum... not many foreigners interested in Japanese games... Anyway, bad for friendship, but good for learning. As I arrived a little late (I was told to arrive at 18h, although it was written on the board that it'd start at 17h30min), first I just watched a match that had started. Today's game was igo. Also known as go. Could grasp something, but not much.

Next, explaining the basics... Seems like you just have to avoid having your stones surrounded by your opponent's, or, if you have to, make sure there's more than one me (empty space... guess the meaning here is somewhat like "eye"), so that your stones will "live". and try to surround your opponent's stones (observing the me), so they'll "die"... Simple, isn't it?

... Not quite.

The rules themselves are not that complicated, but that's the kind of game not so easy to master. The fact that I was playing against the teacher himself did not help. I noticed that some experienced players know some formations that are hard to break, and some that defeat is almost certain. I managed to win a part of the board (thanks to some handicap), but I was spending turns putting stones in a place that was almost granted, the teacher placed stones in other place, making it hard to place mine later...

The final result is easy to predict, right? I was defeated (duh...).

The game is quite interesting. I think I'll continue those lessons and learn (how to win) this game. The teacher has already told me that, next month, lessons will be held on 8th and 15th. Perhaps I should start reading "Hikaru no Go"...

This page explains about go, if somebody is curious about it...