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Game of Go and its Origin

By: Fredrik Eilertsen

Wei-chi's origin is very long. In truth it is 4000 years long and its recognition has by no means died out. The origin of go is a little bit unclear, however the general story is that the game was made for the son of the Chinese emperor, because he wasn't behaving like he should. The game was made to calm him down and to train him concentration and patience.

Many newcomers assume that it is a Japanese game, when it in reality is Chinese. In my opinion there are three distinct causes for believing this. One reason is the Japanese anime Hikaru no Go, which helped increase this game's reputation, so many people got aquainted with go through this series. Additionally, the various terms used in English go educational books come from the Japanese language. Finally, it's because of the Honinbos, which I will discuss shortly. The fact of the matter is that weiqi didn't spread to Japan earlier than the year 700, which is obviously long after this game was created.

It is in Japan nonetheless, the game began to really advance. During the 17th century the Honinbo house was formed, a school of superior weiqi players. The heads of this institution was perhaps some of the best on the planet in all of history. Gamers worth mentioning are Honinbo Shusaku, Dosaku, Jowa, Shuwa and Shuei. There were additionally a few players from China and Korea that made their mark throughout this period, especially a man named Huang Longshi from China. Many new techniques were invented through the Honinbo period, and the general strength of wei-chi players elevated.

One other notable point in weiqi's historical past was the start of the current era, with professionals like Go Seigen, Kitani Minoru and also Takemiya Masaki altering the way in which go was to be played. The new style of play was about influence rather than greed, and so the moves were played further to the middle of the board, instead of further to the sides. This type of play is still very popular.

Article Source: http://www.newsarticlessite.com

If you want to read more about go's historical past and its most notable professionals, or learn to play baduk, check out this website: learnbaduk.com.

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