Thomas Yang
Period 2
05/1/15

Have you ever heard of the japanese game “Go” ?. Go originated from china but that doesn't mean it isn't japanese. Go is very simple to learn but is a game that combines beauty and intellect. Go is very widespread and diverse Go is uniquely japanese because Go has stayed unchanged throughout Japanese’ history. Unfortunately Go did not originate in Japan;but in china. The chinese called the game “Wei­chi” or “weiqi”. Go was very common in china so trading and sharing this game was out of the question. Go made its shiny debut in japan around 1000 A.D but took a giant leap forward there in the 1600’s when warlord Tokugawa unified japan in
1602 and created the four schools of Go. Then Go fell into a period of decline, Until the early 1920’s, with the formation of the Japan Go Association. Around this time Go entered the united states.since then Michael redmond was the only western player to have won status as a top­grade professional player in asia. The rules of Go are very simple. The rule of liberty: Every stone remaining on the board must have at least one open "point" (an intersection, called a "liberty") directly next to it (up, down, left, or right) and the “ko rule”. The stones on the board must never repeat a previous position of stones. the only way to win the game is by submission
(admitting defeat) or Instead of placing a stone, a player may pass. When both players pass consecutively, the game ends and is then is scored. A player's score is the number of stones you have on the board, plus the number of empty intersections surrounded by that player's stones.Because go lends itself to uniquely reliable system of handicaps, players of widely different skill can enjoy relatively even contests. Now we know the history and the rules but what is Go played with ?. The Go board also called a goban, in china measures between 18 and 19 inches in