What is Go?

A game of skill created in China about 4000 years ago. It was introduced to Japan around 800 A.D and survives as the oldest board game in the world. Go is played between two players who take turns placing black and white stones on a grid. Each participant seeks to control and capture more territory than the other. All play is visible on the board so it involves no elements of chance. The outcome of the game is invariably determined by the quality of the decisions each player makes.

From the first move, each player builds a unique formation. There are over 10^200 possible games of go, so some believe no two identical games of go have ever been played. A game of go can achieve a wonderful artistic intricacy, born of an individual's creativity and realized in the significance of the shapes created on the board. Go is an aesthetic adventure more important than winning or losing. Though there is ultimately a winner from each game, each player wins and loses to some degree during a game, and this theme of balance surfaces in many other aspects of go.

Action on a go board reflects a personal effort towards balance and harmony within. Go challenges and expands a player's ability to concentrate. The compelling dynamics of the game tend to be completely absorbing. Greed and headlong aggression ultimately to lead to one's downfall in go: a player's strategy needs to be more peaceful and subtle to succeed. Easy solutions may work immediately but prove to be liabilities later. However, miscalculations are rarely final; rather, winning often hinges on a willingness to recover from adversity. The combination of judgment and global thinking necessary in high-level games is largely what makes the most powerful computers helpless against experienced amateurs.

Go is a cooperative undertaking. Players need each other to enjoy the excitement of a challenging game. Unless an opponent offers a good tussle, there is no game- no disappointment, no opportunity- no risk, and no reward. Traditionally, go players value their opponents; a spirit of respect and courtesy ordinarily accompanies a game. Perhaps most importantly, go is a means of communication between two people, a friendly debate. The play of each piece is a statement, the best statement each player can make, and each is a response to the whole of the composition. Each play may expand from other statements, be subtle replies to forgotten ones, or be simple defenses of one's previous plays. The potential intricacy of the interaction seems unlimited.

Players of any skill can enjoy go. Two beginners experience as much excitement as two professional players (which exist!). A game of go can generate in the players an amazing range of emotions. Indeed, it is this promise of excitement and fun that should motivate students to learn about go.

Mission Statement

The University of Michigan Go Club exists with goals that fall into two main catagories:

Our goals within the University community include:

Providing a forum for local go players to meet and play,
Performing outreach events to educate thirsty students about this fascinating game,
Emphasizing the teaching of new players to promote an atmosphere of learning,
Hosting events that enrich the University and are of specific interest to go players,
Informing players and the public about go history, culture, and etiquette,
Having a winning record vs. go players in the Columbus, OH area.

Our goals relating to The American Go Association include:

Providing an AGA rated tournament venue for players in the Midwest,
Assisting with AGA and AGF events in the southeast Michigan area,
Encouraging people of all ages to take up go and join the AGA!

Organizational History

The University of Michigan Go Club was started in the spring of 2001 by two engineering freshmen; Ben Harter and Eric Jankowski. They were fortunate to discover the Ann Arbor Go Club, which was then organized by the wonderful Susan Weir. The Ann Arbor Go Club is a chapter of the American Go Association, and when Susan decided to step down as chapter representative, the decision was made to merge the two clubs. These days, the Ann Arbor Go Club and the University of Michigan Go Club are synonyms.