Humanity doomed

A top Go professional (Myungwan Kim) lost a handicap game of Go to the MoGo computer program. For years Go has been the game where a strong amateur could beat any computer. But now, through better algorithms rather than faster hardware a computer is competitive. In this case the computer did have a huge advantage in that it got to play 9 stones unopposed at the start of the game. But any win against a pro is a huge advance. The closing position is above with black (MoGo) winning. The game is here in sgf format.

Go Equipment

This is my Go set. The board (goban) is made of spruce. The pieces are glass and the containers are, er, plastic. This set come from Korea, via www.samarkand.net. The other side of the board is a very useful 13 x 13 board. Go equipment can be very beautiful and very expensive. I'm glad I've got at least a respectable level of quality.

Hikaru no Go

Hikaru no Go is a manga about a Go player. Because this is a comic things aren't quite that simple and our hero Hikaru (on the right above) is sharing his consciousness with an ancient Go master. I am learning to play Go and so I am perhaps biased, but I find the whole thing very charming. I am not the only one and the success of Hikaru has led to a revival of Go in Japan. Managa is very popular with the kids here in San Francisco and I am hoping for a similar surge in interest here.

Because the stories are written in Japan they read right to left so you read the both the speech balloons and the panels in the revers of the normal direction. That's also what the 'read this way' thing is at the top.

It's also nice that, unlike some manga, these are suitable for all ages.