From: Michael Vanier BBB CALTECH EDU> Date: 7 feb 1999 Subject: Re: shogi and go > X-Sender: mueller etlron etl go jp > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 15:27:20 +0900 > Reply-To: The Shogi Discussion List techunix technion ac il> > Sender: The Shogi Discussion List techunix technion ac il> > From: Martin Mueller ETL GO JP> > > >It's interesting that nobody has mentioned go except in passing. Even > >though this is a shogi mailing list, I'm fascinated by the contrast between > >shogi and go. Go seems to me to have much more varied openings than chess > >or shogi (even with standard josekis, the fact that there are four corners > >to play them in makes each game completely different) and enormous tactical > >complexity (albeit of a vastly different kind). The main area where shogi > >surpasses go is in the endgame, which (barring stupid blunders) tends not > >to be too tense in go, but of course is very exciting in shogi. > > Well, it depends. If a Go game is decided before the endgame, then I guess > you are right. However if the game is close, then the endgame is actually > the most tense and difficult phase of Go. On the professional and even on > the high dan amateur level, many games are close. One slight inaccuracy > here can destroy all your previous hard work to get you a promising > position, so you definitely cannot relax before its over. Losing just one > point in a Go endgame can be just as bad as getting your king captured in > shogi. > > Martin (20k shogi, 6d Go player) > This is true. Most of my go games with friends (I don't have a rating, but I'd guess I'm around 15 kyu based on the problems I can solve) are decided before the endgame. On occasion one isn't, and then what Martin says is very true; even a small blunder is catastrophic. Still, I find the king-hunt in shogi somewhat more exciting than scrounging for points at the outskirts of your opponents' territory, but your mileage may vary :-) What *is* exciting about go endgames is when you find a previously-unsuspected chance to break into an opponent's territory and cost him a lot of space. This is also an interesting example of the phenomenon that a game becomes very different as the players' skill level increases. Mike