Go story as book

First Kyu

Hi everyone, this time i wanted to show you all some material easily be found in the internet about the book First Kyu (it´s about the cover of the book and a bit about the author). I personally like to read books and especially about go. First Kyu is a really interesting Story. I read it myself and it has some interesting parts like chapters namend with go proverbs or some famous games like the blood vomiting game which makes it pretty usefull besides the good story it gives some good go material to work with. How far would you go to be first? "BEFORE WE BEGIN... Let me tell you a story. An old story, a really old story. Do you know how to play go? You do? First kyu, a player of the first rank? Really? Have you ever competed in a professional qualifying tournament? No? Then you are not, I repeat NOT first kyu! I know, I know. Nowadays all kinds of bad players call themselves first kyu. This story is, however, not about those fake first kyus. It's a story of the real first kyus. There is a guy who runs a smoke shop near Niagara Falls. His name is Shin. On rainy days he keeps staring at the falls and mumbles something like this: "I'm sure they must all be playing for bangneki stakes happily somewhere..." Can you even guess what he is talking about? If not, just hold on and listen to what I'm going to tell you. Only about a handful of people know this story. So listen up." Thus begins a compelling, insightful, and haunting tale of love, sacrifice, the search for excellence, and Go- the world's oldest game. About the Author Born in Seoul, Korea in 1950, Sung-Hwa Hong graduated from the famed Kyunggi High School, and after serving in the Korean army for three years, immigrated to Vancouver in 1974. He then, in 1981, graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia.Winning the Canadian Go Championship twice, he participated in the World Amateur Go Championship in Japan as the Canadian representative in 1989 and 1995. Married with two children, he practiced family dentistry in Vancouver until his death in 2001. Shortly before he passed away, Dr. Hong made a few small changes to the text for the second printing. It is a link to a review about the book. ---> http://gobase.org/reading/preview/firstkyu/ Text

Rules List

Rules on tournemants

Did anyone of you had ever problems on tournaments? Where sometimes people who said you cant do this or do that while in a game ? I had many accidents and problems with it. And I heard of many more accidents happening at other games, but then what to do ? Often i hear on tournaments "we use the japanese rules, but just what are the japanese rules they use?" I do think often that The problem doesn´t lie in the organization, but in the unclear definition of the rules which existed beforehand. For most people go is not yet a sport, but more like a hobby, so it´s kinda understandable that some tournaments have a more slack rule management than others. But still as accidents still happen, it can be usefull to have a rule list. For the european go player the most trustworthy list i found in terms of tournament rules is the european EFG Rules. EGF Tournament Rules I hope this rule list will be helpfull for all (above the link to the site) EGF GENERAL TOURNAMENT RULES RULESETS APPLICABLE TO ALL TOURNAMENTS General These are the general tournament rules of the European Go Federation (EGF) and are used in the tournaments of the EGF. The following rulesets apply: These General Tournament Rules. The Tournament System Rules of the EGF. The event's own Particular Tournament Rules specifying details or variations to the General Tournament Rules. One of the following rules of play: Area Scoring with Ing playing material Ing Rules with 8 komi for even games and Ing fill-in counting. Black wins ties. Area Scoring with Japanese playing material Ing Rules with 7.5 komi for even games and Japanese fill-in counting. When passing, a player gives one stone to the opponent as a prisoner. White makes the last pass to end the alternation. Territory Scoring Verbal European-Japanese Rules with 6.5 komi for even games and Japanese fill-in counting. White wins ties in handicap games with integer komi. Arbitration decides interpretation disagreements. Rules of play - default versus variation The stated rules of play and their parameters are the default. A tournament's Particular Tournament Rules, specialized tournaments, or lower boards might use handicaps or different rules of play or komi. Particular tournament rules A tournament's Particular Tournament Rules declare whether Area Scoring or Territory Scoring is used, the actually used tournament system, the time limits, the registration procedure, interpretation of ranks, usage of forms, handicap stone placement, and any other specific tournament conditions. Validity In this text, "tournament" refers to either a single tournament, a tournament that is part of a series of tournaments, a match, or a tournament or match that is part of a greater event like the European Go Congress. The rulesets apply to every tournament or event under the EGF's auspices. Order of priority The following list orders rulesets and other criteria, starting with the highest, overriding priority: changes to a ruleset made by the EGF (in order: EGF annual general meeting, EGF committee, EGF rules commission, the tournament's tournament supervisors) these General Tournament Rules of the EGF the Tournament System Rules of the EGF the tournament's Particular Tournament Rules the Rules of Play filling of gaps in the rulesets, declared by the EGF (in order: EGF bodies as above, the event's, the tournament's organization) the predominating view of earlier arbitration decisions, especially of higher instances sportsmanship the players' intentions Non-EGF tournaments These General Tournament Rules may be used also in non-EGF tournaments. In this case, Particular Tournament Rules are set by the organisation in charge of the tournament, precede these General Tournament Rules in the order of priority, or might use other rules of play. GAME PROTOCOL The following rules apply to the progress of the game:   Move A move is either a play or a pass.   Making a move A stone is played quickly as near as possible to its intended intersection. Once the stone touches the board, there should be minimal physical movement required to place the stone on its intended intersection, and then it should be released straightaway. Once the stone is played, any removal of the opponent's stones is carried out.A move is completed by pressing the clock with the same hand that played the move. Once the clock is pressed, the hand used must promptly be removed from the clock. Prisoners Prisoners and overtime stones must remain clearly visible to the opponent at all times, even if Area Scoring is used.   Alternation All moves, including dame and teire, must be played in alternation with the clock running.   Resignation A player may resign the game by clearly saying "I resign", or by placing two stones simultaneously on the board.   Komi Komi is added during scoring.   Nigiri If nigiri is used, the older player takes an unseen number of white stones from the bowl. The opponent takes one or two black stones from the bowl to guess the parity, and the white stones are then revealed. If the parity is correctly guessed, the opponent takes black, otherwise the older player takes black. PLAYER AND SPECTATOR BEHAVIOUR The following rules govern the behaviour of players and spectators:   Rules common to players and spectators   Tournament rules and officials All persons must abide by the rules of the tournament and the requirements of the tournament officials.   Silence All persons in or near a playing room must be quiet. Mobile phones must be switched off. Player behaviour   Top groups By default, players in the top groups of a tournament must play all rounds. In a McMahon tournament the top groups include any supergroups, the group above the bar, and the group just below the bar. A player starting in a top group may skip a round only in exceptional circumstances like a serious a medical problem proven by a doctor's certificate or a family member's decease.Other players must abide by the procedure published for the tournament in order to skip any rounds. Players are sanctioned for skipping rounds unduly. Sportsmanship Application of the rules takes priority, but if even after careful consideration they turn out to be insufficient, then the players' behaviour should still express a spirit of mutual respect and fairness while each player seriously strives for winning his games.   Disturbance A player may not disturb others by making noise with stones, commenting on moves, improper making of moves, bad body language, nor placing distracting items on the table.   Study aids During their game or its adjournment, players may not study the game on another board or use any material or machines for study purposes.  Players may not seek advice from third parties, but may consult referees regarding rules.   Recording If a recording medium of any kind is used, the move must be completed before it is recorded. Spectator behaviour   Communication Spectators must not influence a game by any means including audible comments, body language, or touching any part of the playing equipment.   Crowding Spectators must not crowd too closely around a game in progress.   Infringement If a spectator notices an infringement of the rules, then the matter can be brought to the attention of a referee, but on no account should the spectator inform the players directly. IRREGULARITIES This section lists the rules covering common irregularities. Any situations not listed here must be discussed with the referee.   Colour or handicap error If players start a game with the wrong colour or handicap, and this is noticed before the third move is completed, then the game must be restarted. If the error is noticed later, then the game continues and the pairing is modified to reflect the actual colours or handicap used.   Ambiguous stone placement If the position of a stone just played is unclear, then a player may request that the opponent positions the stone unambiguously.   Illegal move If a player makes an illegal move, and if this is noticed within three moves, then the game should be unwound to the move just before the illegal move, and continued. The referee may allow an adjustment of the time.   Position disturbance If the position is disturbed accidently, or if a position was recorded incorrectly during an adjournment, and the players cannot simply correct it, then the referee can apply the following procedures, in order:   correct the position. continue with the position as is. unwind the game to a previous agreed position. award a loss to the player who disturbed the position. cancel the game and start afresh with possibly reduced time limits.   Hindrance A player persistently breaking the rules with irregular play is considered to hinder the opponent, and may be sanctioned by the referee.   Timing error Players may agree to reset an incorrectly set clock before the game has started. They may not, however, restart a correctly running clock started by an official.Once the game has started, any apparent non-trivial mistakes in the recorded elapsed time can only be corrected by the referee. A clock found to be malfunctioning is replaced and set by the referee. If an analogue clock does not show a time excess immediately, then this is replaced by interpreting what should have been the clock's correct indication. TIMING RULES Management of time is governed by the following rules:   Start The referee may decide on which side of the board the clock is placed. If no decision is required, then White, else Black may choose where to place the clock.At a time determined by the tournament director, Black's clock is started either by the referee or by the players themselves. In special circumstances, the referee may start clocks on some boards at a different time. If a player is late 60 minutes or more, he loses his game. Canadian overtime By default, the Canadian Overtime system is used when a player's main time has expired - the player has to complete a given number of moves in a specified period of time set on the clock. When all the moves have been made, the clock is reset for the next overtime period.At the start of each overtime period, the required number of overtime stones are taken from the bowl and placed on the table clearly visible to the opponent. During this process, the opponent resets the clock if this needs to be done manually. A player in overtime uses the overtime stones for each play, and not stones from the bowl. A pass consists of returning an overtime stone to the bowl and then pressing the clock. Other overtime systems Where Japanese Byoyomi is used together with a timekeeper, a timepiece is set to the byoyomi time. The timekeeper counts down the last 10 seconds, and a move must be completed within the byoyomi time period.Where Japanese Byoyomi is used together with a digital clock, a move must be completed within the byoyomi time period. In Ing Overtime, each player may buy up to three overtime periods. The length of each is 1/6 the basic time. Entering each costs another 2 points. Exceeding the third overtime period loses the game on time. Finite thinking time does not use any overtime. Loss on time If there is no overtime, a player loses on time if the current move is not completed before the basic time expires. If there is overtime, the player loses on time if not all of the given number of overtime stones are played in the prescribed overtime period.The timing procedure for removing three or more stones in neutralised time is: A player places the stone. The clock is now neutralised. According to the rules of play, the stones without liberty are removed. The player starts the opponent's clock. The timing procedure for two successive passes at the end of a game is as follows: A player passes and completes the move by pressing the clock. It is possible for the player to lose on time if the clock is not pressed. The opponent passes and completes the move by pressing the clock. Again it is possible for the opponent to lose on time if the clock is not pressed. The clock is now neutralised. Finite thinking time under Territory Scoring The following applies under Territory Scoring. It is not compatible with the Ing Overtime System.The alternation consists of the competitive phase followed by the neutral phase. During the competitive phase, one or both players moving next can make a play to improve the score or to fill a basic endgame ko. During the neutral phase, neither player can do so because only dame and teire, if any, are left. If the first two successive passes occur prematurely during the competitive phase, then the clock is neutralised, each player's time is set to exactly 1 minute, and the clock is restarted for resumed alternation. Until two successive passes during the neutral phase, every legal play is considered sportsmanlike. During the neutral phase, a player has to pass if his opponent has just passed. Then on neutralised time, more dame and teire may be filled quickly in continued alternation. Clock neutralisation The clock may be neutralised, with both player's timepieces being stopped simulaneously, in the following circumstances:   By the players, after successive passes, at the start of each status assesment phase that is not a continuation or resumption of a game's major alternating phase. By the players at the start of the counting procedure. By the players, to reset the clock or count overtime stones for the next overtime period. By a player to visit the toilet shortly before or during overtime. However a player may not abuse this right. By a player - after having placed one's stone - to remove three or more stones without liberty while in overtime or playing under finite thinking time rules. By the players to deal with a clock malfunction themselves, or to call the referee to deal with the clock. The players may not increase their time limits. By a player at the start of a formal adjournment. By a player to fetch a sealing form for an adjournment. By a player to complete a sealing form. By a player to call an absent referee after informing the opponent. By the referee at the start of arbitration or rule clarification. During an urgent announcement on behalf of the tournament director. ADJOURNMENT In some tournaments, a game may be adjourned. Following are the rules governing adjournment where required:   Start At the start of the tournament,.the tournament director publishes a list of possible times for adjournment and its maximal duration. At the beginning of a move, a player may adjourn a game by stating that the move is to be sealed. A referee may supervise the process.   Sealing a move The player may "seal" the move by playing the move and neutralising the clock, or the player may fill in a sealing form. If a sealing form is used, then the procedure to be followed is:   The opponent should begin filling in the form while the player is thinking about the move to seal. Once the player has decided on the move, the clock is neutralised. The players then promptly complete the sealing form data. Without delay, the player clearly marks the move on the form so that the opponent cannot see its location. The player seals the form in an envelope. The players record the board number, pairing, and time of resumption on the envelope. Both players depart from the room, depositing the envelope as required by the tournament organizers. Resumption At the time of resumption, the players enter their playing room, use 1 minute to verify the position and times, execute the sealing move if a sealing form is used, and start the opponent's clock. ARBITRATION General The arbitration procedure used to resolve disputes has three levels of operation: the referee, the appeals committee, and the EGF rules commission. A player with a dispute refers the matter to the referee in the first instance. The dispute may then be referred to the next level up if either player is not satisfied with the judgement or its reasoning. The next level may reject to resume a case if it considers the preceding instance's judgement and reasoning obviously right and just.Every effort must be made to discuss and resolve the dispute in a separate room, or at least away from players still busy with their games. Decision making considers the involved persons' point of views. Witnesses may be called. Any decision made regarding a dispute at any level must be explained in clear language and carefully justified. Decisions are made impartially. In particular, no attempt should be made to use positional judgement in reaching a decision, although also the scoring rules are to be applied correctly. In any particular dispute, a player may not also be a member of the body discussing the dispute. No person can be involved as an arbiter at more than one level in the same dispute. Referee Referees are required to abide by the following rules:The function of the referee is to inform players about the rules valid for the tournament, to apply the rules, and to enforce them. Players can ask to be shown the rules or be explained a digital clock, and in the first instance a referee attempts to mediate or to simply clarify the rules. If this resolves the dispute, no judgement is made and the matter is ended. Player responsibility In the event of a dispute, the player has the following responsibilities:   A player should call the referee as soon as possible, and may not delay in order to gain a favourable decision.If the referee decides that the game in dispute should resume, but the player still wants to appeal, then the player must inform the referee and the opponent that the game is played under protest. When signing a result form, the player must state that the game was played under protest. Failure to do so means that the player gives up the right to appeal. Appeals committee If a player in dispute disagrees with a referee's decision, the the matter can be referred to the appeals committee.The appeals committee is formed of three persons before the start of the first round and includes reserves. If there are fewer than three at the time of a dispute, then other players must be co-opted to the committee to make up the number. If a committee cannot be formed, then a game in dispute may be adjourned. If it cannot meet in time before the tournament's next round, then only the present member or members of the appeals committee arbitrate. For only the purpose of making a next round's pairings, the appeals committee's decision is final. EGF rules commission If a player in dispute disagrees with the decision of the appeals committee, the matter must be referred to the EGF rules commission for consideration after the end of the tournament. If the dispute affects titles or prizes, the tournament director cannot declare winners or present prizes until the EGF rules commission has given a final judgement on the matter. SANCTIONS A player's or spectator's rules violations may incur a sanction. A sanction is a last resort, and referees are required to carefully consider whether the fault lies in a weakness of the tournament organisation, obscurity in the rules, or in the player or spectator concerned. Therefore referees must be very cautious before imposing judgements of cheating or unsportmanlike behaviour. Once a sanction is deemed appropriate, it can be one of the following:   Advice The referee states what the correct behaviour or rule is. Thereafter players and spectators are required to respect the advice.   Warning A referee may issue a warning to either or both players. If a player receives two warnings in the same game, then the referee imposes the game forfeit sanction.   Game Forfeit The referee declares one or both players to lose the game by forfeit.   Other sanctions Sanctions of varying severity include: modification of time limits, removal from rounds, removal from the tournament, debarred from a supergroup in a future tournament, reduced qualification points. OFFICIALS The following guidelines and rules describe the general roles of officials. Guidelines about bodies and their mutual relations The EGF requests a tournament and delegates its local organization to a national association or directly to the other officials being the local organizers.   If the EGF has delegated a tournament to a national association, then it in turn delegates the organization to local officials for the tournament and encourages the local organization to run the tournament well.   If a greater event including several tournaments is held, then this is coordinated by the event director and his assisting event organizers. They delegate organization of every particular tournament to its tournament director. The event director executes the rights as a householder at the tournament site, subject to the rights of the site's owner and unless he delegates the task.   The tournament director is the head of local organization of the tournament. Tournament organizers assist him. The drawmaster, who might coincide with the tournament director, manages the pairings.   The referees enforce the rules and judge disputes. They might also act as tournament organizers. At least one of the referees must be an EGF certified referee.   The EGF committee or the EGF rules commission may assign tournament supervisors to a tournament, which then supervise the other officials and perform some special key organization tasks like formation of a supergroup or verification of the final result list. Guidelines of organization The officials organize registration, playing site, furniture, and playing material of acceptable quality.   Throughout the tournament's progress, the officials assign the players to the boards and ensure good playing conditions like light levels, temperature, noise levels, availability of pairing lists, current result lists, playing material and forms, etc. If an official records a game, this should not disturb the players.   The officials ensure the rounds' start on time. Round 1 requires particular preparation.   The officials publish all valid rulesets clearly and show them to a player on request.   The officials make the pairings, announce the results, and submit them to the EGF ratings commission. Rules The event director, the event organizers, the tournament director, and the tournament organizers abide by any tournament-related higher advice about application of rules or consequences of arbitration stated by an EGF body, the tournament supervisors, the appeals commitee, or the judging referee. In case of inappropriate tournament organization, the EGF rules commission may propose to the EGF committee sanctions on officials or the national association having held a tournament. RULES STATUS The status of the current and previous EGF rulesets is:   These EGF General Tournament Rules become valid from 2007-07-21.   These EGF General Tournament Rules replace the Tournament Rules of the European Go Federation, the EGF Fujitsu Grand-Prix Regulations, and the EGF Guidelines Fujitsu Grand-Prix Tournaments of August 1997.   Every tournament or event shall receive its own Particular Tournament Rules.

A usefull link

a move can say more than any words but a word can help getting the meaning across

	Go words

I got sometime ago a pretty usefull link about go words.

I have to say for every go player this will be really usefull, because even if you cant speak their language, as long as there is some kind of general consus of words, any communication problems to regards of go can be solved with just a list of words 

http://home.netcom.com/~gogaku/english/sfgoclub/godic.htm

Report about Go History in an area of germany

A written down memory about Go in Mecklenburg Vorpommen by Uwe Richter and others (but don´t know who all; translation by Yunyuki)

a picture to set the right mood Hi all, as I was thinking about what to write next I was asking friends of mine about Go material or stuff I could write an report about. I got this link Mecklenburg-Vorpommen Go history It´s a german written story about how go started in Mecklenburg- Vorpommen. I thought it might be interesting , which is the reason I am going to translate and post it here. I hope you will all have fun with the translation i did (it might be not 100% perfect as I am native German, so I apologize about any wrong translations). http://www.escape.de/~capella/go/RoGoGe.txt The specific time of the first time playing go in Rostock a town in the north of Germany is unknown. The estimated time is around 1972. That time Eberhard Perlick a doctor who lived in Eberswalde who was from an group chess players of the HSG University Rostock explained the rules of the game called Baduk to other people. After a short time he did find 5 people. Out of the 5 Hans-Eckart Lüthke is the one most active among the 5 for me known right now to this day. They went on a trip to jena and played on a tournament there. It was back then a really big highlight for the go players. The chess section of the group with Doctor Perlick at its core, was gone, after many people moved away due to finishing studying at the University. A new start for go was around the 80´s . The fist Go groupd was founded by Dr. Poldi Winkler in the winter of 85/86 in Rostock. It had 3 members at the start but 1 more member was found really quickly. First they played in the green Monster "grünen Ungeheuer", which was on the opposite site of the train station. It was also the first notice of go in Rostock by the the local go newspaper  "Go-Mitteilungen der DDR" or short GoM. Next is a row of archievements of different local go players at tournaments. Important notice should be that around that time the strength  were from 1k-27k. After a bit of personal history of  Uwe Richter and his go life until he met the go-group in Rostock in 1988. In the newspapers "Ostsee-Zeitung" on the 30./31.05 was the notice for a go tournament for beginners and more advanced ones in the area of go. At that time  a 5dan Malte Schuster was coming to that tournament as well. The tournament was a great success. Uwer himself didnt play in the tournament but he played many simultan games with other players and learned the fun of go and its endless deepth and its elegance. His most vivid memory about go was in Hamburg. There was a trunk man in the room was asking a funny question and then started a game with Uwe. Uwe wanted to give him a handy cap of 9 stones. But the  trunk man was a bit faster than him and grabbed the white stones and said its fine like this. As the game went on, Uwe was crushed by the trunk man who finally showed his true colours as a go player from Hamburg called Michael Katscher 5dan. Michael and a friend of him visited  around that time often the Baduk evenings in Rostock. After the home of this go group at the"BSG Agrochemie" was dismissed, the go-group had to move many times until it was not longer seen for a long time. Around the 90´s was a second wave of go players lead by Heinz Postulka in the town "Schwerin", where the second go group in Mecklenburg Vorpommern was founded to the knowledge of the writter Uwe Richter.

Music list

Music for playing go (my own favourits)

a suitable picture for a topic I like Which music do you all hear, while playing go ? For me it´s a more or less a routine of everything I like, but I do hear certain music before any important matches again and again. Of course I do hear a certain pattern of music while playing as well :-) and so I thought, that introducing my list of music as a trial example for others to use or to make use of the music list system I made up on my own. =) be survivor by the group zz - it´s the song I always hear before every game  for 2 years (I started checking ways on mental pressure for tournaments and how to deal with it after I played a really bad tournament at that time; 0-5) After i get into battle mode, I will greet my opponent, say "Let´s have a nice game" and then place my first stone (if I am black) or start listening to music while taking a deep breath. The next music will be a rather calm piece (a hot heart and a cool head), because i get excited easily and then I start using my head less and rely on my emotions to much. it´s mae o muite -  from Hikaru no Go. After that i will repeatedly listen to this one until my mood swings. If that happens i will change the music  to get myself back into shape. the list of music i usually choose - Mikansei stride Hyouka op. 2 - kokoro no Senritsu from tari tari - Eyeshild 21 ost - code name Eyeshild 21 - Hikaru no Go Ost- BGM - Fairy Tail Ost- Past story -Ano hana Ost- Secret Base piano version - Tengen toppa Gurren Lagann Ost- Thrust Through the Heavens with Your Spirit! - Sword Art online  Ost- main theme

Manga/Anime

Hikaru no go

Hey ho, I thought a random article might be nice, so I thought would write something the most go players would have somehow seen during their go life. It´s Hikaru no go. A manga/anime which the most go players watched and learned about this really great game called go. Well and here came my thought to introduce this story to go players which haver never heard of this story. Plot:  While exploring his grandfather's shed, Hikaru stumbles across a Go board haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a fictional Go player  from the Heian era. Sai wishes to play Go again, having not been able to since  the lateEdo period, when his ghost appeared to Honinbō Shūsaku, an actual  top Go player of that period.  Sai's greatest desire is to attain theKami-no-Itte (神の一手)  – "Divine Move" – a perfect game.  Because Hikaru is apparently the only person who can perceive him, Sai inhabits a part of Hikaru's mind as a separate personality, coexisting,  although not always comfortably, with the child. Urged by Sai, Hikaru begins playing Go despite an initial lack of interest in the game. He begins by simply executing the moves Sai dictates to him, but Sai tells him to try to understand each move. In a Go salon, Hikaru defeats Akira Toya twice, a boy his age who plays Go at professional level, by following Sai's instruction. Akira subsequently begins a quest to discover the source of Hikaru's strength, an obsession which will come to dominate his life. Hikaru becomes intrigued by the great dedication of Akira  and Sai to the game and decides to start playing solely on his own. He is a complete novice at first, but has some unique abilities to his advantage; for instance, once he has a basic understanding of Go,  he can reconstruct a game play by play from memory.  Through training at Go clubs, study groups, and practice games with Sai, he manages to become an insei and later a pro, meeting various dedicated Go players of different ages and styles along the way. While Hikaru is at this point not yet up to the level of Akira,  he demonstrates a natural talent for the game and  remains determined to prove his own abilities to Akira, Sai, and himself.

randomness of pictures

Comic lover

Hi everyone :-) today as i was writing the article about music, a friend of mine made a picture which will be shown at the article. As I saw the picture I was remembered that there exits a fantastic site from the empty triangle lover. The pics on that site are quite famous and where the hot topic the Kranich tournament in Berlin as well an example of awesomeness http://www.emptytriangle.com/ The pictures have a story as well (which might be interesting for one or another go player to read) I think you all will have fun with that site and now for the end the picture which i think is quite nice (cause he somehow made a comic version of me:-) )

Rikugo-A path, where the six sides come together from Moin9

This article has the purpose to encounter the reader with a topic, which could create a deeper view towards the game. But before i will start to explain this topic, we have to take a step back to one aspect of the game, which is an essential part for this topic. The Fun of GO! Go is a beautiful game and one fact makes it so special. The fact that each person,despite age and gender, can take the stones into their hands and then are able to play a game. This fact can not often been seen by other games. For example in Table Tennis/ Tennis, the majority of the fans can't play like a professional immediately or they can't even start the action on the court, while on a Go board you can start playing with something like Atari-Go. Go Beginners can place a stone on the board, just like a professional and even a relative beginner can place nine stones on the board to make a game out of it. We have to look with more freedom towards the game, so that we can have more fun and open our mind for the following concept: Rikugo-The six sides combined! Rikugo is a word from ancient China and has more than one meaning. On the one hand it is meaning “six” and on the other hand it is meaning “meet/join”, literally it can be seen as “ six sides joined together”.(1) But wait a minute? Six sides? Maybe the majority of the readers will now think:” the Go Board has only four sides. What does he mean with six sides?”. Well, it is true, that the Go board has only four sides,but that is also a narrow point of view, which looks only on the surface of the GO board. The four sides of the board are the first sides of this concept, because they include the territory aspect of the game. After all, the player with the most territory will win at the end of the game. The last two sides include the Thickness and the weight of stones. The stronger part of the readers will start to understand here. For those of you, who want to get stronger, please be aware of the last two sides. These two sides bring a deep dimension towards the game. Thickness brings Power and how the Power is used depends on the individuality of each person(Invasions,safety extensions and so on)! Weight can bring advantages (if you manage to give your opponent a heavy group) or disadvantages (if you struggle yourself with a heavy group). So take into account both ways. Look what is readily apparent on the surface (such as territory), but do not forget what is in another dimensional aspect (such as Thickness or potential). Every stone should harmonize all six sides and be exactly suited for the requirements/needs of the board situation. So the move, which we want to play has to achieve certain conditions. For example, we can ask ourselves how our move: makes our group stabil makes a certain amount of territory gives influence instead of territory put pressure on the opponent makes good Balance with the whole board Rikugo wants to bring Harmony between such conditions, therefore a player tries to achieve with one move as much conditions as possible. So Rikugo can be found in a lot of other (mental) advices,too.(2) That is Rikugo - The path where the six sides come together! (1)(Vgl. Go Seigen; A way of play for the 21st century;S.9) (2) vg.l. The proverb: „killing two/three birds with one stone“

A funny random story

Sleeping is more important than you might think =)

Well the story shows how important sleep or beiing awake is (if you want to  see an example at animes Sket Dance episode 2 arc with the Kendo match) Hi everyone, I am back from the tournament (without pictures I am sorry, still don´t have a camera) and I somehow managed a 2-3 result. The tournament itself the *Berliner Kranich* was really fun and i had the time of my life yet again thanks to many friends I know from tournaments. Well, I am sure you all are already wondering what  the tournament was like :-) I had to get up 5.00 am. in the morning  ate and, travelled around 5 hours to Berlin. I was already dead tired as i arrived in Berlin (i got next to no sleep before and i don´t know why). The first round came early and as i played and played, around 20 minutes into the game i fell asleep. Yes, I was so tired that I fell asleep while playing :D . Of course i somehow woke up after 10 minutes or so, but it seems that I played some moves while trying to get up and well I was killed overall on the board OO Ah well the next game i was when  half asleep and noticed the game was over when my mind came back more or less. Well, after that i somehow pulled  2 wins and lost the last round against possibly germanys strongest 1k. But it is interesting to see that when you are tired or sleepy, you can play without restriction, but well you play without logic or reason as well (it might be interesting to research about this kind of state of mind) That´s my report over the tournament, which have been fun and interesting as I got to see my teacher (In-seong Hwang sungsengnim of the yunguseng dojang) again. with regards Yunyuki Kirigaya