Go is one of the most difficult board games to master, especially without proper teaching. Yet I taught myself to play it as research for my thriller Do Not Keep Silent. Here’s why.
A Hong Kong Protest Leader
Do Not Keep Silent is about a young protest leader who is prepared to sacrifice everything for her cause. She plays Go, and as she says, is the best in her family. Shortly before the protest she has been planning for years is due to begin, she meets an English tourist.
Unwillingly, they fall for each other. Pete, the Englishman, is a computer games designer. He went through a dissolute phase, but as a child was an excellent chess player.
Identity Clash in Games and Real Life
During their first meeting, Mae identifies a core difference between herself and Pete. She is very secure in her own identity while Pete is still struggling to find his. This is because Pete is essentially frozen in time. His identity is based on the past: who he used to be, what he used to be good at. Mae looks forward, Pete is stuck.
This class of identities is further shown by the fact that Mae is the best in her family at Go. When Pete tells her he used to play chess, she is unimpressed:
“You should learn Go. Chess is a battle, Go is war.”
REVOLUTION DEMANDS SACRIFICE
In Go, there are many new concepts to learn, among them liberties and eyes, ko and atari. Liberties fit into the whole theme of Do Not Keep Silent, and so did one other concept.
At one point, Pete compares Mae to a queen sacrifice, because of the way she is willing to accept imprisonment or an early grave for her cause. But Mae corrects him, comparing herself to any other relatively unimprtant piece rather than the all-important queen in chess:
“More like a sacrifice stone. Learn Go and you’ll understand.”
HOW I LEARNT TO PLAY GO
As Mae’s character developed, it became clear that the rudimentary understanding I had of Go wasn’t going to be enough. If I was to fully get inside her head, I needed to be able to think like she did. I needed to learn how to play the game.
At first, it seems very easy. Players take turns to place white or black stones on the intersections of a 19 x 19 board, attempting to secure territory rather than take pieces (although that can happen).
That first impression of Go is wrong. Go is difficult. Here’s how I learnt:
- Watched a film called AlphaGo, about the Google DeepMind team as they tried to do for Go what Deep Blue did for chess, by defeating world champion Lee Sedol.
- Bought a Go board and played out positions from YouTube videos and an instruction book.
- Downloaded the BadukPop app on my phone and iPad and played obsessively for months.
Frustratingly, I reached a certain level and flatlined, I think because there are no Go clubs anywhere near where I live so I can’t play human opponents and learn from them. If you have any useful tips about them, I’d love to hear them.
Quick Go Facts
LINKS
Leave a Reply