Kriti Patel is one of the most upcoming players of Indian chess. Hailing
from Mumbai she has gained 300 Elo points in last 30 days. She also
finished 2nd in the under-13 nationals where she started as the 44th
seed. What is the secret of her success, we find out. We also show you
her win from the 3rd round of the under-12 Commonwealth Championships
2018.
venerdì 29 giugno 2018
The Way of Go by Desmond Meraz
Over the board is the bamboo's lucent shade
No one sees them through the glittering leaves
But now and then is heard the click of a stone.
- Po Chi (772-846)
INTRODUCTION AND ORIGINS
Go (also known as weiqi in China, baduk in Korea, and igo in Japan) is an abstract strategy board game traditionally played on a wooden board inscribed with a nineteen by nineteen matrix. Game play begins with an empty board and players alternate turns placing black slate and white clamshell stones on the intersections of the squares where they remain stationary for the duration of the game unless captured and removed by the opponent. Although very sophisticated guiding principles of strategy have developed over time, there is no predetermined method of placement, leaving players to contribute stones to any area of the board, oftentimes choosing between many positions of equal value and strategic possibility. This is particularly evident at the beginning of the game, where all possibilities exist in a state of equilibrium. As the game progresses, the choice of moves becomes increasingly limited based upon the relative positions of existing stones as they gradually fill the board.
The object of the game is to secure territory by surrounding empty points. To accomplish this, two fundamental strategies are employed which include connecting one's own stones by placing them side by side after which they form a single unit, a technique that gives rise to the illusion of movement, and capturing the opponent's stones or groups of stones by surrounding them and occupying all of the points adjacent to the targeted group. Captured stones count negatively toward the opponent's score which is determined by the number of empty points that have been surrounded after all of the territory has been secured and the game has concluded by mutual agreement.
The precise knowledge of the origins of Go is lost to antiquity. It is known to have originated in Taoist China up to 4,000 years ago, where it has traditionally been conceived as one of the four accomplishments of the cultured Chinese aristocracy, the others being painting, calligraphy, and music. Its valued intellectual and aesthetic qualities have aptly been described by a contemporary player who stated that "The unfolding of geometrical patterns, the interaction of the basic elements of line and circle, stone and wood, and the meshing of grand-scale opposing strategies make go an artful game." Additionally, it was adopted as a salutary practice within Cha'an Buddhist monasteries and underwent further refinement and ceremonial perfection within the Zen culture of Japan where it was sometimes referred to as Kido or "The Way of Go." Along with such practices as archery, gardening, and tea, the game of go was used by Buddhist monks as a direct and valuable support of the spiritual life.
Rene Guenon has suggested that "games were originally something quite different from the mere profane amusements that they have become today." Like chess, Go "is certainly one of those games in which traces of the original sacredness have remained most apparent in spite of this degradation." This thesis has been developed very fully in Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad's admirable treatise on The Sacred Origin of Sports and Culture. Prince Ghazi writes concerning sports, a term which he uses in its broadest possible sense to include competitive physical recreation, physical culture, martial arts, and even mental sports such as traditional boardgames, that "in general the disciplines of history, archaeology, anthropology, and literature concur that organized sports had religious origins wherever they are found in the ancient world."
Although, the precise origins of Go are unknown, evidence suggests that it evolved out of a method of divination practiced among the ancient shamanistic Shang culture which involved the casting of 'chi pieces' or go stones, upon a plate or board inscribed with astrological and geomantic symbols. Divination as traditionally conceived and practiced is not the profane amusement of fortune-telling that we associate with it today. Rather, it was a sacred art and revealed method of communicating with the Divinity or lesser spiritual intelligences such as gods, beneficent spirits, or the spirits of the ancestors. In a fragment of an ancient text containing what is probably the oldest mythic reference to Go situated during the reign of the first of the golden-age kings, it speaks of a companion of the Yellow Emperor traveling within a mystic vision to the summit of a holy mountain to perform the sacred divinatory rite of Go.
"Mr. Chang, musician-companion of the Yellow Emperor, assumed wings and was given the name of Teacher Hun Yai. At the summit of Chuan-nan Mountain, he played go."
DIMENSIONS OF SYMBOLISM
The original divinatory practice of "casting the chi pieces" probably made its initial transition into a game in the period between 1300 and 900 BC when the shamanistic Shan culture became dominated and influenced by the rationalizing tendencies and anthropocentrism of the conquering Chou. Even after the transition into a game, however, many of the basic astrological and cosmological associations were retained and such concepts remained deeply embedded in the terminology and philosophy of the game until the twentieth century. The earliest surviving statement of the philosophy of Go was written in the first century AD by the historian Pan Ku long after the initial transition had already taken place. In his essay "The Quality of Go", he wrote
"It has deep significance. The board has to be square, for it signifies the earth, and its right angles signify uprightness. The pieces are yellow and black: this distinction signifies the Yin and Yang - scattered in groups all over the board, they represent the heavenly bodies. These significances being manifest, it is up to the players themselves to make the moves, and this is connected with kingship. Following what the rules permit, both opponents are subject to them - this is the rigor of the Tao."
This early description is important because it both legitimizes the effort toward a symbolic interpretation of the game based upon an established tradition and also because it lays the foundation for such an interpretation. Within Go, we find many of the same dimensions of symbolism that are present in Chess including a macrocosmic-terrestrial symbolism reflected in the nature of the game, a macrocosmic-celestial symbolism reflected in the geometric properties of the board, and a metacosmic or metaphysical symbolism reflected within the colors of the stones. Unlike chess, go does not possess a dimension of microcosmic symbolism, a fact of great significance with regard to its use as an operative support of the spiritual life.
The first dimension in which the symbolism of Go naturally unfolds concerns its explicit association with warfare. The game presents itself as the battle between two opposing armies who are struggling to gain control of an area by surrounding and securing its territory. Go strategy bears a direct correlation to traditional Chinese military strategy and many books have been written about this subject. Exemplary in this regard is Ma Xiaochun's 36 Strategems Applied to Go. In addition to its adoption as a cultured pastime among the aristocracy and its refinement as a spiritual art by Buddhist monks, go also enjoyed a significant degree of popularity among the warrior classes. A go set was commonly included among the equipment of the samurai, for instance, who would play between battles. This motif figures prominently within traditional Japanese paintings that include a depiction of the game.
The original divinatory practice of "casting the chi pieces" probably made its initial transition into a game in the period between 1300 and 900 BC when the shamanistic Shan culture became dominated and influenced by the rationalizing tendencies and anthropocentrism of the conquering Chou. Even after the transition into a game, however, many of the basic astrological and cosmological associations were retained and such concepts remained deeply embedded in the terminology and philosophy of the game until the twentieth century. The earliest surviving statement of the philosophy of Go was written in the first century AD by the historian Pan Ku long after the initial transition had already taken place. In his essay "The Quality of Go", he wrote
"It has deep significance. The board has to be square, for it signifies the earth, and its right angles signify uprightness. The pieces are yellow and black: this distinction signifies the Yin and Yang - scattered in groups all over the board, they represent the heavenly bodies. These significances being manifest, it is up to the players themselves to make the moves, and this is connected with kingship. Following what the rules permit, both opponents are subject to them - this is the rigor of the Tao."
This early description is important because it both legitimizes the effort toward a symbolic interpretation of the game based upon an established tradition and also because it lays the foundation for such an interpretation. Within Go, we find many of the same dimensions of symbolism that are present in Chess including a macrocosmic-terrestrial symbolism reflected in the nature of the game, a macrocosmic-celestial symbolism reflected in the geometric properties of the board, and a metacosmic or metaphysical symbolism reflected within the colors of the stones. Unlike chess, go does not possess a dimension of microcosmic symbolism, a fact of great significance with regard to its use as an operative support of the spiritual life.
The first dimension in which the symbolism of Go naturally unfolds concerns its explicit association with warfare. The game presents itself as the battle between two opposing armies who are struggling to gain control of an area by surrounding and securing its territory. Go strategy bears a direct correlation to traditional Chinese military strategy and many books have been written about this subject. Exemplary in this regard is Ma Xiaochun's 36 Strategems Applied to Go. In addition to its adoption as a cultured pastime among the aristocracy and its refinement as a spiritual art by Buddhist monks, go also enjoyed a significant degree of popularity among the warrior classes. A go set was commonly included among the equipment of the samurai, for instance, who would play between battles. This motif figures prominently within traditional Japanese paintings that include a depiction of the game.
As
early as the second world war and continuing to the present day, the
study of Go is even encouraged by millitary officials as a means of
gaining insight into the nature of military strategy within the far
eastern nations. A cursory glance through Sun Tzu's Art of War can yeild
many explicit parallels, including the following simple example.
"The Highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemies' plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and lowest is to attack their fortified cities."
Concerning the symbolism of warfare, this is identical to that of chess in that it reflects the fundamental opposition between the contending forces of good and evil wherein the angels and demons dispute the go board of the world. As Titus Burckhardt has written,
"It is here that the symbolism of black and white ... takes on its full value; the white army is that of light, the black army that of darkness. In a relative domain, the battle which takes place on the [board] represents, either that of two armies each of which is fighting in the name of a particular principle, or that of the spirit and of darkness in man; these are the two forms of the 'holy war'; the 'lesser holy war' and the 'greater holy war', according to the saying of the Prophet Muhammad. One will see the relationship of the symbolism implied in the game ... with the theme of the Bhagavad-Gita."
The second dimension of the symbolism of Go to be considered is that pertaining to the board itself. As Stuart Colin stated in Games of the Orient, "the board has the same cosmical significance discovered to underlie all other boards upon which games are played." Although they possess a fundamental consonance in their connotations, the particular manner in which this symbolism is expressed differs among the various games. That of Go is to be sought in its proposed origins in the practice of divination. As previously stated, many of its original associations have been preserved even in the modern game, a situation which lends it a greater dignity and contemplative quality than might otherwise have been the case if these elements had not been retained. According to William Picknard,
"Some fundamental go terms still in common use today have an astrological meaning. In Japan, for example, the center of the board is still called tengen, 'axis of heaven', the eight specially marked key points near the perimeter are called hoshi, 'stars', the nine together making up the traditional 'Nine Lights of Heaven', that is, the seven stars of Ursa Major, the center of the Chinese astronomical system, and the sun and moon. In both China and Japan the four quarters of the board are named after the four directions, each correlated to one of the basic trigrams of the I Ching system. Beginning in the upper right and going clockwise, they are: Southwest (female, earth), Northwest (male. heaven), Northeast (hard, limit), and Southeast (gentle, yeilding)."
Combined with Pan Ku's indication that the square form of the board signifies earth, all of these elements together reveal the go board to possess the characteristics of a cosmological mandala. Through the progression of gameplay on the board we may bear witness to the reflection of the cosmic drama unfolding within the intermediate realm conditioned by the polarity of Heaven and Earth.
This fundamental polarity is reiterated and exemplified by the black and white colors of the stones which lead from cosmological associations to the consideration of a metacosmic symbolism. According to Guenon,
"In the most immediate sense, the juxtaposition of white and black naturally represents light and darkness, day and night, and consequently all the pairs of opposites or of complementaries ... in this respect then, we have here the exact equivalent of the Far Eastern symbol of the yin-yang."
Yang and Yin are essentially the primordial qualities of light and darkness that pervade all aspects of cosmic manifestation, yang corresponding to the spiritual or essential nature, and yin referring to that which causes attachment to substance. With regard to their cosmological associations, Guenon writes also that
"yang is whatever proceeds from the nature of Heaven and yin whatever proceeds from the nature of Earth ... Heaven is entirely yang and Earth entirely yin, which is tantamount to saying that Essence is pure act and Substance is pure potency. However, this applies to Heaven and Earth alone, as the two poles of universal manifestation; in all manifested things there is no yang without yin and no yin without yang, for everything by nature partakes simultaneously of both Heaven and Earth."
Inasmuch as these two primary qualities have issued from the equilibrium of the primordial Unity, contemplation of this symbolism leads beyond the cosmos to the metacosmic reality of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is the symbol of primordial equilibrium and perfection or wholeness as the first determination of the Absolute, just as Beyond-Being gives rise to Being. The 'ten thousand things' are brought into being by Tai Chi and conditioned by yin and yang by virtue of their entrance into manifestation within the realm of Heaven and Earth. Like the permutations of the two determinations from which the various trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching are derived, the infinitely variable patterns of alternating black and white stones on the Go board symbolize the unfoldment of the ten thousand things from the principial unity of the Divine All-Possibility.
It is perhaps possible to consider an additional dimension of symbolism of a more speculative nature. Through the symbolic properties of the traditional physical substances of the game and their arrangement, stone or earth over wood, Go constitutes a material representation of the I Ching hexagram Sheng which is composed of the trigrams Kun, the Receptive (earth) and Sun, the Gentle (wood). It literally means Pushing Upward and pertains to the image of wood growing upward out of the earth. The I Ching states concerning this image, "Within the earth, wood grows: The image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior man of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great." This hexagram is associated with the effort of the will and bears the denotation of vertical ascent or transcendence. The game of Go appears to be in full accordance with this message, especially in the context of its use as a support for the spiritual life. Perhaps no one has explained the content of this message better than Frithjof Schuon, whose sagacious words might very well serve as a commentary upon the text itself. He wrote,
"The noble man is one who masters himself and loves to master himself; the base man is one who does not master himself and shrinks in horror from mastering himself. The spiritual man is one who transcends himself and loves to transcent himself; the worldly man remains horizontal and hates the vertical dimension."
LUDIC SUPPORT FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
As previously mentioned, Go does not possess a microcosmic symbolism reflected in the distinctive identity, initial position, and determined movement of the playing pieces as does the game of chess. In the latter game, according to Titus Burckhardt
"If the significance of the different chessmen is transposed into the spiritual domain, the king becomes the heart, or spirit, and the other pieces the various faculties of the soul. Their movements, moreover, correspond to different ways of realizing the cosmic possibilities represented by the chessboard: there is axial movement of the 'castles' or war chariots, the diagonal movement of the 'bishops' or elephants, which follow a signle colour, and the complex movement of the knights. The axial movement, which 'cuts' through different 'colours', is logical and virile, while the diagonal movement corresponds to an "existential" - and therefore feminine - continuity. The jump of the knights corresponds to intuition."
Unlike chess, the game of Go begins with an empty board and the stones are entirely homogeneous, possessing no distinctive qualities of their own. In principle, a stone may be played anywhere on the board and its quality is determined entirely by the judgment of the player in consideration of the relative positions of existing stones and the concomitant framework of implied threats and possibilities. As such, rather than serving as a symbol for the various faculties of the soul, it instead manifests its content in a direct and operative manner, thereby serving as an expression of the present subjective state of the player.
This idea is represented in the idiosyncratic philosophy of Takeo Kajiwara, a contemporary professional player of the highest rank. In his manual The Direction of Play he teaches that stones are instruments of power.
"Every time you place a stone on the board," he writes, "you are exposing something of yourself. It is not just a piece of slate, shell, or plastic. You have entrusted to that stone your feelings, your individuality, your will-power, and once it is played there is no going back. Each stone carries a great responsibility on your behalf."
Taking into consideration the fact that no game, however noble, can equal the reality of life experience, these unique properties of the game of Go allow it to provide a virtual field of operation for the cultivation of the virtues, insofar as it is possible for a game to do so. The completed game serves thereby as a testimony to the expression or absence of virtue during the moment of and in the context of gameplay. It is undoubtedly this characteristic that brought about its cultivation within Buddhist culture as a ludic support of the spiritual life.
Mastery of Go is not limited to the acquisition of technical skill and strategic prowess predicated upon the memorization of common patterns. It also depends upon the ability to overcome deficiencies and weaknesses in the soul that affect one's ability to make proper judgments and effective use of the stones. The nature of these weaknesses can literally be ascertained by reading the record of the game as is evidenced by many professional commentaries. As one contemporary player has observed,
"The board is a mirror of the mind of the player as moments pass. When a master studies the record of a game, he can tell at what point greed overtook the pupil, when he became tired, when he fell into stupidity, and when the maid came by with the tea."
The primary vices of the Go player that must be overcome on the journey toward mastery of the game and of himself may be synthesized into a few distinct but interrelated categories including attachment, fear, impetuosity, and greed.
Within the context of the game, attachment is expressed by becoming emotionally invested in a particular stone or group of stones to the detriment of the potential advancement of other positions on the board. It may be that one wishes to futilely attempt to preserve a group that cannot be made to live or simply that one is too narrowly focused on a single area of the board thereby losing sight of the development of the game as a whole.
The expression of fear is particularly notable within the presence of a stronger player whose superior skill may cause one to become nervous, underestimate one's own abilities, and to develop a passive and defensive posture, even when one has the advantage. This may lead to the unnecessary fortification of groups, over concentration of stones, and a slow development of positions.
Impetuosity represents in some ways the opposite extreme to that of fear. It generally manifests in the presence of a weaker player and involves the expression of undue aggressiveness. It may cause one to exploit the inferior skill and ignorance of the weaker player, attacking his stones excessively and unnecessarily, while making moves that are in themselves poor, but which a weaker player may not be able to exploit. Impetuosity destroys the dignity of the player, the morale of the opponent, and the beauty and harmony of the game.
Finally, greed is perhaps the most common vice of go players. It is rooted in acquisitiveness, the continual desire to capture more stones and accumulate more territory. It arises out of a lack of consideration for the existence and right of the other player and a false sense of needing to dominate the entire board. There is a sense in which greed derives from and contributes to all of the other vices inasmuch as one may lust after that which one cannot possess (attachment), cling tenaciously onto what one already has (fear), and unduly attempt to take what is rightfully in the possession of the opponent (impetuosity).
With keen insight and wisdom, the Buddhist communities of China and Japan would certainly have recognized within this internal struggle played out upon the board, an opportunity to support the development of the paramitas or 'perfections' of Mahayana Buddhism. According to a prevalent six-fold division, Schuon describes the paramitas as follows:
"'Charity' (dāna), which in a way constitutes the framework or the periphery of the Mahayana, is the first of the six pāramitās or virtues of the Bodhisattva; 'Wisdom' (prajnā) is the sixth and the culmination of all the pāramitās. The four other virtues are as it were intermediary: these are 'abstention' (shīla) 'virility' (vīrya), 'patience' (kshānti) and 'contemplation' (dhyāna); these spiritual modes amount to so many paths, at once simultaneous and successive, and any single one of them can determine a whole life without needing, or being able to exclude the daily practice of, the others. The first five pāramitās moreover are not really separated from the virtue of prajnā, whereof they are secondary aspects destined to con tribute in their own way to the awakening of liberating Knowledge."
Instead of expressing attachment, one may posit detachment (shila) by treating the stones lightly, as possibilities rather than absolutes. It frequently happens during a game that a group of stones which is incapable of surviving may later be rescued and turned toward one's advantage. Instead of expressing fear, one may posit courage (virya), and with an attitude of respectful consideration, view the presence of a formidable opponent as an opportunity to correct mistakes and learn from the demonstration of superior skill. In the opposite situation instead of expressing impetuosity and exploiting a weaker player one may practice restraint and recollectedness, positing the virtue of patience (kshanti) and thereby serving as an exemplar of dignified and beautiful play.
As with its counterpart, greed, charity (dana) possesses a special significance within the game of Go. As in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of charity or generosity in a way constitutes the ideal framework of the game for it manifests the correct attitude toward the significance of the opponent. Recognizing the necessity for the other, both may join together in the spirit of cooperative competition reflecting the dignity of kingship expressed in accordance with the rigour of the Tao as related by Pan Ku in his description of the philosophy of the game. This is a reflection of the same type of cooperative struggle described by the Quran in the verses which admonish us to "as brothers fight ye" and "vie with one another in good works," both opponents having joined forces against a common enemy, the weaknesses of the human soul.
The experiences of gameplay do not necessarily lend themselves directly to the cultivation and expression of the fifth and sixth paramitas for these pertain to the highest degrees of realization upon the spiritual path. Nevertheless, they are represented in the symbolism and essential message that the procedure of gameplay presents to those who reflect upon it. The go game commences with an empty board signifying the transcendent void or sunyata and the transitory and illusory nature of the cosmic drama unfolding thereon is revealed when at last the stones are cleared away and only the empty board remains.
In conclusion, we may state that for those who seek an enjoyable pastime to contribute an element of leisure to the daily rhythm of work, study, and prayer, the game of Go offers a viable alternative to indulgence in the profane distractions and amusements of the modern world.
Fonte: https://sites.google.com/site/shusakugoclub/go-books/the-way-of-go
"The Highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemies' plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and lowest is to attack their fortified cities."
Concerning the symbolism of warfare, this is identical to that of chess in that it reflects the fundamental opposition between the contending forces of good and evil wherein the angels and demons dispute the go board of the world. As Titus Burckhardt has written,
"It is here that the symbolism of black and white ... takes on its full value; the white army is that of light, the black army that of darkness. In a relative domain, the battle which takes place on the [board] represents, either that of two armies each of which is fighting in the name of a particular principle, or that of the spirit and of darkness in man; these are the two forms of the 'holy war'; the 'lesser holy war' and the 'greater holy war', according to the saying of the Prophet Muhammad. One will see the relationship of the symbolism implied in the game ... with the theme of the Bhagavad-Gita."
The second dimension of the symbolism of Go to be considered is that pertaining to the board itself. As Stuart Colin stated in Games of the Orient, "the board has the same cosmical significance discovered to underlie all other boards upon which games are played." Although they possess a fundamental consonance in their connotations, the particular manner in which this symbolism is expressed differs among the various games. That of Go is to be sought in its proposed origins in the practice of divination. As previously stated, many of its original associations have been preserved even in the modern game, a situation which lends it a greater dignity and contemplative quality than might otherwise have been the case if these elements had not been retained. According to William Picknard,
"Some fundamental go terms still in common use today have an astrological meaning. In Japan, for example, the center of the board is still called tengen, 'axis of heaven', the eight specially marked key points near the perimeter are called hoshi, 'stars', the nine together making up the traditional 'Nine Lights of Heaven', that is, the seven stars of Ursa Major, the center of the Chinese astronomical system, and the sun and moon. In both China and Japan the four quarters of the board are named after the four directions, each correlated to one of the basic trigrams of the I Ching system. Beginning in the upper right and going clockwise, they are: Southwest (female, earth), Northwest (male. heaven), Northeast (hard, limit), and Southeast (gentle, yeilding)."
Combined with Pan Ku's indication that the square form of the board signifies earth, all of these elements together reveal the go board to possess the characteristics of a cosmological mandala. Through the progression of gameplay on the board we may bear witness to the reflection of the cosmic drama unfolding within the intermediate realm conditioned by the polarity of Heaven and Earth.
This fundamental polarity is reiterated and exemplified by the black and white colors of the stones which lead from cosmological associations to the consideration of a metacosmic symbolism. According to Guenon,
"In the most immediate sense, the juxtaposition of white and black naturally represents light and darkness, day and night, and consequently all the pairs of opposites or of complementaries ... in this respect then, we have here the exact equivalent of the Far Eastern symbol of the yin-yang."
Yang and Yin are essentially the primordial qualities of light and darkness that pervade all aspects of cosmic manifestation, yang corresponding to the spiritual or essential nature, and yin referring to that which causes attachment to substance. With regard to their cosmological associations, Guenon writes also that
"yang is whatever proceeds from the nature of Heaven and yin whatever proceeds from the nature of Earth ... Heaven is entirely yang and Earth entirely yin, which is tantamount to saying that Essence is pure act and Substance is pure potency. However, this applies to Heaven and Earth alone, as the two poles of universal manifestation; in all manifested things there is no yang without yin and no yin without yang, for everything by nature partakes simultaneously of both Heaven and Earth."
Inasmuch as these two primary qualities have issued from the equilibrium of the primordial Unity, contemplation of this symbolism leads beyond the cosmos to the metacosmic reality of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is the symbol of primordial equilibrium and perfection or wholeness as the first determination of the Absolute, just as Beyond-Being gives rise to Being. The 'ten thousand things' are brought into being by Tai Chi and conditioned by yin and yang by virtue of their entrance into manifestation within the realm of Heaven and Earth. Like the permutations of the two determinations from which the various trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching are derived, the infinitely variable patterns of alternating black and white stones on the Go board symbolize the unfoldment of the ten thousand things from the principial unity of the Divine All-Possibility.
It is perhaps possible to consider an additional dimension of symbolism of a more speculative nature. Through the symbolic properties of the traditional physical substances of the game and their arrangement, stone or earth over wood, Go constitutes a material representation of the I Ching hexagram Sheng which is composed of the trigrams Kun, the Receptive (earth) and Sun, the Gentle (wood). It literally means Pushing Upward and pertains to the image of wood growing upward out of the earth. The I Ching states concerning this image, "Within the earth, wood grows: The image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior man of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great." This hexagram is associated with the effort of the will and bears the denotation of vertical ascent or transcendence. The game of Go appears to be in full accordance with this message, especially in the context of its use as a support for the spiritual life. Perhaps no one has explained the content of this message better than Frithjof Schuon, whose sagacious words might very well serve as a commentary upon the text itself. He wrote,
"The noble man is one who masters himself and loves to master himself; the base man is one who does not master himself and shrinks in horror from mastering himself. The spiritual man is one who transcends himself and loves to transcent himself; the worldly man remains horizontal and hates the vertical dimension."
LUDIC SUPPORT FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
As previously mentioned, Go does not possess a microcosmic symbolism reflected in the distinctive identity, initial position, and determined movement of the playing pieces as does the game of chess. In the latter game, according to Titus Burckhardt
"If the significance of the different chessmen is transposed into the spiritual domain, the king becomes the heart, or spirit, and the other pieces the various faculties of the soul. Their movements, moreover, correspond to different ways of realizing the cosmic possibilities represented by the chessboard: there is axial movement of the 'castles' or war chariots, the diagonal movement of the 'bishops' or elephants, which follow a signle colour, and the complex movement of the knights. The axial movement, which 'cuts' through different 'colours', is logical and virile, while the diagonal movement corresponds to an "existential" - and therefore feminine - continuity. The jump of the knights corresponds to intuition."
Unlike chess, the game of Go begins with an empty board and the stones are entirely homogeneous, possessing no distinctive qualities of their own. In principle, a stone may be played anywhere on the board and its quality is determined entirely by the judgment of the player in consideration of the relative positions of existing stones and the concomitant framework of implied threats and possibilities. As such, rather than serving as a symbol for the various faculties of the soul, it instead manifests its content in a direct and operative manner, thereby serving as an expression of the present subjective state of the player.
This idea is represented in the idiosyncratic philosophy of Takeo Kajiwara, a contemporary professional player of the highest rank. In his manual The Direction of Play he teaches that stones are instruments of power.
"Every time you place a stone on the board," he writes, "you are exposing something of yourself. It is not just a piece of slate, shell, or plastic. You have entrusted to that stone your feelings, your individuality, your will-power, and once it is played there is no going back. Each stone carries a great responsibility on your behalf."
Taking into consideration the fact that no game, however noble, can equal the reality of life experience, these unique properties of the game of Go allow it to provide a virtual field of operation for the cultivation of the virtues, insofar as it is possible for a game to do so. The completed game serves thereby as a testimony to the expression or absence of virtue during the moment of and in the context of gameplay. It is undoubtedly this characteristic that brought about its cultivation within Buddhist culture as a ludic support of the spiritual life.
Mastery of Go is not limited to the acquisition of technical skill and strategic prowess predicated upon the memorization of common patterns. It also depends upon the ability to overcome deficiencies and weaknesses in the soul that affect one's ability to make proper judgments and effective use of the stones. The nature of these weaknesses can literally be ascertained by reading the record of the game as is evidenced by many professional commentaries. As one contemporary player has observed,
"The board is a mirror of the mind of the player as moments pass. When a master studies the record of a game, he can tell at what point greed overtook the pupil, when he became tired, when he fell into stupidity, and when the maid came by with the tea."
The primary vices of the Go player that must be overcome on the journey toward mastery of the game and of himself may be synthesized into a few distinct but interrelated categories including attachment, fear, impetuosity, and greed.
Within the context of the game, attachment is expressed by becoming emotionally invested in a particular stone or group of stones to the detriment of the potential advancement of other positions on the board. It may be that one wishes to futilely attempt to preserve a group that cannot be made to live or simply that one is too narrowly focused on a single area of the board thereby losing sight of the development of the game as a whole.
The expression of fear is particularly notable within the presence of a stronger player whose superior skill may cause one to become nervous, underestimate one's own abilities, and to develop a passive and defensive posture, even when one has the advantage. This may lead to the unnecessary fortification of groups, over concentration of stones, and a slow development of positions.
Impetuosity represents in some ways the opposite extreme to that of fear. It generally manifests in the presence of a weaker player and involves the expression of undue aggressiveness. It may cause one to exploit the inferior skill and ignorance of the weaker player, attacking his stones excessively and unnecessarily, while making moves that are in themselves poor, but which a weaker player may not be able to exploit. Impetuosity destroys the dignity of the player, the morale of the opponent, and the beauty and harmony of the game.
Finally, greed is perhaps the most common vice of go players. It is rooted in acquisitiveness, the continual desire to capture more stones and accumulate more territory. It arises out of a lack of consideration for the existence and right of the other player and a false sense of needing to dominate the entire board. There is a sense in which greed derives from and contributes to all of the other vices inasmuch as one may lust after that which one cannot possess (attachment), cling tenaciously onto what one already has (fear), and unduly attempt to take what is rightfully in the possession of the opponent (impetuosity).
With keen insight and wisdom, the Buddhist communities of China and Japan would certainly have recognized within this internal struggle played out upon the board, an opportunity to support the development of the paramitas or 'perfections' of Mahayana Buddhism. According to a prevalent six-fold division, Schuon describes the paramitas as follows:
"'Charity' (dāna), which in a way constitutes the framework or the periphery of the Mahayana, is the first of the six pāramitās or virtues of the Bodhisattva; 'Wisdom' (prajnā) is the sixth and the culmination of all the pāramitās. The four other virtues are as it were intermediary: these are 'abstention' (shīla) 'virility' (vīrya), 'patience' (kshānti) and 'contemplation' (dhyāna); these spiritual modes amount to so many paths, at once simultaneous and successive, and any single one of them can determine a whole life without needing, or being able to exclude the daily practice of, the others. The first five pāramitās moreover are not really separated from the virtue of prajnā, whereof they are secondary aspects destined to con tribute in their own way to the awakening of liberating Knowledge."
Instead of expressing attachment, one may posit detachment (shila) by treating the stones lightly, as possibilities rather than absolutes. It frequently happens during a game that a group of stones which is incapable of surviving may later be rescued and turned toward one's advantage. Instead of expressing fear, one may posit courage (virya), and with an attitude of respectful consideration, view the presence of a formidable opponent as an opportunity to correct mistakes and learn from the demonstration of superior skill. In the opposite situation instead of expressing impetuosity and exploiting a weaker player one may practice restraint and recollectedness, positing the virtue of patience (kshanti) and thereby serving as an exemplar of dignified and beautiful play.
As with its counterpart, greed, charity (dana) possesses a special significance within the game of Go. As in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of charity or generosity in a way constitutes the ideal framework of the game for it manifests the correct attitude toward the significance of the opponent. Recognizing the necessity for the other, both may join together in the spirit of cooperative competition reflecting the dignity of kingship expressed in accordance with the rigour of the Tao as related by Pan Ku in his description of the philosophy of the game. This is a reflection of the same type of cooperative struggle described by the Quran in the verses which admonish us to "as brothers fight ye" and "vie with one another in good works," both opponents having joined forces against a common enemy, the weaknesses of the human soul.
The experiences of gameplay do not necessarily lend themselves directly to the cultivation and expression of the fifth and sixth paramitas for these pertain to the highest degrees of realization upon the spiritual path. Nevertheless, they are represented in the symbolism and essential message that the procedure of gameplay presents to those who reflect upon it. The go game commences with an empty board signifying the transcendent void or sunyata and the transitory and illusory nature of the cosmic drama unfolding thereon is revealed when at last the stones are cleared away and only the empty board remains.
In conclusion, we may state that for those who seek an enjoyable pastime to contribute an element of leisure to the daily rhythm of work, study, and prayer, the game of Go offers a viable alternative to indulgence in the profane distractions and amusements of the modern world.
Fonte: https://sites.google.com/site/shusakugoclub/go-books/the-way-of-go
giovedì 28 giugno 2018
The 64th NHK igo tournament quarter final (● Yuki Satoshi vs ○ Cho U) commentator Ishida Syuho
第64回nhk囲碁（結城聡vs張栩） 解説 石田秀芳
mercoledì 27 giugno 2018
The cosmos is a weiqi board....
Qualche passaggio tratto da: The cosmos is a weiqi board. A fair one, dammit.
... It wasn’t that games were bad. Mahjong and madiao had and have a foil, that being the ancient and eminently respectable game of weiqi. Weiqi is also quintessentially Chinese, although it’s known widely in the West by its Japanese name (go). Legitimately ancient where mahjong and its forerunners were not, weiqi
has an entire genre of poetry dedicated to it, and skill in playing was
something “real gentlemen” were expected to cultivate alongside ability
in painting, calligraphy, and playing the qin (a type of zither). Frankly, I’ve never been terribly interested in weiqi, important a game as it is. However, my interest was piqued as I picked up an article on weiqi poetry by Chen Zu-Yan. As Chen argues, weiqi
poetry relies on three major metaphors: “[it] approximates war, offers
paradigms for social order, and teaches lessons about humankind’s moral
stake in the cosmic game” (643).
A few samples. One by Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫, on watching a talented Buddhist monk play:
First, I perceived dotted stars in the dawn sky;
Then, I saw soldiers fighting in late autumn.
Your deployment was as wild geese in flight-nobody understood it,
Until the cub was caught in the tiger’s den, and all were shocked. (646)
Another by Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹:
One [weiqi] stone is precious as a thousand ounces of gold;and my personal favorite, a painting inscriptions by one Cha Shenxing 查慎行:
One line on the board as crucial as a thousand miles.
Deep thought infuses the spirit;
How can the vicissitudes of the scene ever be replicated?
Success and failure depend on character;
I should compose a [weiqi] history. （647）
The cosmos is a [weiqi] board,
The battlefield of Black and White —
Trivial as worms and ants,
Great as marquises and kings. (650)...
Fonte:http://www.mcgreene.org/archives/115
martedì 26 giugno 2018
MAGNUS CARLSEN Sidaya ROMA 3 years old
3 years old MAGNUS CARLSEN Sidaya ROMA was challenged by one of the veteran non-master chess players
lunedì 25 giugno 2018
baduk 바둑 - Chiedi la strada anche se la sai 아는 길도 물어 가라
한국으로 바둑 유학 온 위리쥔 초단은 “처음에는 최정 등 일류 여자 기사를 이기는 게 목표였지만 이제는 천천히 배운다는 생각으로 훈련하고 있다”고 말했다. [사진 우상조 기자]
[출처: 중앙일보] 위리쥔 “한국 바둑 두텁고 강해 … 정교한 수읽기 배울 것”
[출처: 중앙일보] 위리쥔 “한국 바둑 두텁고 강해 … 정교한 수읽기 배울 것”
아는 길도 물어 가라
Chiedi la strada anche se la sai
Proverbio molto usato per suggerire a un giovane di chiedere consiglio agli anziani più esperti per evitare errori.
Chiedi la strada anche se la sai
Proverbio molto usato per suggerire a un giovane di chiedere consiglio agli anziani più esperti per evitare errori.
mmagari (1878) / Trygve (1464) Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh)
mmagari / Trygve. Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh), 15 moves, 2018-06-24
domenica 24 giugno 2018
Praggnanandhaa becomes the 2nd youngest GM in the history of chess
It's official now! India's biggest chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa R.
becomes the second youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess at the
age 12 years 10 months and 13 days!
Praggnanandhaa achieved his third GM norm at the Gredine Open in Italy
with one round to spare! He beat GM Moroni Luca Jr (2549) in the eighth
round.
Sergey Karjakin achieved his GM title at the age of 12 years and 7
months. Praggnanandhaa is only the second person in chess to achieve the
GM title before the age of 13!
Please do share as much as you can and let the world know what a
brilliant feat this young boy has achieved!
Special thanks to Sushir Lohia for the videos that he has provided.
sabato 23 giugno 2018
mmagari (1877) / Steiger (1498) Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11
mmagari / Steiger. Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11, 41 moves, 2018-04-19
Il talento di Ueno Asami - NHK囲碁66- 1- 12 上野愛咲美 (Ueno Asami) vs 蘇耀国 (So Youkoku)
La sedicenne Ueno Asami mostra una qualità di gioco degna di nota...e un estro davvero fuori dal comune...
第66回NHK杯テレビ囲碁トーナメント 1回戦 第12局
上野愛咲美 女流棋聖 vs 蘇耀国 9段
The 66th NHK Cup TV Igo Tournament 1st round 12 game
Ueno Asami Female Kisei vs So Yokoku 9dan
解説：張栩 9段 聞き手：長島梢恵 2段
Commentator: Cho U 9dan, Assistant: Nagashima Kozue 2dan
207手 黒番 上野愛咲美 女流棋聖の中押し勝ち
Black Ueno Asami female Kisei won by resgin
17 Jun.,2018
上野愛咲美 女流棋聖 についつてはhttps://youtu.be/2_0Tb3tKFPs 参照下さい
Summary of comments by Cho U 9dan
Ueno Asami Female Kisei is only 16 years old, this title she has got
in Jan.,2018, two years after she became professional , she is becoming
stronger and stronger ,just recently she has got a victory from a
Chinese high rank professional.
This is the first official game between she and So Yokoku 9dan,
the latter is acquainted with her and her strength ,because both are
studying Go in the same group.
W6: Nowadays under the influence of AI, very popular (3,3)
W26: allowing Ryokakari B27 is also AI effect
W42: Although it is important point for both Black and White, Mr. Cho
preferres to play center at first
W48: Ikkenn Tobi (10,14) also can be played, which is better
is difficult question,anyway White could not be surrounded,
hoping to connect with white stones of right side
W48: severe ,too much ?, Black will try counterattack, a war
started
W58: necessary natural move
B61: good sense
B63: ditto, it is correct way, playing from (10,14) is vulgar way
W64: good, this the timing of this move, at present Black has
no choice but to connect B65
W70: necessary
B73: working most hard, with some risk
B75: helping the safety of five stones of Black in the center, Which are
very important key stones
B79: strong and best move
B83: Good, secured runaway of Black key stones
W84: looks bad move, because non effective Nozoki,
to B87: Black could improve shape
W88: Had no chice
W90: working hard, can not play gentle way in the situation. good
or not that is question,because Black can play (15,11), W(16,11),
B(16,12) so on White will be ruined
W94: strongest way of attack, this means Mr.So thinks the game is not
favorable for him at present,or
B95,W96: Mr.So wanted to defend vital point W96 with Sente
B97: Mr.Cho agreed with this move
B99: Black must separate two groups of White stones
W100: Inquiring how to answer, insisting that you had better
react with some moves, because there are many defects in the shapes of
Black
However, Black dared B101: saying that White of left under corner
is in danger
White, neglected B101,and played W102
It is too difficult to understand what they ,Black and White, are
planning for Mr.Cho.
B109: Intention of to capture White of center
W110:
B111: confirmed the safe of black underside, White need some
move at right under corner
W112
B113: threatening to White saying that you shall die.
The situation of territory had changed enormously after W112,
Black can not expect win without killing some of the Black group
B119: Mr.Cho was against this play
W124: necessary to be alive left side
B127 to W130: Black could have captured before,for example, in stead of
B119 could play at (6,14), now Kou, but Black has more Kou materials
B153:very good Kou material, covering the risk of Black stones
W168: Whether death or alive of White of in the center
B169: the biggest way if captured White
W170: White insured victory when Whiteof center can alive
W174: looks nice move
W178: got possibility of alive with Kou
W198: correct or not?
The comments of Mis. Ueno
B207 was my winning move, White could have played at (8,5),then
very diificult game ,however, White put stone W8 and died
venerdì 22 giugno 2018
giovedì 21 giugno 2018
This cute little boy moved the queen only to realize that it was his opponent's!
The Punjab Kesari events are held every month to promote chess in the
state of Punjab.
This game was taking place on one of the last boards of the event! Check
out how the boy of right moves his opponent's queen and realizes his
own queen is no more on the board! It is a video that has an overload of
cuteness!
mercoledì 20 giugno 2018
martedì 19 giugno 2018
lunedì 18 giugno 2018
A huge exposure for the young and talented women players of India
Spending on prize money of tournaments is not something that AICF would
like to indulge in. But the current team in AICF led by Bharat Singh
Chauhan have felt that the growth of woman chess in India is of
paramount importance and hence have decided to sponsor the prize fund
of SBI Life AICF Women's Grandmaster Round Robin event to the tune of
7.5 lakh. This is an investment in the future of Indian women's chess
as six of our most talented youngsters get a chance to
face six well-established international opponents and fight for their
WGM norms.
This video shows you the colourful opening ceremony that took place on
the 12th of June 2018 at the Acres Club. Get a feel of the entire
environment.
This is how world class chess players are created | Young Divya Deshmukh and Raunak Sadhwani
This video was sent to us by Rahul Joshi, who was Divya's first chess
coach. Rahul runs the Anand Chess Academy and in this video you can see
how little Divya, who standing up on the chair, is showing one of the
most famous games from 62 most instructive games of chess.
Also in the video can be seen India's latest IM Raunak Sadhwani. This is
how world class chess players are created in India!
giovedì 14 giugno 2018
WIM at the age of just 12 years and 6 months - Divya Deshmukh
Divya Deshmukh played a fine tournament at the 11th Mumbai Mayor's Cup
2018. She beat many strong players and scored her 3rd WIM norm. Her
first one was in IIFLW Mumbai 2017-18, second in HD Bank in Vietnam and
now the third one in the Mumbai Mayor's Cup.
Born on 9th December 2005, Divya is just 12 years and 6 months old and
has achieved this feat at a tender age. Of course, this is just the
start of the road for her. Big things await this super talent in future.
In this video, you can also see the game between Divya and P.
Karthikeyan, where the girl from Nagpur played a beautiful game to
outplay her experienced opponent. And the thing to note is - she refused
the draw offer and won!
He is 11, but already 2300. Aaryan Varshney slowly and steadily making it big!
Aaryan Varshney is one of the fastest improving chess players in India.
At the 11th Mumbai Mayor's Cup 2018, he played some very good games of
chess and beat many strong players. In this interview he speaks with IM
Sagar Shah and analyzes one of his wins against Sammed Shete.
martedì 12 giugno 2018
Giovanissimo talento scacchistico filippino : MAGNUS Sidaya ROMA 3 anni
Abbiamo avuto il piaceere di poter visionare alcuni brevi video relativi al giovanissimo giocatore filippino Magnus Sidaya Roma
3 years old MAGNUS CARLSEN Sidaya ROMA joined and won in Brgy. San Roque,Q.C. Chess Tournament.
giovedì 7 giugno 2018
mercoledì 6 giugno 2018
domenica 3 giugno 2018
NHK囲碁66- 1- 10 謝依旲 (Sya Iimin) vs 秋山次郎 (Akiyama Jiro)
第66回NHK杯テレビ囲碁トーナメント 1回戦 第10局
謝依昊 女流本因坊 vs 秋山次郎 9段
The 66th NHK Cup TV Igo Tournament 1st round 10th game
Sya Iimin Female Honinbou vs Akiyama Jiro 9dan
解説： 瀬戸大樹 8段 聞き手： 長島梢恵 2段
Commentator: Seto Taiki 8dan, assistant: Nagashima Kozue 2dan
261手 白番 秋山次郎 9段の 半目勝ち
White Akiyama Jiro 9dan won 0.5points
sabato 2 giugno 2018
World Tafl Federation Rating Top 10 players, June 2018
Dal sito della WTF http://aagenielsen.dk/
2039 casshern, Los Angeles, USA (661) (IM) (Bers.) (Sea)
2027 Plantagenet, Châlons-en-Champagne, FR (473) (GM)
1911 herjan, Formby, UK (223) (GM)
1891 OdinHimself, Kyustendil, Bulgaria (281) (IM)
1878 Adam, Tønsberg, Norway (670) (GM)
1871 mmagari, Milano, Italia (695)
1842 crust, somerset, UK (3037) (GM)
1800 Ded Fomich, Moscow, Russia (302)
1780 edmond-dantes, Kyustendil, Bulgaria (205)
1777 fjorlag, Valhalla, (96)
Chess: Standard Top 10 Girls June 2018
https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=girls
Aleksandra Goryachkina
| Rank | Name | Title | Country | Rating | Games | B-Year |
| 1 | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | wg | RUS | 2505 | 9 | 1998 |
| 2 | Abdumalik, Zhansaya | m | KAZ | 2488 | 9 | 2000 |
| 3 | Mammadzada, Gunay | m | AZE | 2442 | 0 | 2000 |
| 4 | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | m | GRE | 2421 | 2 | 2000 |
| 5 | Shuvalova, Polina | wm | RUS | 2418 | 8 | 2001 |
| 6 | Badelka, Olga | wm | BLR | 2407 | 18 | 2002 |
| 7 | Osmak, Iulija | m | UKR | 2392 | 6 | 1998 |
| 8 | Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim | wg | UZB | 2379 | 17 | 1999 |
| 9 | Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel | m | MGL | 2371 | 0 | 2000 |
| 10 | Yu, Jennifer | f | USA | 2358 | 0 | 2002 |
21st Female Kisei Tournament, Round 1: Aoki Kikuyo (B) vs Osawa Narumi (W).
第二十一期 ドコモ杯 女流棋聖戦 本戦トーナメント 1回戦 第1局 青木喜久代八段 vs 大沢奈留美四
Game Boards in Kasuti Embroidery
The Kasuti of
Karnataka state seems like an all embracing world, the motifs range from
architecture to a cradle, from an elephant to a squirrel, the tulsi
platform, nandi - the sacred bull etc.
Stitches
in kasuti have to be vertical, horizontal or diagonal and the lines or
the motifs have to be completed on the return journey filling the blank
partitions. It is done in two types of stitches, the gavanti line (double running stitch) and murgi (zig zag) done within the darning stitch, akin to gavanti. In both, the two sides are neat and identical. Neyge
(weaving in kannada) is the ordinary running stitch which is used for
large designs and the overall effect is of a woven design by weft
threads.Kasuti shows up best on thick materials against dark shades.
Excerpts from Handicrafts of India
by Kamala Devi chattopadhyaya
The designers at RKP have used raw silk cloth and 80gms of silk cloth with woven borders incorporating both gavanti and murgi technique to create these embroidered game boards.
http://kreedaakaushalya.blogspot.com/2008/05/game-boards-in-kasuti-embroidery.html
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