What’s so special about Go?

In the West, more people will have heard about Chess than Go and if one were thinking about taking up a difficult board game, might wonder “why Go?”.

Go has several differentiating characteristics:

•	it has few rules so it is easy to start playing
•	(uniquely) it has an intrinsic handicapping system that gives beginners strategic assistance and challenges stronger players to use their wider knowledge of the game, balancing equalities of outcome
•	it is possible to have a good time even if one loses the game

These idea are explored further in Play Go and Grow! (pdf) a presentation for the American Go Association discussing the developmental benefits of games in general and those advantages that are unique to Go.

This TED talk by a relative beginner explores some of the personal benefits she has experienced and some societal benefits of the game.

You might also find these cultural representations of Go interesting and hopefully stimulate your interest.

We have a three minute overview of the game on our YouTube channel and a beginners introduction here.

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