A presentation to learn how to play Wei Qi/Igo/Go.

1. The World’s Most Challenging Game
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2. 围棋
History of Wéi Qí
 The origins of this game are disputed amongst scholars.
 They agree that it is around 3,000 – 4,000 years old.
 It was originally claimed to predict the future.
 Around 200 A.D. wéi qí was often used in poetry.
 Circa 400 A.D. a player named Osan was so great at wéi qí that
he was reported to be able to recite every move in the game
from memory.
 Wéi qí eventually diffused to Japan, where it is called Igo. Igo is
the national game of Japan and holds much prestige in the
culture, more so than the Chinese culture where it originated.
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3. 围棋
A Few More Things…
 Wéi qí is perfectly easy for beginners to play. However, it
takes years to master the strategies. There are many actions
you can do in the midst of a heated game.
 Wéi qí is somewhat like Eastern Chess or Checkers, but it is
played differently, of course.
 Just like everything else, there are rules that players must
follow. I don’t expect you to learn them all in one sitting, but
as we progress you will find that they are fairly simple and to
the point.
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4. One More Thing… 围棋
English Hanyu Pinyin Simplified Characters
Igo/Go (Game) wéi qí
围棋
Game Board qí pán 棋盘
Counter Attack fǎn gōng 反攻
Failure bài
败
Surround bāo wéi 包围
Draw chí qí 持棋
Block dǎng 挡
Play Game duì yì 对弈
Bad Move è shǒu 恶手
http://www.freewebs.com/gostuff/weiqi/Chinese-Go-Term.pdf
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5. 围棋
...
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6. Black stones start first. Typically the
weaker player gets black.
围棋
In Wei Qi we play on
the intersections of
the grid.
Turns alternate from
black to white.
These are called
stones.
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7. These are handicaps.
围棋
They are used to make
play even between people
of different ranks.
Let’s forget about them…
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8. 围棋
When a stone is placed, it immediately gets
“life”…(Blue circles)
“Life” is measured by the
amount of unoccupied spots
around a piece.
So….
When white moved next to
black, black lost a “life”. If white
surrounded black at each blue
spot, the black piece would die!
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9. 围棋
How much life does each
stone have?
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10. Watch this animation to get a
围棋
better understanding.
The white stone is dead
and can be removed from
the
board, however, stones
in play are never
removed unless killed.
This illustrates the concept of “life” around a
stone. Keep in mind, this scenario would
probably never happen unless you were
playing with a baby.
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11. Dă jié is where the players can eat each 围棋
others stones for eternity. But there are
rules for this…
Now this will continue on
forever…
But there is a rule that states if a
stone is captured via dă jié, the other
side cannot recapture a stone in dă
jié in the next turn.
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12. 围棋
 One player may resign, or the game will end when both parties
agree that there are no more moves.
 The object is to control more territory.
 To get the score, you count the amount of living stones you
have on the board, and the territory they are surrounding.
 In Japanese tradition, you can count the amount of territory
you have captured and the amount of stones you have
“killed”, so be sure to keep your enemies dead stones if you
want to do it this way.
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13. 围棋
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game) [Wikipedia Section]
 http://library.thinkquest.org/28116/ [Official Wéi Qí Website]
 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wjh/go/rules/
 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wjh/go/rules/Chinese.html
 http://library.thinkquest.org/28116/net.htm [Online Game
Room]
 http://www.gokgs.com/ [Online Game Room]
 http://www.freewebs.com/gostuff/weiqi/Chinese-Go-Term.pdf
[Chinese Wéi Qí Terms]
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14. 围棋
History A Few More Things
Chinese Characters Start of Game Rules
End of the Game Resources
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