From: Michael Vanier <mvanier <at> BBB <dot> CALTECH <dot> EDU>
Date: 7 feb 1999
Subject: Re: Chess vs. Shogi, etc.

> From: Doug Dysart <dysartdj <at> EMAIL <dot> UC <dot> EDU>
[snip]
> As for Go, which all chess players think I love
> (sigh), I can't take it.  It gets on my nerves.  I just want to capture
> things and throw them off the board.  I want to chase the enemy king across
> the board.  I want to promote my pawns and eat up the enemy pieces.  In Go,
> though, I'm stuck with these monotonous chips that just sit there, while I
> rack my brain for something resembling a plan.  No way, buddy.  I'll never
> be a Go player.  I've got a couple of sets, just for the heck of it.  I
> respect Go players, but I could never be one.

Go takes a while to "get".  Its appeal is somewhat less obvious than chess
games.  If you like capturing, though, you must realize that in go, unlike
chess, you can capture whole armies with a single move!  I think
chess/shogi tactics are somewhat more fun than go tactics (though not
necessarily harder), but go strategy can be almost arbitrarily deep.
Personally, I find it easier to make plans in go than in shogi/chess
(carrying them out, that's a different thing...).  I like to think of go as
a whole war while shogi is more like a very complicated battle; they're
both great fun.

Mike