It’s Go time

Ancient game attracts loyal following

In the quiet room, the only noise is made by the click of disc-shaped stones placed by players onto wooden boards.

When opponents dip their hands into small bowls holding piles of the stones, the discs rub together, making a sound like a penitent working a set of rosary beads.

JongKweon Yi, a Kansas University graduate student from Korea, left, takes on Fred Eckerson, a Kansas City, Mo., software developer, in a game of Go. Players gather twice a month in Lawrence to play the game, which first became popular in the United States about 80 years ago.

That’s the sound of studied contemplation, and it’s typically the atmosphere when members of a group called the Lawrence Go Club meet twice a month at the home of Go host Panta Rhei.

Go is a board game that was developed between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago in China. Called Wei Ch’i in China, Igo in Japan and Baduk in Korea, it contends with backgammon for the right to be called the oldest game still played in its original form.

The Japanese introduced Go to the West, and it first became popular in the United States in the 1920s.

Today more than 25 million people worldwide play Go, most of them in the Far East. Europe could have as many as 100,000 players; America probably has about 20,000.

Players from more than 30 countries compete in the annual World Amateur Go Championship. More than 200 players typically attend the U.S. Go Congress, which is held in a different city each year.

In Lawrence, the best opportunity to get together and play Go with other fans of the game is at 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month at Rhei’s home, 1321 N.H. The cost is $1 per person each night, and the club is open to everyone, including beginners.

From 1980 to 1994 Rhei regularly played host to evenings of Go at his house, then the core group of players faded away. He resurrected the Go club in 2000, and anywhere from four to 10 people now show up each time the group meets.

What’s so great about Go?

More than 25 million people worldwide play Go, which may be the oldest board game still played in its original form.

“It’s a game of strategy a war game, you might say, just like chess,” said Rhei, who has played Go since 1979. “It takes about an hour to learn the basics of it, but the game is so incredibly, amazingly complicated that you could spend several lifetimes trying to master it.”

The goal of Go a game for two players is simply to gain and control more territory than the opponent.

One player uses a pile of white stones, while the other uses black stones. The little discs can be made of anything: glass, ceramic, plastic.

A full-size Go board, or goban, is usually made of wood and features a grid of 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines. The lines are thin and black, and the board has 361 intersections.

Players place their stones, by turns, on the intersections not the rectangles of the grid. Once a player sets down a stone, it remains there; it isn’t moved like a chess piece.

To learn more about the ancient game of Go, try these books or Web sites. Master player Janice Kim has written a series of instructional books called “Learn to Play Go” that are available from Samarkand, (800) 600-4373. Two helpful Web sites are at www.well.com and www.kiseido.com.Fun and Games, 816 Mass., carries a basic Go game set with a roll-up board and plastic “stones.” It costs $14.99.

There are 180 white stones and 181 black stones, equaling 361. Most Go games are made up of 200 to 250 moves.

Theoretically, whoever controls 181 intersections wins the game. But games almost never have to go that far before one player dominates the board, obtaining more territory and beating his opponent.

Sounds easy, right?

“In terms of regulations, it’s simple. But in terms of strategy, it’s very complicated,” said Jongkweon Yi, a Kansas University graduate student from Korea who plays in the Lawrence Go Club. “The game is frustrating and fun.”

Panta Rhei welcomes Go players to his Lawrence home twice a month. The game nights typically attract from four to 10 players. Rhei, who first played Go in 1979, says it's a game of strategy that's incredibly,

Joe Lee, a professor of civil engineering at KU for 35 years, was born in China and has played Go for decades. He is a fixture at local Go club gatherings.

“To be able to master the game is very difficult,” Lee said. “You have to be good both tactically and strategically. You can win the battle but still lose the war.”

Japan’s warrior class studied Go hundreds of years ago, and Japanese generals played the game during World War II in order to sharpen their minds.

Members of the Lawrence Go Club approach the game with a sense of seriousness and an air of pride.

“It’s a very good game the best board game in the world,” Lee said. “Even chess is no comparison.”