Go Club: Going Places

Only one club at Exeter can say that it reenacts a real life battle in every one of its club meetings. That club is Go Club.Go, a 2500 year old traditional Chinese game, involves an 18 inch by 17 inch wooden board and two players, one whose pieces are white and the other whose are black. The board game ties together many aspects of knowledge including mathematics, science, culture and philosophy: the reason for its popularity amongst mathematicians, scientists and philosophers.During the game, each player tries to surround the other’s pieces with his/her own pieces as if to represent a real-life battle. In a real battle, the mission of the army is to surround the other army and minimize its strength. This mission overlaps with Go’s. In Go, the goal is to gain a larger influence against your opponent’s pieces to ultimately surround every piece.To surround every piece, the players utilize tactics and maneuvers that are meant to capture or stunt their opponents while advancing their own pieces to more favorable positions.Although to many traditional Chinese people these tactics are clear and straightforward, they are obscure and confusing to many Exonians. Because of this, the club’s main mission is to spread knowledge regarding this serious yet entertaining board game.In October of 2013, seniors and co-founders Hiro Kuwana and Stephen Hu collaborated to found Phillips Exeter Academy’s first Go Club, an organization that has since been active in a number of state and national competitions.Each Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Go Club meets in Room 221 of the Phelps Academy Center to discuss future competitions and tactics to utilize in their competitions. Most recently, on Oct. 20, members of the Go Club competed in the 2015 Cotsen Open, a tournament involving around 175 players. Hu was awarded 5th place in the highest division. From Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, Go Club participated in the 2015 American Chang Qi Cup, a national tournament with nearly 200 participants in which Kuwana finished as a finalist. In March of 2015, Go Club attended the Boston Spring Open in which Hu and Andy Wei ’15 won both divisions.Despite this seemingly competitive atmosphere, Go Club members said that each meeting is rather relaxed and supportive, as many of the attendees do not know the rules.“What I really like about the club meetings is how relaxed and fun it is,” upper Kaitlyn Kang said. “It’s a good time to drop the stress that has accumulated throughout the week and get absorbed in the game.”Furthermore, Hu explained that the atmosphere of the meetings are meant to be enjoyable and stress-relieving.“There is no requirement for members to come every time or attend the full length of the meetings,” he said. “The experience should be stress-less and fun.”Kuwana emphasized the importance of enjoying the game while playing, listing it as another mission for the club. He said that although it is important to learn and become a better Go player, the most important aspect of the club is to “have fun while playing.”The most amazing part about Go, upper Yannick Yao said, is that it is easy to learn how to play, but most difficult to master. Luckily for the club, the easy rules allow meetings that introduce students—most of whom do not know about Go prior to the meeting—to the game of Go.“Many members are new to this game so we are always available to teach them the basics,” Yao said. “In fact, there are only three rules needed to play a game.”First, the pieces, or “stones,” are placed on the line intersections of the board. Second, a group of stones is removed from the board if all of its adjacent line intersections are occupied by the opponent’s pieces. The “life and death” of a stone depends on the number of line intersections that are unoccupied, which are also called “liberties.”Like Yao, Hu believes that the rules of Go are easy to learn, and not difficult, as preconceived by many.“Go has very few rules, and all the pieces work the same way,” he said. “In our club meetings, I try to incorporate this idea when teaching newcomers, and so far it has been fairly appreciated.”After learning these rules from the co-heads, the new members quickly adapt to the game, according to Kang. Afterward, the more experienced members “play with them so they can get used to the game.”However simple the rules may be to grasp, the theory involved in each move and the understanding of the game to make such moves takes years to master. Even Kuwana, who has been playing for most of his life, “sometimes feels like [he] doesn’t have the game strategy at all.”Despite the steep learning curve, Hu hopes that more members will join the club and take the initiative to continue the club even after Kuwana’s and Hu’s graduation. As of right now, the expansion of the club after this school year seems very likely to Hu.He said, “currently, we do have quite a few new members this year who have expressed interest in committing to the club.”Although the club believes it is important to look toward the club’s future, Hu said that right now, the members are focusing on improving their Go abilities while enjoying the friendly and supportive club atmosphere.“Go Club is very relaxing. There are neither requirements for serious commitment, nor additional ‘homework,’” Hu said. “The nature of the Go community is peace-loving and welcoming to everyone, which is a very important quality to me. Especially in today’s world, the game brings us together in a beautiful way.”