Baduk: Baduk is rich in culture, being the oldest continuously played game in human history, with estimates of the origin going back 2500 to 4000 years. Baduk originated in China, where it is called weiqi (way-chee).
Scholarship: The game of baduk has but a few simple rules, which we find one can usually acquire in seven minutes. It takes a game of 15 or 20 minutes to get a feel for the operation of the rules in the context of play. Baduk strategy seems to have no limit, as numerous texts have been written on this topic in the major Oriental languages. The intrepid student can get an undergraduate degree, or even a master’s and Ph.D. in baduk studies at Myungji University in South Korea.
Far East Popularity: Even though more people play baduk each day than play chess, baduk is still relatively unknown in the West. Professional baduk players have always earned more than Western chess pros, and in South Korea, where we learned this game, baduk pros receive the adulation accorded rock stars and professional sports figures in the U.S. Baduk is so important in South Korea that students who aspire to become pro baduk players receive an exemption from compulsory public school education in middle and high school, as they spend their entire days in the private baduk schools. A limited number of both male and female players are selected through competitions to turn pro each year by the KBA (Korean Baduk Association).
Far East Popularity: Even though more people play baduk each day than play chess, baduk is still relatively unknown in the West. Professional baduk players have always earned more than Western chess pros, and in South Korea, where we learned this game, baduk pros receive the adulation accorded rock stars and professional sports figures in the U.S. Baduk is so important in South Korea that students who aspire to become pro baduk players receive an exemption from compulsory public school education in middle and high school, as they spend their entire days in the private baduk schools. A limited number of both male and female players are selected through competitions to turn pro each year by the KBA (Korean Baduk Association).
Search and Guess Game:
Take a close look at these Western art paintings and see if you can find just what is missing in each scene. They share a common deficiency which the astute observer should be able to discover within three minutes. Hints: * What would be felicitous to see in order to richly suggest amicable and refined human communion? * What would you say may well be lacking to facilitate an anchor or nexus to afford just the right blending of the artistic, social, psychological, and sporting spheres? Answer: I warrant that if you are true dyed-in-the-wool weiqi aficionado, then the sheer absence of any go boards could scarcely have escaped your notice. Every single scene is utterly bereft of a baduk board game in progress! My Word! :-) How can this be, that the Western world has managed to survive for so long in the soulfully deprived state of such a "go-less" universe? "Tang-dynasty fashion ranked proficiency at go as one of the 'four accomplishments' necessary for a cultivated gentleman, along with lute-playing, calligraphy and painting." Source -- Go: The game to beat all games | The Economist
"One theory suggests that the game was derived from Chinese tribal warlords and generals, who used pieces of stone to map out attacking positions."
A fine introduction for Occidentals to the game of baduk is this article from The Economist Magazine, "The Game to Beat All Games: The Most Intellectually Testing Game Ever Devised?" Herein the intrepid reader can discover a wealth of information on the culture and history of this venerable "game to beat all games." |
"According to a recent survey, 18% of the Korean population plays go, the estimated 10% of the population of Japan and China also play, so the number of go players world-wide probably exceeds 100 million. Just as nearly all Westerners recognize the game of chess and some chess terminology, nearly all Asians recognize go and some go terminology, even if they do not actually play. Major newspapers and television networks in Asia sponsor tournaments which are widely followed, and there are entire newspapers, magazines, and a TV network devoted solely to go coverage. One of the most widely viewed films of all time is The Go Masters, and two Nobel prizewinning authors, Kawabata and Hesse, have written novels using go as a backdrop. Go predates all other games currently played by at least a thousand years, and the number of possible combinations of moves is said to exceed the number of subatomic particles in the universe. Small wonder go is often called the ultimate game." Source -- Go Statistics from Janice Kim’s book, Learn to Play Go: Volume II, page 14: Kim, Janice. “Learn to Play Go: Volume II the Way of the Moving Horse.” (Good Move Press: Denver, 1995).
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