I like receiving questions from readers and try to reply to each and every one, such as the one above. This writer has enjoyed spending time watching, and reading about, the game of Go, or what is called Weiqi in most of our world. Yesterday the intention was to travel to visit the Atlanta May the 4th Tournament (https://www.usgo.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=454497&item_id=2268284) but the back was barkin’ at me this morning, and that old dog will not stop barkin’ so the plan had to be changed.
I am not a good player and have grown old. Nevertheless, I am a firm believer in the axiom, “Use it or lose it.” I believe spending time with Go has had a beneficial effect on my brain. It is almost as if I can feel the synapses making new connections in my brain. Videos have been watched and much time has been spent watching games played online, most of it at this website (https://online-go.com/). One of the things I have noticed is that my brain has been seeing patterns, which caused me to consider something recently read in this book:
“That ability to discern patterns is still useful, but it can also make us think we see things that are not actually there.” Anyone who has sat at any kind of game board will immediately get my drift… Sometimes late at night when watching the chosen Go game I marvel at the beauty of the patterns.
I have gotten better and my understanding has become deeper enough to be able so see a “must” move. The following diagram is an illustration:
Black has just played a stone at L17, which is the black stone containing the white circle. Where would you place a stone if playing the white stones?
When the next stone was played it was exactly where I would have played if it were my turn to play:
Upon seeing the white stone played at J15 my fist was PUMPED as I exclaimed, “YES!”
For some reason I have found myself attracted to playing a stone a Chess “knight move” away for a set of two opponents stones, as in the following example:
Do you suppose all those years playing Chess has had something to do with my thought processes?
Armchair Warrior 