I am a Go coward
June 20th, 2004I feel bad about it but I just resigned from a game of play-by-web Go with Mikko.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that PBW Go is excruciatingly slow. I resigned on move 199 and the game was only about 75% complete, although it was already obvious that Mikko would win by a landslide. Each move only takes you a tiny way towards your goal, but picking up the game from cold to take a move requires a lot of concentration and time. Eventually I was making stupid errors because I just could not be bothered to think for 10 minutes for every move. When you dread having to take a move, you know it is time to bail out.
The second is that my passing infatuation with Go has been like a teenage crush – short-lived and shallow. I have seen the amount of study that goes into becoming even an intermediate player and have pulled away from the brink. I just do not enjoy beating people in mental combat that much.
I hope the last two paragraphs did not sound too negative, because I have enjoyed learning about Go. I always knew it was a profound game, but now I appreciate the kind of thinking and strategy that goes into it. It was also a pleasure to play with Mikko. He gave me lots of good tips and coaching.
I will definitely play again face-to-face, and occasionally on a real-time online server like KGS when I am in the mood for a fight.
June 21st, 2004 at 05:02
I think the games best suited for play-by-web (or email) are the ones that have a limited number of multi-action turns. A few big turns, in other words. Go, like many of the German games we now enjoy, is just the opposite: lots of a little turns. It just gets so drawn out over asynchronous play. Some games like StreetSoccer on Littlegolem get by through their limited number of turns.
June 21st, 2004 at 07:00
If play-by-web Go isn’t your game, that’s fine. I think it’s one of the better ways to play the game. I can also understand if you find Go just a bit too massive – I wanted to just learn the game, because after all, it is a rather significant game, but now I’m in quite deep.
Go is a longish game to play this way. But hey, I’ve had worse. Diplomacy usually moves pretty fast, but the longest game I GM’d took over two years (and loads of players). My longest play-by-web Britannia took just over a year. I’m a patient guy, I think =)
June 21st, 2004 at 10:32
Mark: I totally agree with you.
Mikko: Thanks for your understanding. I notice you have several PBW games running at once. That must reduce the impatience you feel, as there are always interesting decisions going on. I can definitely understand why you have got involved with Go. It is satisfying to feel yourself progress and there is no doubt that it develops your mind.
June 21st, 2004 at 12:15
I used to use the e-mail notification at Dragon, but it’s long since I turned it off. I just log in daily (or more often) to make my moves. That’s the way for me, keeps me up in good pace. Of course, I too sometimes forget what I was doing. But hey, so does everyone…