History of Go - Development in The West

Development in The West

Despite its widespread popularity in East Asia, Go has been slow to spread to the rest of the world, unlike other games of ancient Asian origin, such as chess. Schadler speculates that chess has more widespread appeal because culturally congruent game pieces can be created in chess (e.g. Queen and Bishop in Western Chess, Advisor and Elephant in Chinese Chess), while Go is totally abstract. Also, there is no climactic ending in Go (such as checkmate in chess). New players often have trouble figuring out when a game of Go is over. Other theories center around the existence of fundamental differences in the level and type of thinking required by Go players as opposed to chess players. While pure analytical thought and the ability to plan many moves in advance are advantageous in chess, in Go a more intuitive approach based on pattern recognition and experience is stressed. A purely analytical approach, due to the sheer number of moves available for consideration, can be paralyzing.

The first detailed description of Go in a European language, De Circumveniendi Ludo Chinensium (About the Chinese encircling game), was written in Latin by Thomas Hyde, and included in his 1694 treatise on Oriental board games, De Ludis Orientalibus (About Oriental games); Oscar Korschelt, a German engineer, is credited with being the first person to try to popularize Go outside of Asia. He learned about the game from Honinbo Shuho (Murase Shuho) when he worked in Japan from 1878 to 1886. Korschelt published a detailed article on Go in 1880. A few years later he published a book based on this article. He brought the game to Europe, especially to Germany and Austria, and thus became the first person to systematically describe Go in a Western language. Since he learned Go in Japan, the terms of Go in Western languages come from Japanese, not Chinese.

By the early 20th century, Go had spread throughout the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. In 1905, Edward Lasker learned the game while in Berlin. When he moved to New York, Lasker founded the New York Go Club together with (amongst others) Arthur Smith, who had learned of the game while touring the East and had published the book The Game of Go in 1908. Lasker's book Go and Go-moku (1934) helped spread the game throughout the US, and in 1935, the American Go Association was formed. Two years later, in 1937, the German Go Association was founded. World War II put a stop to most Go activity, but after the war, Go continued to spread.

Western players' interest increased in the 1950s. In 1978, Manfred Wimmer became the first Westerner to receive a professional player's certificate from an Asian professional Go association. It was not until 2000 that a Westerner, Michael Redmond, achieved a professional 9 dan rating, the top rank awarded by Asian Go associations.

For most of the 20th century, the Japan Go Association played a leading role in spreading Go outside East Asia, publishing the English-language magazine Go Review in the 1960s, establishing Go centers in the US, Europe and South America, and often sending professional teachers on tour to Western nations. By 2005, the European Go Federation had a total of 35 member countries.

In 1996, NASA astronaut Daniel Barry and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata became the first people to play Go in space, using a special Go set designed by Wai-Cheung Willson Chow. Both astronauts were awarded honorary dan ranks by the Nihon Kiin.