Reflections on the Game of Go - The Empty Board: 1994-2004

[kirkmc]

This book, by Bill Cobb, is a collection of essays about go that appeared in the AGA (American Go Association) publication American Go Journal. It discusses go from a Buddhist point of view; how go contains the Buddhist ideas of emptiness, karma, impermanence, etc.

This book interests me in part because I have long been interested in and studied Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism. Cobb neatly explains the strong influence the game has had on Zen, and elucidates the many Buddhist principles that go expresses.

I had long thought that one could write a book about go with no diagrams: this is such a book. It discusses the <i>attitude</i> of the go player, not his or her moves; it explores the way you play, not how you play. The insights it provides are profound, yet will not be applicable to all players. Cobb discusses the attitude of those go players who care more about creating a good game than winning, something which, in my experience, is not common enough among go players, at least those who play on Internet servers. This paragraph in particular sums up my thoughts on the game:

"As a go player, I have no self other than the self that is constituted by the cooperative activity of playing with another. We both want to be better players. Wanting to win or to beat the other player is subordinate to that greater goal and significantly affected by it. We both want to become stronger players. To do so we must play and that means winning and losing, yet the aim is not to beat the opponent but rather to play better than I have in the past."

Most of the essays in this book are about two pages long; long enough to present a concise point and develop it. Some of the later essays are shorter, and are less interesting, because they don't develop anything more than simple ideas. But the majority of the book will give go players the inspiration they need to strive to not necessarily play better, but to make their games more honest, more open.

If you play go to win, don't bother with this book; if you play go, however, for the value it adds to your life, for the opportunity you get to create beautiful games with a partner, then this is a must-read.

My Rating:

[rubin427]

One of my Favorites.

I lent this book to a friend, later he bought his own copy. This is the only book (in any genera) that I can make this statement about.

[Hushfield]

Hi Kirk,
I remember that the only time we really talked on KGS was about Zen Buddhism (and your id Dôgen, who I was writing my master's dissertation on at the time). I am really interested in reading this book, and I just found that it is available through Schaak en Go winkel Het Paard in europe, so I'll definitely add that to my next order from that shop. I must say that I am usually a little sceptical when I see drawn-out comparisons between Zen Buddhism and anything else really, for the ones I've read (on zen and martial arts or zen and tea ceremony) tend to quickly fall into a superficial comparison written by an enthusiast in the second field, with no real (practical or academic) knowledge of Zen. There are definitely some things that could be said about similarities between Zen and Go, but much of that might just be attributed to a common cultural context rather than actual meaningful links between the two. Honestly, I am quite allergic to western consumer culture picking up zen as a buzz-word in both subtle and not so subtle ways. Let's see whether this book is any good. But thank you very much for sharing this. Should be an interesting read either way.
Cheers,
Hushfield

[kirkmc]

Hi Kirk,
I remember that the only time we really talked on KGS was about Zen Buddhism (and your id Dôgen, who I was writing my master's dissertation on at the time). I am really interested in reading this book, and I just found that it is available through Schaak en Go winkel Het Paard in europe, so I'll definitely add that to my next order from that shop. I must say that I am usually a little sceptical when I see drawn-out comparisons between Zen Buddhism and anything else really, for the ones I've read (on zen and martial arts or zen and tea ceremony) tend to quickly fall into a superficial comparison written by an enthusiast in the second field, with no real (practical or academic) knowledge of Zen. There are definitely some things that could be said about similarities between Zen and Go, but much of that might just be attributed to a common cultural context rather than actual meaningful links between the two. Honestly, I am quite allergic to western consumer culture picking up zen as a buzz-word in both subtle and not so subtle ways. Let's see whether this book is any good. But thank you very much for sharing this. Should be an interesting read either way.

I agree with the "Zen and..." books - they are generally more about the "and" part and less about Zen. This book, though, is an interesting rapprochement between the two. While I don't think Cobb practices Zen - or any other type of Buddhism - he does seem to know a lot about it. He highlights a number of things that were self-evident to me, but that deserve being highlighted. In any case, given your interests, I have a feeling you'd enjoy reading it.

[gowan]

I like this book very much and recommend it highly. It helps in getting ego out of the game.